One of the things I enjoy about living in the Atlanta area is there is so much to do and so much to see. Recently my family visited the Oakland Cemetery. We went there on the recommendation of a fellow pastor. I’ll admit I thought it a strange attraction to recommend. The Lewises aren’t exactly taphophiles or tombstone tourists. The World of Coke, the College Football Hall of Fame, or the Georgia Aquarium are attractions that are more suited to our taste. However, when I realized it was free to visit the Oakland Cemetery, I loaded my hesitant better half and skeptical sons into the car and away we went.
When we got there, I was pleasantly surprised. The Oakland Cemetery is beautiful. It is 48 acres of rolling landscape filled with oak and magnolia trees. But the main attractions are the grave sites. These are not just your standard ordinary tombstones either. There are these massive mausoleums, ominous obelisks, and intricately carved monuments. The formation of thousands of headstones in the confederate section where the Lion of the Confederacy sleeps was equally as impressive.
As we wandered around the cemetery, we stumbled upon a group of people engaged in some sort of social activity. It struck me as rather ghoulish, but apparently such activities are common in the Oakland Cemetery. This activity was called grapes and graves. (Best I could tell they were just looking for an excuse to pop a cork.) One of these cemetery socialites began to tell us about all the famous people who were buried in the Oakland Cemetery. We were told Margaret Mitchel was buried there. “Oooooo” we responded, acting like we knew who that was. Turns out she is the author of Gone with the Wind. We were told Bobby Jones was buried there. “You don’t say” we responded, again acting like we knew who that was. According to google, he was the greatest amateur golfer of all time. Finally, we were told Samuel Inman was buried there. “Really!?” we exclaimed, still pretending we were not completely oblivious to what this lady was telling us. Turns out Mr. Inman is known as “Atlanta’s First Citizen”, whatever that means.
The cemetery socialite must have realized she was talking to a group of ignoramuses because she eventually told us to just look around and we would see all sorts of different people who were buried there. And she was right. The place was full of politicians and activists, soldiers and civil servants, bankers and titans of industry, there were even more than a few preachers buried there. All sorts of people are buried in the Oakland cemetery: rich and poor, young and old, black and white, men and women. The Oakland cemetery is one of those places you can go and see the diversity of mankind. There is, however, one thing that all those people have in common. They are all dead. Every one of them. Even the preachers.
I know what you are thinking, "well happy Easter to you too, pastor!" Right? I know, I know, it doesn't seem like my morbid musings in the Oakland cemetery are an appropriate way to begin an Easter sermon. Easter is one of, if not the most joy filled days of the year. The smell of bacon from breakfast hangs in the air, families dressed in bright colors, children chasing after candy filled eggs. We get to sing alleluias again and shout "Christ is Risen!" "He is risen indeed!" But let’s not forget, the account of Easter begins with a trip to a cemetery, to a tomb where the crucified Christ was dead and buried.
In our Easter Gospel lesson, we read, “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.”[1] These women were not cemetery socialites looking for a good place to share a bottle of wine. They went to the tomb because their friend, Who they thought was the promised Messiah, had, three days before, been mocked and spit on, flogged and killed. They went there with spices to prepare His dead body before it did what all dead bodies do, that is rot and decay. These women went to the cemetery with hearts full of grief, they went to mourn the death of Jesus.
A trip to the cemetery might not be the happiest beginning to the Easter story, but it is where the story must begin. The story of Easter begins with death because our stories began with death. In his letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul describes humanity, all humanity, every single one of us; men, women, children, young and old, black and white, rich and poor with two worrisome words. Saint Paul used the words “perishable” and “mortal” to describe us.
We were “perishable”. Everyone over the age of 25 knows what it means to be perishable. It means we wear out, get weaker, and decay. Muscles are not as tone as they used to be, flesh gets flabby, skin becomes wrinkled, reflexes become slower, and minds are not as sharp as they once were. That is why they say, “getting old is not for wimps.” Physically we are perishable and, as if that were not bad enough, we were also spiritually perishable. Repeatedly in the Psalms, king David speaks of our corruption and vile deeds saying, “there is no one who does good.”[2] The prophet Isaiah called us unclean saying, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”[3] Because we were spiritually perishable people, there was nothing we could do or say to merit any goodness. Any good deed we performed might have had of some temporary benefit, but they had no eternal value. Indeed, they were not considered to be good deeds before God. Rather, God considered them corrupt and vile, unclean and filthy. As spiritually perishable people, all our thoughts, words, and action were perishable.
Saint Paul also described us as “mortal.” Meaning we are all going to die. Death has destroyed the mightiest kings and emperors. It has broken into every home and has taken its toll of every human family. It has robbed every one of its victims of all his earthly possessions. It has filled this world with futile tears and helpless groans, and it has inflicted pain on even the greatest of God's saints. Physically we were all mortal, and again, as if that were not bad enough, we were also spiritually mortal. The prophet Ezekiel described our spiritual mortality as a valley of very “dry bones”[4] In his letter to the Ephesians, saint Paul is far less poetic. He simply says that when we followed the ways of this world and gratified our desires, we “were dead”.[5] In both poetry and prose the image is clear. Our future held neither hope nor happiness. Rather, there was for us a fearful expectation of judgement and of a raging fire that will consume the spiritually mortal.
The cause of this perishable and mortal condition is sin. In verse 56 Saint Paul explains, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” Here, saint Paul explains that sin is like the tip of a spear that death uses against us. Paul tells us, sin gets its power from the law. God’s holy law demands perfect obedience and absolute compliance. Failure to do that which has been commanded or the audacity to do that which has been forbidden is to disobey and rebel against the Holy God and that is why we read in Ezekiel 18:4, “the soul who sins is the one who will die.” And in Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death.”
Because of sin, perishable and mortal is what we all were. Did you hear me? I said that is what we were. We were perishable. We were mortal. That is what we were, but it is not what we now are. The Easter story begins with death because our story began with death, but death is not where the Easter story ends.
Back in our Easter Gospel lesson we were told, the women arrived at the cemetery and discovered, “the stone rolled away from the tomb”[6]. When they entered the tomb, we were told “they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.”[7] As they were wondering about this, two angels appeared to them asking why they were looking “for the living among the dead?”[8] The angels told them, “He is not here; he has risen!”[9]
This is why I am able to say perishable and mortal is what we were and not what we are. The fact that the women did not find His body, the fact that He who once was dead is now alive, the fact that He is risen, changes everything. In his letter to the Corinthians Saint Paul explains. In verse 54 he writes, “54 Death has been swallowed up in victory.” In other words, Jesus chewed it up and spit it out. Jesus has deprived death of its most powerful weapon. He took our sin, all our sins; our failures to do what has been commanded and our audacity to do that which has been forbidden, He took our sins, all of them, upon Himself. Jesus became perishable and mortal in our place and death pierced His hands and feet with its most powerful weapon; it plunged the spear of sin into His side. Death delivered its mightiest blow, and yet three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. That is why Saint Paul is able to taunt this once mighty foe with the words of the prophet Hosea saying, “55 Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
Because Jesus has taken away our sin and defeated death, what we were is no longer what we are. In verse 57 Paul writes, “thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our God of grace gives us a gift. He gives us the victory that Jesus won for us and in so doing He changes what we are. Saint Paul spells this change out for us in verse 53 where he writes, “the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” We who once were described as perishable and mortal are now described as imperishable and immortal.
We are imperishable. For a time, our bodies will continue to wear out, get weaker, and decay. But there will come a time when our bodies will be changed. In Philippians 3:21 we are told that Jesus “will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Our physical bodies will be changed and as if that were not good enough, we are also now spiritually imperishable. Meaning we can produce what they call fruits of faith. Everything that we do as believers in our risen Savior, whether in word or deed, can now be done to the glory of God.
Saint Paul now also describes us as immortal. As I said, the story of Easter begins at a cemetery, but it does not end there and neither does your story. Yes, it is true, unless Jesus returns beforehand, we will all spend some time in a cemetery somewhere. But we will not spend our eternity there. In John 14:19, Jesus, our risen Savior, has promised, “Because I live, you also will live.” Physically, we are now immortal, and as if that were not good enough, we are also spiritually immortal. We now live a new life as sons and daughters of the heavenly Father. Hope and happiness fill our future as we look forward to the crown of glory that will be placed upon our heads.
As beautiful as the Oakland Cemetery is, I wonder what it will look like on the last day. When the graves of all who believe in Jesus as their Savior are forced to release their grip on the imperishable and death is no longer able to hold on to those who through the victory of the risen Savior are now immortal, can you imagine what a sight that will be? All who believe in Jesus as their savior, men, women, and children, young and old, black and white, rich and poor, ALL who believe in Jesus will be raised imperishable and immortal. Can you imagine what an attraction that will be? Maybe those cemetery socialites are onto something after all?
During the Sundays of Easter we are going to be celebrating the event that changes everything. Today we have focused on the realization that Easter changes what we are, how it changes us from perishable and mortal into the imperishable and immortal. Over the next several Sundays we are going to celebrate how Easter changes the way we speak to each other, how we live our lives, how we face death, the way we treat people, and where we find our joy. Over the next few weeks here at Messiah we will continue to celebrate Easter, an event that changes everything. I hope to see you here. He is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Amen.
[1] Luke 24:1
[2] Psalms 14&53
[3] Isaiah 64:6
[4] Ezekiel 37
[5] Ephesians 2:1
[6] Luke 24:2
[7] Luke 24:3
[8] Luke 24:5
[9] Luke 24:6