We CAN Start Again
Rev. Kenneth M. Locke, Interim Pastor
Orchard Park Presbyterian Church; Carmel, IN
April 20, 2025; Feast of the Resurrection
Let’s take just a moment to set the scene. Jesus is arrested on a Thursday evening. Between Thursday evening and Friday, he suffers a kangaroo court and is crucified. He dies on Friday afternoon and is placed in his tomb shortly before sundown, which is the start of the Jewish Sabbath. By then it’s too late to properly anoint the body with the funeral spices, so the women wait until Sunday morning to perform the proper burial rituals.
This is important. It tells us they have a relationship with Jesus. They care enough about him that even though he’s dead they want to do the right thing by him. Jesus is not a set of rules. He’s not a walking self-help manual. He’s a person they care about.
The women get to the tomb and find the stone covering it has been rolled away. They go inside and see two figures whose clothes are shining light lightning. Clearly, these are angelic beings. You see anyone in the ancient world whose clothes are shining like lightning, and you are in the presence of an angelic being.
The angels and the women have their conversation. The women go back to the men and the men don’t believe them. Bunch of nonsense. But Peter, at least, goes to check it out for himself. He finds the empty tomb and doesn’t know what to think.
Clearly, the disciples were not expecting this. They had no idea, no clue Jesus was going to be raised from the dead. Last thing in the world they were thinking of.
Pretty quickly, they accept Jesus is alive. Jesus comes to them, several times, and they accept he is alive. Flesh and blood.
Then, they have to figure out what it means. What does Jesus’ resurrection mean? What does it tell us about God? Why does the resurrection matter to us? Why should you and I care Jesus was raised from the dead?
I could talk about the resurrection from now until next Sunday and not cover everything. So, I’m not going to try. Instead, let me share a few reasons why Jesus’ resurrection matters. Why
you and I should take it seriously and be very thankful for what it means for our living now, today.
First of all, Jesus’ resurrection tells us God is stronger than death. God is stronger than death. Seems a no-brainer to me. A god who’s not stronger than death isn’t really a god. Our God is truly God. Our God is stronger than death.
Jesus’ resurrection also tells us God will raise us up. In God’s good time, God will raise us up from the dead, also. This is an insight the early church came to pretty quickly. God will raise us up from the dead, too.
And also, God loves us in this world and the next. God doesn’t stop loving us when we die. God raises us up from the dead and loves us for eternity.
Jesus’ resurrection tells us God is stronger than death. In God’s good time, God will raise us up from death. And God loves us in this life and in our life after death, just as God loves Jesus. Beloved, this is really good news.
But it doesn’t answer the question: what difference does the resurrection make in my life right here, right now? Yes, I’ll be with God in the next life, but what about this life? What difference does the resurrection make to me in the here and now?
Good question. Let me put it like this.
In 1971, Tim Rice and Andrew Loyd Webber released the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. Huge theatrical hit. Lots and lots of albums sold. And then, in 1973, the original Jesus Christ Superstar movie was released. There have been other versions since then. John Legend did a nice job as Jesus on TV several years ago. But for true believers, the 1973 version is still the best.
The movie was filmed with a small cast in the wilderness area of Israel. A bus full of hippies rolls into the desert. They climb out, and proceed to enact the last week of Jesus’ life. It’s very moving.
In the movie, after Jesus’ arrest but before his crucifixion, Mary Magdeline, Peter and the cast sing the song ‘Could We Start Again, Please?’ They are singing to Jesus. Could we start again? Please? Everything has gone south, it’s totally haywire, out of control. Could we start again, please?
Isn’t that the song we all sing? Isn’t that the song we all sing throughout our lives? Could we start this relationship again? Could we go back and kick our addictions? Could we let go of our anger and fear? Could we start again, please?
Even if you’ve never seen the movie, never heard the song, you know it. We all sing it. Could we start again, please? It’s the human anthem. Could we start again, please?
As the cast is standing on a barren hillside, singing, Jesus is walking across a desert valley. He turns and holds his arms out to them as they sing, inviting them to come with him. Inviting them to be in a real, loving relationship with him. Inviting them to embrace his lifestyle of self-giving love. He holds his arms out, inviting them to come with him and start again.
This is why the resurrection matters. The resurrection matters because it means we can, we can start again.
Friend, if you remember nothing else today, remember this. Write it on your bulletin. Send an email or a text to yourself. Remember this. Remember this. In Jesus, we can start again.
We don’t have to stay entombed in our anger and fear. We can have resurrected relationships. We don’t have to be held back by addictions. Whatever stones of isolation, worry or sorrow have sealed us in have been rolled away. Jesus’ resurrection is the sign we can have new life, abundant life, meaningful life here, now, in this world, today. We CAN start again.
The good news of God for us this day is God is stronger than death. God will raise us up. God loves us in this life and the next.
And, God is inviting us to be in a loving, meaningful relationship with Jesus. Learning message, embracing his lifestyle of self-giving love, we can start over. We can start again. We can come out of our tomb of misery and heartache and start again with lives of meaning and purpose.
Beloved, this is how much God loves us. Thanks be to God. Amen.
