How's Your Memory?

A sermon for the Resurrection of our Lord:  March 27, 2016

"They remembered his Words."  We just heard it:  "why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen!  Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:  'the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'  Then they remembered his words.."
     Honestly, it should come as no surprise that they had forgotten his words earlier.  The whole of the Bible demonstrates how Israel in particular and humanity in general forgot all about God, His deeds, his actions, his words, and so on, throughout human history.  Even in the present, there are things that still recall to memory that have been otherwise forgotten or ignored.  Last night, for example, at our Vigil of Easter service, I recounted a seemingly innocuous and insignificant passage from our Maundy Thursday worship, that as I read it again for the umpteenth time while we engage in "The Bible in 90 days," jumped out at me in a big way.  I had read it multiple times over the years, and yet it didn't hit me until this most recent time - from Luke 22:7 and following, where they are told to look for a man carrying a jar of water (that was a task for women, not men, so it would be an odd thing to even see), a stranger would show them an upper room, fully furnished, and let them use it at no charge!  (A very odd occurrence all around!)  That would be one of those miraculous signs that occur in the ordinary.  And this man, unknown to us, is doing the will of God, most likely unknowingly.  In other words, he wasn't in it for his own glory!  It was about the glory of God!
     Seems we have a habit of making it about us.  It is, just not in the way we think.  Remember a former denominational slogan?  Here's how it rather should be.

God's work is doing the work of salvation.  Our hands are not first in doing the will of God, because all too often, we forget, ignore, or simply overlook what that will is.  Rather, it was our hands that nailed him to the cross in the first place.  We used to get it right theologically, and it shows in our hymnody:  "Who was the guilty?  Who brought this upon thee?  Alas, MY treason, Jesus, hath undone thee.  'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee.  I crucified thee."  Yes.  THAT is 'our hands,' and what they have brought.  We, too, must remember His Words.
     We must remember as they remembered.  It all came crashing back on them in an instant.  They remembered all the words:  God creating and owning everything;  Original sin that places us all in bondage;  The sins of Israel, and what the wages of sin bring;  The prophesies of the new covenant;  The coming of the long-awaited Messiah; The signs, and miracles over sickness, nature, and even life and death itself; The many teachings on being a neighbor and community; Jesus' own predictions of his passion; His promise to rise on the 3rd day...  In other words:  They remembered the Bible, and it filled them with great hope!  There was a euphoria and joy in it as it all came together, and it filled them with hope, as it has done to countless millions since!  Here's but a sampling of that hope from various figures between then and now.
     The Apostle Peter, in his first 'sermon,' had this to say:  "...filled with the Holy Spirit, [he] said to them: 'Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.' " (Acts 4:8-12)
     The Apostle Paul went from the greatest persecutor to the greatest proclaimer!  Also from the book of Acts:  "As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women." (17:2-4)
     Or take an early church Father's Easter sermon from around 400 AD:  “Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!  Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down! Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is Risen, and life is liberated! Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead; for Christ having risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.  To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!”
     Or take the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther, in his commentary on our second lesson today:  "Though we may be more wretched than any other people on earth, though we may be frightened by whatever will frighten and aggrieve us, death, hell, and every misfortune, and though these may become as severe as they can; now Christ has arisen, not from sleep, but from death; for He died and was buried the same as other people. But He came forth alive from the grave in which He lay and destroyed and consumed both devil and death, who had devoured Him. He tore the devil’s belly and hell’s jaws asunder and ascended into heaven, where He is now seated in eternal life and glory.” This is to be comfort and defiance. For on His name we are baptized, and we hear and profess His Word." (LW 28:108)
     This is but a sample of what the resurrection has meant to those before us.  Millions before us have remembered his Words.  Countless millions have retold what those words say.  Millions upon millions have rejoiced in this fantastic news, that God has taken upon himself the sins of the world!  So how's your memory?  Do YOU remember his words?  Do you remember the Bible?  Do you remember all the signs - both great and small - that prove to us that Jesus has arisen?  How is your reaction to all this?  How will it be next week?  Next month?  Here's a modern day resurrection video:

May we all remember his words today and every day forward.  May our reaction be one that causes us to never waver from our faith that He Is Risen from the dead!