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Easter is an invitation. Yes, it is certainly an
invitation to a great celebration—the biggest day of the year in
the church—Christ’s resurrection from the dead and the victory
thus gained over sin and death. Yes, Easter is an invitation to
celebrate that. But contained within the celebration of the
Easter event is the invitation to a new life. For Christ’s
resurrection from the dead means an opportunity for a new life
for all. In his resurrection Jesus Christ invites you to a new
life, a new life in the future—the promise of eternal life with
Christ because he has conquered sin and death—and the
invitation to a new life here and now, a new life, using the
words of Paul in his first letter to Corinth, rid of malice and
wickedness for a new life of sincerity and truth.
Those are the invitations contained within the Easter
celebration. Jesus, by his resurrection from the dead, brings
new life as our Savior and as our Lord. Those are foundational
titles we ascribe to Jesus—Savior and Lord. As Savior, Jesus
brings the promise of new life with him in heaven on the
occasion of the end of our life here on earth. This is the first
and foundational truth of Christian faith—by going to the cross,
Jesus paid the penalty of death for sin. Only one who was
without sin and, therefore, undeserving of the penalty for sin
could pay it. Only Jesus. His death on the cross was the payment
for all humanity’s sin—for every person…for you…and for me Jesus
paid for our sin. His resurrection from the dead brought victory
over sin and death—for you…and for me. That victory means a new
life awaits us at the end of this life on earth. (If your
curious about what that new life looks like refer back to the
Heaven series earlier this year) Jesus is Savior because he
saves us from our sin and one clear invitation in the Easter
story is to receive the assurance of new life in eternity with
Jesus by accepting him as your Savior.
But Easter is about more than a future new life with Christ.
It is also about a new life here and now with Jesus as your
Lord. Easter is an invitation to begin a new life right now
where sin no longer rules in your life. Jesus’ resurrection has
conquered sin, not only in death, but in this life as well.
Jesus, through his Spirit alive and at work in us today, gives
us power to overcome the temptations of sin in our lives right
now. Through proclaiming Jesus as our Lord and, therefore,
seeking to live according to his standards for us and no one
elses’s—certainly not the world’s standards—we can experience
new life right now.
Jesus wants us to be free of the effects and consequences of
sin in our lives. That’s why he went to the cross! For you…and
for me to be free of sin. That is the invitation of Easter. But
will you accept that invitation?
According to the apostle Paul, sin affects everything.
It is like yeast that once it enters into dough it works its way
through the entire batch of dough. It’s not like some of
the dough rises because of the yeast’s impact and some of it
doesn’t. Yeast works its way through the whole batch of dough.
That is the affect of sin in our lives. We fool ourselves if we
think we can somehow separate out an area of sin from other
areas of our lives. For example, thinking that we can somehow
separate out an affair we are engaging in from the other areas
of our life. My affair over here and the other areas of my
life—my life as husband, and father, my life at work and my life
at church can somehow remain unaffected. For a while, perhaps.
But eventually the yeast of that sin works its way through the
whole batch of dough that is my life. Ask Tiger Woods about
that. Or John Edwards. Not to beat up on those guys who have
certainly suffered huge consequences for their sin—but they
serve as a very public example of how sin works its way through
every aspect of the dough that is our lives. We fool ourselves
when we think we can separate out an area of sin in our lives
from the other areas of our lives. We ought to work not at
trying to keep separate the sinful from the righteous aspects of
our lives—that’s hard work…in fact it is impossible to
accomplish—but work hard, with Jesus’ help, at getting rid of
the sinful things in our lives. Paul describes it as getting rid
of the old yeast, "the yeast of malice and wickedness,"
for bread without such yeast, "the bread of sincerity and
truth." And I think it would be fair to categorize "the
yeast of malice and wickedness" in this way: malice would
be sins against others, premeditated acts of injury against
another person, acts of revenge, hurtful gossip and the like;
wickedness would be sins of self-indulgence, riotous living,
illicit affairs, gluttony and drunkenness. All sin is yeast that
works its way into all areas of our life. Some sins target
others as its victims, some sins are selfish acts of indulgence,
but all sin, like yeast, works its way into all areas of our
life. And Jesus wants us to be free of all of that by serving as
our Lord in life. He sets the standards. He draws the boundary
lines, not for our detriment or to suck all the joy out of life,
but for our betterment and to bring true joy into our lives.
That is the invitation inherent in the Easter celebration. An
invitation to a new life filled with assurance as to what our
final destination is and a new life freed from the bondage and
damaging affects of sin in our lives—sin that works its way into
every aspect of our lives, damaging families, friendships, and
relationships of all kinds.
The question is, what invitation do you need to respond to
today? Where do you need to R.S.V.P. to Jesus today? Is it the
invitation to receive Jesus as your Savior? Do you struggle with
questions about what happens to us, if anything, when we die? Do
you have anxieties about that? Jesus, through his death and
resurrection, invites you today to be free from that, to have
full assurance that you are his and nothing can take you away
from that. Time after the time the Biblical message is one of
assurance of our salvation through Jesus Christ…and nothing can
take that away from us. The apostle John, in his gospel writes,
"…these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the
Christ [Messiah], the Son of God, and that by believing
you may have life in his name" (John 20:31). Also, in his
first letter, John writes, "I write these things to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know
that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13; underline mine).
We do not have to live in doubt or with fear about our future.
It is assured in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Accept his
invitation to be your Savior through what he has done for you
upon the cross and through his resurrection we celebrate today.
Or, perhaps you need to accept Jesus’ invitation to have him
as Lord over your life. I know I need to be reminded of and
accept again and again his Lordship over my life. Sometimes, I
try to take control and be lord over my own life—and the yeast
of such actions…or even such thinking begins to work its
way through my entire being. I need to commit, and re-commit
again, my life to Jesus Christ serving as my Lord. That’s one
reason why we have a time for confession every Sunday…because we
need it! But more and more, as I allow Jesus to be Lord over my
life and follow his direction for my life I experience the true
joy he desires for my life. To be sure, he sets the standards
high. Read and reflect on the Sermon on the Mount. Or, there is
the challenge of Romans, chapter 12. I know of one pastor who
spent a year with Romans, chapter 12, as his Bible
reading and reflection for the day. I once challenged a family
member who was angry at another family member and close to
seeking some kind of revenge against that family member to trust
God and live out what God asks of us in the 12th
chapter of Romans. In part (but read and be challenged by
the entire chapter!) it reads, "Do not repay anyone evil
for evil. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you,
live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends,
but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine
to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. Do not be overcome by
evil, (the yeast of malice and wickedness!!), but
overcome evil with good (the bread of sincerity and truth!!)
(Romans 12:17a, 18, 19, 21; underlines and parentheses mine).
That is the goal for those who seek to follow Jesus Christ as
their Lord.
I invite you to respond to and accept the invitation Jesus is
offering to you today in our Easter celebration. I’m going to
close this time with a prayer rather than silent reflection, and
I encourage you to offer it as your heartfelt prayer today,
wherever you are in your faith journey with Jesus and the
invitation he offers this day. Let us pray.
Jesus, we ascribe to you the names Savior and Lord…and hear
in the Easter celebration today your invitation to receive you
in those titles we give to you. For those who need to accept
your invitation to be received as their Savior, we pray today a
prayer of gratitude for what you have done for us upon the cross
and through your resurrection. We admit our need for a Savior,
acknowledging our sin and our inability to save ourselves. Thank
you for taking my sin with you to the cross that in your
glorious resurrection we might be freed from the penalty for
sin, death and separation from you, and be restored to a new
relationship with you and eternal life in your heavenly kingdom.
For those, Savior Jesus, who need to accept your invitation to
give up lordship over their lives and receive you as Lord, we
also pray a prayer of gratitude today, thanking you for the
victory you gained over sin and death through your resurrection
that we might be freed from the bondage of sin in our
life…asking you to be Lord in our lives and recommitting this
day to follow you as Lord—recognizing that sin is like yeast
working its way through our lives and desiring to be rid of it
and live instead a life of truth and sincerity with you as Lord.
Thank you, Jesus, Savior and Lord, for the celebration and
invitation of Easter. Amen.
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