Acts 10:34-43

Easter | April 12, AD 2023 | Acts 10:34-43 | Pastor Andrew F. Weisner |

   Antioch Lutheran Church
(North American Lutheran Church)
Dallas, North Carolina

Acts 10:34-43
³⁴Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, ³⁵but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. ³⁷That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: ³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. ³⁹We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; ⁴⁰but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, ⁴¹not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Psalm 16

Colossians 3:1-4
So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, ³for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
Matthew 28:1-10
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ²And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. ⁵But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” ⁸So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Homily

         I grew up in the southern part of the United States; most of my family lived in rural, „out in the country“ places. And my guess is, every region of the US — in fact, probably, every region of the world — has its own cast of characters and their own catalogues of comical comments and expressions.  One comical expression that I grew up hearing from my mother, grandmother, Mama’s sister, and likely I heard from many others, is: „Looord – what’s the world  a’comin‘ to!“ That comment could follow something heard on the television news that was startling or sad, or the comment could follow news of a spike in grocery prices; or it could be a comment on a new fashion trend (especially if it was a fashion that was a bit risqué). Several kinds of events and developments could elicit from my mama or my grandma or other folks the response, „Loooord – what’s the world a’comin‘ to!?!“

         Well now… Can you imagine, as it is related to us today, two women going to the cemetery where there is buried their good friend, their leader and teacher who they’ve traveled around with for the past several months, who had been unjustly executed by the political authorities and religious leaders, and you’re going to the tomb to continue some of the ritual preparations they do for the burial of a body, and when you get there, there is a great rumbling of the ground like an earthquake, and somebody — or something — is sitting on top of the large stone that had covered the entrance into the cave that was being used as a tomb for the body of your friend Jesus. And then this person — or angel, or whatever it is — sitting on top of that large rock says to you, Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him… I can imagine that these two women standing there at that tomb may have said like my mama and her sister and Grandma would, „If this is true, Loooord — what’s the world a’comin‘ to!!“ And, indeed, if such is true, they would be right to ask it! „This just can’t be — can it?!?“, they likely asked! „If he is alive — and we know he was dead! he was crucified! — (if Jesus is alive) then what IS the world a’comin‘ to? Why, I’ve never heard of such! – who has?!? What’s going on here!?!“

         In fact, I get the impression that this question, „What’s going on here? What kind of world is this where the dead can be raised?“, was eventually the life-vocation and the mental, philosophical, and psychological challenge of a certain Saul who is written about in the New Testament Acts of the Apostles, i.e., St. Paul the Apostle and follower of Jesus (after Acts chapter 9). In addition to addressing issues of unity and charity, the great intellectual pre-occupation of  St. Paul was, „If a man can be raised from the dead, what’s the world a’comin‘ to? What kind of a world is this?!?“ Saul was well-trained in the Hebrew scriptures; he was a loyal Jew, and tried to stamp-out this movement that claimed that the rabbi Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah (who the Jewish authorities had wanted crucified and out of the way). But then, lo and behold, Saul had a personal encounter with the risen Jesus. Saul — later, Paul — experienced the living Jesus who had been crucified.  „What in the world is the world like if now, suddenly, the dead can be raised??“ — „Or maybe,“ St. Paul ponders further, and with him, the writer of the gospel of St. John, „maybe, there has always been something about ‚the world,‘ the ‚universe‘ (the cosmos), that we never noticed before, that this world is — and has always been — a kind of place where God can show up unexpectedly… encountering Noah, saying „Go build an ark;“ calling out to Abraham to become the father of many nations; God showing up at the tent of Abraham and Sarah and promising that they, though old and childless, will have a child, and then, lo and behold, within less than a year, came son Isaac; God calling out to Moses through a burning bush. These are but a few, a small smattering of examples, of how this world is a different place, far beyond, what mere materialism would have us think.

         St. John’s gospel reminds us of Jesus‘ sayings, „The Father and I are one;“ and elsewhere he said, „Before Abraham was, I AM.“ For John, the one who said such things is the same man who had healed the sick, fed the hungry, and who washed his disciples‘ feet.

         We need not fear anything in this world. We need not fear anything that comes at us. Jesus of Nazareth, a man of love for others, a man of forgiveness, who has been raised from the dead, is Lord of the universe, and we are destined to his love; his love is for us! Sometimes, we may look around and see strange downward developments and wonder, „Loooord – what’s the world a’comin‘ to?!?“ And the answer is: the world is coming to — or, going to — fulfillment, Glory, because Jesus lives, and Jesus is Lord, and he promises, in the End, love, goodness, fulfillment, and even glory, for us all. It may not always look like it; it may not always seem like it, but such is the direction and the purpose of this world (this universe) in which we live.

         And one more note about this surprising man who was raised from the dead, and this mysterious life and world in which the dead can be raised: we live in a world in which this risen Jesus, who conquered death and enmity and separation and evil, (this Jesus) can traverse space and time such that he can show up today, in our gathering, veiled in bread and wine.

         Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!