Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016

"Why do you look for the living among the dead?" Luke 24:5

Have you ever sent a letter, only to have it came back to me marked "Wrong Address." Sometimes I get an e-mail returned marked the same way. More than one time I have gone to the hospital to visit someone and the nurse tells me that the person has already been discharged and sent home. Paraphrasing the words of the Easter Angels, "Why do you look for the healthy among the sick? He is not here; he has been healed!"

On the First Easter morning, the women had the wrong address for Jesus. They thought he was still in the tomb in the cemetery. But they discovered that the tomb was empty. Then the angels told them, "'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 (the women) remembered his words." They remembered that Jesus had informed them that he would be moving. He had told them that he would not remain in the tomb.

This Easter morning, we have come to church to look for Jesus. But is this his new address? The church is a good place to look for the Resurrected Jesus, because he is here. He is here in the Word of God, he is here in the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. He is here to receive our prayers and our praises. Yes, we do find him here.

And it is a good thing that we can find Jesus, because the world needs him! Sometimes it seems that the world is still stuck at Good Friday. This world is full of death, darkness, and despair. People need and want salvation, but they look in the wrong places, among the dead.

For example, people who are oppressed look for salvation by oppressing other people. People who feel weak bully others. People who want political freedom take hostages. But that is Good Friday type of thinking, as if the Savior were still in the grave.

Other people look for success in places that are filled with sin, greed, and crime. We look for happiness in things of this world and are often disappointed, or we trust people who disappoint us. And so, our hearts are often filled with doubt, fear and shame. We are looking for things in all the wrong places.

Remember what the angels said to the women: "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" And so we know that we must look for the living among the living. We must look for our Resurrected Lord among the living. He is not in the tomb in the cemetery; he is where people are alive. He is among the living because he is alive. Christ is with us because we are alive.

But the love of Christ is so great that it extends also to those who don't know where he is. He wants everyone to know where he is and so he sent his disciples to go out into the world. They tell people the Good News that Christ has arisen from the dead. And that is what we are doing today.

The angels asked the women, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" And we now reply that we aren't. We have found Jesus! He is alive and dwelling in our hearts. He makes our hearts alive. He makes our everyday lives to be really alive. We are alive with hope, love, joy, forgiveness, peace, and the fellowship of Christ and fellow believers.

We know the address of Jesus. But more important, he knows our address. He knows where we are and blesses us with the joy of the Resurrection.

Amen. Hallelujah! He is arisen! Amen!

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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