“Everyday”

As we continue to experience the Word of the Lord together,
let us pray.

Almighty God, God of life, continue to sustain us so that we might know life, and therefore know you. If these words are not Your Word, may they be forgotten and come to naught. But if they be Thy Word, may they adhere to our hearts, forever transforming us from glory into glory, into the creatures you would have us be, Thou who art our Rock and Redeemer. Amen.

Hear now The Word of the Lord as it comes to us in the gospel of John. Listen for God’s Word to you today.

John 15.7-11:

⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. ⁹As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

The Word of the Lord…Thanks be to God.

You know, there are several great things about preaching every week. I get asked those kinds of questions by friends, especially friends from my past, like high school friends or college friends. My best friend from college recently got in touch with me, and his email was worded like this, and I quote, “Does preaching every week feel great, or exhausting? And YOU moderate a session,…” And I responded that I rather like preaching every week, though preparing for and preaching the week after Easter is a bit tiring. I wrote that one of the great things about regular preaching is the feeling that I don’t have to cover the whole truth every week. Not that I could, as if I could say something in 15 minutes that would completely encapsulate life, the truth of God, and our eternal existence. If anyone tells you they can do that in 15 minutes, then it ain’t worth listening to, not even the 15 minutes. So, there is a freedom knowing that I can and should contradict myself from time to time, because with God, there are always two sides to any story, and nothing is so simple as to be one way. The rhythm of preaching is like adding layer upon layer of lacquer on a grand piano. Just one will not do, you’ve got to cover it over and over, in different directions, in different manners, to get the job done.

Last week, I said that resurrection is natural, and life springing out of death is the natural state of affairs. I said this for three reasons. One, it was Easter. Two, its true. And three, it insinuated the connection that because God is a God of life, there was no other way to have it. But today is a new week. So, I get to contradict myself, at least a little bit. It’s not that I have changed my mind, it’s just that I believe what I said then, and what I say today are simultaneously true. So, with that in mind, I’m asking you to stick with me today.

Last week, as all Easter Morning Celebrations are, was awesome. It felt like a culmination of all the preparation and spiritual fasting we had been doing during Lent. And because it came after the wonderful Palm Sunday service, and the Holy Week observances, it felt to me like an explosion of emotion and celebration. Many of you said the same kind of comments to me after the service and then throughout the week. Several people said, “When the choir was singing the anthem, I got chill bumps.” Me too. A few people also said something to the effect of, “I felt like saying ‘Amen’ or ‘Alleluia’ or ‘Praise God’ a few times during the service.” To which I say, “Since when are we shy about that here.” Then I received a couple of interesting comments to which my reply was different. A few of you said something to the effect of “I wish every Sunday was Easter Sunday.” And what I say to that is this, Not only is every Sunday Easter Sunday, but every day is Easter. I have heard tales of an Anthem sung well before Jeremy’s time or my time, where we assert that we are Easter People, that every day is Easter. Certainly there is something too that, Every day is Easter.

Last week, as I said, I asserted that resurrection is natural. Which it is. But, we must also understand this. This realm, this world we live in is about half a step away from being hell. Which is not the way you’ve heard me normally talk. But, define hell in your mind. There are as many pictures or definitions as there are people here, probably. The one I think of is that hell is death. Hell is death and destruction. Since the definition of sin is also death, this is where we get the correlation that sin equals hell. You may or may not agree with this, and that is alright. You are free to disagree with me. There’s a first time for everything, right? But, before you dismiss this too quickly, know that I am not condemning the world. I’m not trying to say that the world is awful. I am just trying to point out what is. The world is a realm in which death and sin, and therefore hell, reigns.

You all know that death is linked to darkness. Darkness works different than light. Darkness does not penetrate, it envelopes. For darkness to exist, there must be an absence of light. There is no such invention that I know of yet like a flash-dark, a point I brought up in the children’s sermon a little while ago. Light penetrates, but for darkness to exist, all light must be absent.

So too it is with death. For death to exist, there must be an absence of life. When we realize that there is death and sin in this world, it should scare the living daylights out of us. And for some of us, it does. To live in this world is to taste hell, and to at least know what it is like.

If this world is the realm where death reigns, and let’s face it, who among us here is not going to die? Who among us hasn’t tasted death, in some form? Maybe it is the death of a loved one, or perhaps the death of a particular desire or even dream. If we are honest, we’ve all traveled that road, in some form, on occasion. If that is true, then the fact that we are allowed to exist in this realm at all, the fact that we are alive and are allowed to experience life in this world, is pure grace. The fact that we experience life at all in this world is proof of the fact that life defeats death. We are allowed to cheat death. You know that there is grace in that. And if the finality of eternal life that is ours in Jesus Christ is the reward, than the fact that we experience life now show us a foretaste of the kingdom of God. Therefore, we experience heaven on earth.

Everyday life is defeating death, simply the fact that you and I are here and alive is proof of that. God is defeating death in the fact that we live, in the fact that flowers grow, in the fact that there are good things amidst this world. Every day is Easter.

When we look at Easter as defined as God’s victory, defined as the victory of life over death, we must proclaim that Every day is Easter.

Okay, confession time, when I was in college, I strayed. I tried to be faithful, but I couldn’t. The Presbyterian Church caddy-corner to our school was referred to as the tomb, for a couple of reasons. I tried the Methodist Church, a Pentecostal Church, I even tried not going to church, but none of that fit. So I went to the A.M.E. church. African Methodist Episcopal. I was usually the only white child of God in attendance at the 8.30 service. I had to go to the 8.30 service, for if I went to the 11.00 service, I wouldn’t be out by the time that they stopped serving lunch in the school cafeteria. The Sunday School teachers at that church had the easiest job known to humans. They only taught on Sunday’s that the early service let out in time to start class, 9.30. We usually had a struggle trying to end by 11.00 so the late service could start on time. I once heard a woman sing a 15 minute version of “Jesus Loves me, this I know.” I didn’t think you could make that song last 15 minutes, but you can. And it was wonderful.

Anyway, we’re going to go A.M.E. today, and try a little congregational participation. Practice this with me, “Every day.” Let me hear you say it. How’s about with some feeling, Presbyterians. I’m not asking for a “Praise the Lord,” or “Amen,” or “Well.” Let’s show em that Presbyterians can get excited too. Every Day. How often does God defeat death? … What day is Easter? … How many days of the week does God love us? … How often does God sustain us? … How often will you give thanks to God for all God’s goodness? … How often? … Does God love you? … Did God love you yesterday? … Will God love you tomorrow? … How often will God’s people give praise? … How often?

And all of God’s people, every day, will say, Alleluia, Amen.