Today I want to take just a few moments in the midst of our Easter celebration and talk to you about hope because the hope that we have as believers in an empty tomb and the risen Savior is far different than the hope this world offers.
The world’s hope is synonymous with wishful thinking and flights of fancy. As citizens we place a lot of hope in our government. We founded this country on the premise that all people are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable right such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Overall, I would say our government does a pretty good job of preserving our rights, yet each year thousands of our citizens are murdered, enslaved, and persecuted. Our government does a pretty good job, but let’s face it, it’s not great.
As workers we place a lot of hope in our economy. The ability to have a job and make a livable wage is largely dependent on our economy. Here again we are blessed to live in one of the most prosperous nation on the planet. Yet every investor knows our economy is susceptible to little hiccups as the price of stocks go up and down. If enough stocks go down, then a bull market quickly becomes a bear market. If a bear market last long enough then our economy is plunged into a recession or depression.
As patients we place a lot of hope in vaccinations. I don’t know if you noticed but this last year the corona virus caused a bit of a kerfuffle. Schools and offices, stadiums and theaters, restaurants and taverns were closed as people isolated from each other in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. The big pharmaceutical companies have created vaccines that will hopefully allow us to all get back to normal. The vaccinations that have been created sound impressive and promising. However, they are still only estimated to be possibly between 72%-95% effective. That’s not bad but it is less than 100%.
As citizens, workers, and patients, we place a lot of hope in things like governments, economies, and vaccinations even though there is no guarantee that any of these things will be able to do what we hope they will do. Can you imagine if you approached your salvation with that kind of hope? One day we will all stand before the judgement seat of the LORD God Almighty where we will be assigned our eternal home either in halls of heaven where the angels sing and the saints rejoice, or the pits of hell where the demons scream, and the sinners suffer. Can you imagine standing before the judgment seat of the LORD God Almighty with the same kind of hope you have for the governments, economies, and vaccinations of the world? Do you really want your eternal salvation to be based on a hope that’s not great, susceptible to hiccups, and less than 100% certain? I don’t! And I don’t think you do either.
Yet sometimes it kind of looks like we are willing to settle for a less than certain hope when it comes to our salvation. We know that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God[1] and we know that the wages of sin is death[2]. I could march through the ten commandments to convict you of this truth, but I am sure your conscience can do a better job convicting you than I can. You know what you have done or failed to do, and you know what you deserve as a result. You know if The LORD God Almighty is going to let you into His heaven something needs to be done about your sin. You could try to balance the scales of righteousness by doing more good things than bad things in the hopes that your good will outweigh your bad. You could surround yourself with terrorist, child traffickers, and drug lords in the hopes that compared to them you won’t look so bad. Or you could try to justify your sin by explaining to God why your sin isn’t as bad as He says it is and pointing out that various excuses and reason why you had to do what you did. The problem with doing good deeds to get you into heaven is you will always have to wonder if you have done enough. The problem with comparing yourself to others is you will always have to wonder if there is a big enough distinction between you and them to make a difference. The problem with trying to justify your actions is you will always have to wonder if God is going to accept your excuses. You could approach the judgement seat of the LORD God Almighty with this kind of hope, but it’s a not great, susceptible to hiccups, and less than 100% kind of hope. Saint Paul says if we approach the judgement seat of the LORD God Almighty with this is the kind of hope, “19… we are to be pitied more than all men.”
We get a sense of what that kind of hope looks like in our gospel lesson from Mark 16. There we see three pitiful women on their way to the tomb where Jesus’ dead body was laid. They were carrying spices to anoint the corpse of the one they had hoped was going to secure their salvation. He spoke to them about heaven; He called it His “Father’s house”. He said, “in my Father’s house are many rooms” “I am going there to prepare a place for you.” He had told them that He was “the way, the truth, and the life”; that because they were with Him, they would be welcomed into His Father’s house.[3] He had filled them full of hope, but three days ago, they watched in horror as the Jewish Sanhedrin condemned Him and Roman soldiers crucified Him. They had put their hope for salvation in Jesus but now that hope was buried behind the boulder that sealed His tomb and they wondered, “Who will roll the stone away?”[4].
However, when the pitiful women arrived at the place where Jesus’ dead body had been buried, things were not as they expected. The boulder had been rolled away and the tomb was wide open. The women entered the tomb and were promptly greeted by an angel. The angel said, “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.”[5] He is not here; He is not dead and buried and neither is your hope. He is risen; He is alive and well and so is your hope. The one who said that because you were with Him you would be welcomed into His Father’s house where a place has been prepared for you, He is alive and fully prepared to keep that promise.
My dear friends, these were not pitiful women, and we are not a pitiful people. It is true, If Jesus’ bones were buried in a cave somewhere outside of Jerusalem, then there would be no hope. But Jesus’ bones are not buried. His bones, along with the rest of His body, have been raise back to life. He is very much alive and doing rather well as He sits at the right hand of His Father in heaven.
As the angel told the women, saint Paul says to you and to me, “20 Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Saint Paul proclaims to us that Jesus has indeed been raised from the dead and did you notice what saint Paul called Him? He called Him the firstfruits. When an Israelite offered God the first grain from his harvest, he was acknowledging that God was the source of all his blessings. Not only was the giving of the firstfruits an expression of gratitude but it was also a demonstration of confidence that there would be more fruit to come. By calling Jesus the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep saint Paul is saying that Jesus is the first one to rise victorious over sin, death, and the devil, but He certainly will not be the last.
Because you see, Jesus has made some hopeful promises to you as well. When Jesus was on the cross suffering for your sins, He said, “it is finished”[6] meaning your debt of sin has been paid in full. That means those things you have done or failed to do have been forgiven. That means the something that needed to be done about your sin in order for the LORD God Almighty to let you into His heaven, that something has been done. You don’t have to worry about balancing the scales of righteousness, Jesus has balanced them for you. You don’t have to worry about being the best-looking sinner, Jesus has made you a saint. You don’t have to worry about justifying your actions, you have been justified by Jesus’ actions.
Your salvation is not based on something you need to do. Your salvation is based on something Jesus has already done, namely He paid for your sins with His death on the cross and He proved your salvation with His resurrection from the dead. As a result, you approach your salvation with a different kind of hope than the world offers. You don’t have: a not great, susceptible to hiccups, and less than 100% kind of hope. Your hope is a certain hope because your hope is built upon an accomplished fact. Your hope is built on an empty tomb and a risen Savior.
One day you will stand before the LORD God Almighty and you will be assigned to your eternal home. Because Jesus has risen from the dead as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, you will not stand before the LORD God Almighty and nervously hope that He will let you into His heaven, rather you will stand before the LORD God Almighty and confidently hope that you will be assigned to the place where the angels sing, and the saints rejoice. Because the tomb is empty and Jesus is risen, you approach your salvation with a certain hope. He is risen! He has risen indeed! And someday so will you. Amen.
[1] Romans 3:23
[2] Romans 6:23
[3] John 14:1-7 Jesus made these promises on Maundy Thursday, the day before He was crucified.
[4] Mark 16:3
[5] Mark 16:6
[6] John 19:30