The Importance of Remembering
Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
Luke 24:1-12
Easter Sunday this year falls on the same date for the Western Christian and Eastern Orthodox churches because this is one of those years when the Gregorian and Julian calendars coincide. Those systems for dividing the year are symbolic of differences in doctrine, ritual, and church organization that trace back to the year 325. It is too bad that Christians are sometimes challenged to get along. Jesus said, “Wherever two or three are gathered, there am I in the midst of them.” It is also true wherever two or three are gathered, there are often three or four opinions.
[powerpress]A man named Emo Philips used to tell this story: In conversation with a person I had recently met, I asked, “Are you Protestant or Catholic?” My new acquaintance replied, “Protestant.” I said, “Me too! What franchise?”
He answered, “Baptist.”
“Me too!” I said, “Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?”
“Northern Baptist,” he replied. “Me too!” I shouted.
We continued to go back and forth. Finally I asked, “Northern conservative fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1879 or Northern conservative fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1912?”
He replied, “Northern conservative fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1912.” I said, “Die, heretic!”
It is nice that this year we can all agree that celebrating Easter today is a good thing. Last Sunday I talked about expectations and how powerful they are in shaping how we feel and what we think. Many people were surprised when I read Luke’s account of Palm Sunday that there was no mention of things they expected like palms, branches or hosannas. Just as each of the Gospel writers presents Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem in his own way, the same is true about the first Easter morning. Listen to Luke and see if you are surprised in any way.
“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5 The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” 8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.”
Is there anything you expected to hear or see in the Gospel that you don’t see – how about…Jesus? We kind of expect that Jesus is going to show up but he doesn’t. Luke’s account begins with the women who come to the tomb. Jesus, their friend, teacher, leader the one they believed to be God’s Savior, had just died a tragic death. None of the women foresees what is going to happen. At the end of Luke 23:55-56a we read, “The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.” The women are coming to tend to Jesus’ dead body. The empty tomb isn’t expected – it is not just good news but a surprise. Sometimes surprises can be good, sometimes they can be bad.
A cowboy appeared before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. Peter said,
‘Everyone who enters here has been saved by grace through faith in Jesus but we like to know if you’ve you ever done anything of particular merit?’
‘Well, I can think of one thing,’ the cowboy offered. “I was on a trip in my pickup when I came upon a gang of bikers who were threatening a young woman. I told them to leave her alone, but they wouldn’t listen. So, I approached the largest and most tattooed biker and smacked him in the face, kicked his bike over, ripped out his nose ring, and threw it on the ground. I yelled, ‘Now, back off or else!’ St. Peter was impressed, ‘When did this happen?’
‘Couple minutes ago.’
In Luke’s telling of the resurrection, God sends two messengers in dazzling clothes in response to the women’s lack of understanding at seeing the empty tomb. After all, an empty tomb simply means the body isn’t there; that alone isn’t a persuasive argument for resurrection. The women at the tomb – Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James were part of the group who followed Jesus. They heard Jesus speak, but it is clear from their response that they did not expect anything unusual to happen. It is one thing to love or admire Jesus for who he is and what he does. It is another to remember and believe what he said – including what he taught about living as his follower, and what he said about himself, “that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”
Like the women, some of us have been drawn to or intrigued by Jesus. We may admire him at some level, but some event, some personal tragedy or evil may cause us not to remember what he said or not to believe his words. A disease or illness strikes a member of our family and our loved one dies. There is an accident. Someone gets into trouble because of alcohol or drugs and spends time in prison. A job is lost. We are unable to manage our finances. A family is fractured. Our prayers seem to go unanswered. The reality of our own mortality becomes clearer each day and it frightens or depresses us. Events such as these can cause us to forget and doubt what Jesus said about faith or trust or God being with us or God’s love for us, or even God’s power to overcome death and raise Jesus from the dead.
When the women arrive, enter the tomb and find it empty, none of them is portrayed as immediately jumping to the conclusion that Jesus has risen from the dead. Mary didn’t say, “Joanna, do you remember the Lord saying something about rising from the dead?” Joanna didn’t reply, “Yes, I seem to remember him mentioning that once or twice, but he was kind of brief about it.” While they are perplexed and wondering, God sends two messengers with the explanation. Luke believes this is the way God works. God sent a messenger to Mary before she married Joseph and explained she was going to have a son. God sent messengers to shepherds the night Jesus was born so people would know who this child was to become. Now that Jesus has taught about living as children of God, healed, preached, and died on the cross, God sends messengers again to explain what is taking place.
It isn’t a surprise that the apostles don’t believe the women’s words, even though the women are known and respected. Mary Magdalene and Joanna were both listed by Luke among the women who followed Jesus and who selflessly served Jesus and the disciples (8:2-3). Together they related something to the other disciples that they personally experienced yet regardless of their credibility, the disciples had difficulty believing them. Would we have responded any differently? Any of us who have stood in a cemetery and said goodbye to a loved one as final words of faith and prayer were said would react with similar disbelief if friends were to come banging on our door a day or so later breathlessly announcing that our loved one was not dead, not in the tomb, but had risen.
All four Gospels report the discovery of the empty tomb and the presence of doubt among the disciples. What is most distinctive in Luke’s account is the announcement of the two messengers in verses 5-7. “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” The key word to remember is “Remember.” Passover, which Jesus and his fellow Jews came to Jerusalem to celebrate, is a holy day of remembering what God had done in the delivering the people from bondage and slavery in Egypt. When do people tend to get in trouble? When do we? Often when we forget the Lord and what God has done and told us to do. Judges 8:34 says, “The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hand of their enemies on every side.” The night of Jesus’ arrest, after he shared the Passover meal with his disciples, Peter said he was ready to go with Jesus even to prison and death. Jesus told Peter he would deny knowing him three times that very night. After Peter denied the Lord the third time, the cock crowed, the Lord turned and looked at Peter (Luke 22:61-62), “Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord…and he went out and wept bitterly.”
It is in Luke’s Gospel that the thief on the cross says to the Lord,
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Remembering seems to be important to Holy Week, the Easter story, and being a disciple of Jesus. How painful is it when we forget the word of the Lord? When we forget what God has done for us and said to us? What do we miss out on? What difference does it make? In Judges, the Israelites were overcome by their enemies; Peter wept in shame and self-loathing; the women at the tomb were shocked and surprised: all because they did not remember the word of the Lord.
Listen to a few things Jesus wants us to remember just in Luke chapters 4-7: “One does not live by bread alone.” Luke 4:4
“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” Luke 4:8
“Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Luke 4:12
“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” Luke 5:10
“Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” Luke 5:20.
“Follow me.” Luke 5:27
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick;
I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” Luke 6:20-21
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Luke 6:27-28
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.” Luke 6:36-38
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:50
These are important words to remember and live by for the glory of God and for our own sake. Easter is a day to remember the word of the Lord; for those of us who are older, Easter is also a time when we remembering loved ones who have gone before us and of remembering days gone by. Some of us remember meals with family or friends. When I was a boy, my family would drive to my grandparent’s in Lowell, MA to celebrate Easter, it was first of three big family celebrations followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas. We always had turkey, a tradition my parents carried on. While it may get monotonous it could be worse. I read about a young couple who were kind enough to invite their older pastor for Easter Sunday dinner. While they were in the kitchen preparing the meal, the pastor asked their son what they were having. “Goat,” the little boy replied. “Goat?” replied the startled pastor, “Are you sure about that?”
“Yep,” said the boy. “I heard Dad say to Mom,
‘Might as well have the old goat for dinner today as any other day.’”
In his thought provoking book, Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, N.T. Wright concludes, “With Easter, God’s new creation is launched upon a surprised world, pointing ahead to the renewal, the redemption, the rebirth of the entire creation…Every act of love, every deed done in Christ and by the Spirit, every work of true creativity – doing justice, making peace, healing families, resisting temptation, seeking and winning true freedom – is an earthly event in a long history of things that implement Jesus’ own resurrection and anticipate the final new creation and act as signposts of hope, pointing back to the first and on to the second.”[1] As we celebrate Easter our hope is not merely that Christ died and rose again – our hope is that one day we also will die and rise again; that we will experience Christ’s death and resurrection as a reality in our own lives. Being a follower of Jesus means believing and remembering that out of death can come new life.
Alzheimer’s disease or any illness that robs us or our loved ones, of the ability to remember is so painful, discouraging, and heartbreaking because the ability to remember is such a defining and vital part of who we are as human beings. Yet even if our memory or the memory of our loved one may fail, we stand on the promise that though we may forget those around us, our loving God will always remember us. In Matthew 28:20, the resurrected Jesus promises all who will be his followers, “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Even if we are physically unable to remember the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus will never forget us; he will remain faithful to us. In 2 Timothy 2:8-12a, the apostle Paul writes “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendent of David – that is my gospel…
The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him.”
My prayer for all of us this Easter is that as we celebrate the empty tomb, our minds might be full of the words of the Lord, that we will remember Jesus and what he said and make our relationship with him a priority throughout the year; that we will believe Jesus is not dead, but is alive today and that makes all the difference in the world.
Almighty and everliving God,
in your tender love for humanity
you sent Jesus to take our nature upon him,
and to suffer death upon the cross,
giving us an example of great humility and even greater love:
Mercifully grant that we too may walk in the way of the cross, and share in the resurrection; through the one who is our Saviour and Redeemer
and who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[1] Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, N.T. Wright, (Harper One: New York, 2008), pages 294-295.