April 21, 2019 – Easter Text: Exodus 15:1-8
Dear Friends in Christ,
Do you like to play the odds? Odds of winning the multi-state power-ball? One in 185 million. If you are a high school baseball player the odds of making the majors? One in 6,600. Odds of being struck by lightning? One in 3 million. Odds of you listening to most every word of this sermon? One in 10. Take a look around who is that attentive human being?
The most important “what are the odds” question is this. What are the odds that a man, brutally beaten and then crucified by the Roman Empire, would come back to life? No one is going to let you lay odds on that because it is astronomical. But get this – it happened. It really happened! Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
The goal of this sermon is for us to profess Easter and to possess Easter. Easter happened. That’s profess. Easter is happening in me. That’s possess.
We wrap our Lenten sermon series today as we come to Exodus 15.
“AGAINST ALL ODDS!”
The drama begins in Exodus 1:11 when we are told the Egyptians would be the slave masters of the Israelites. They would make their lives bitter. But it gets worse. You may remember from the sermon on Ash Wednesday that the quota per day for the Israelites was 3,000 bricks – in the heat, all day, every day. It gets worse. When they flee the powerful Egyptian army chases them – there is going to be hell to pay. It gets worse. They complain to Moses, “Did you bring us out into this desert just to die?”
Just when they are up against the odds our text states, “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.” (v. 4) No wonder the Israelites sing in verse 2, “The Lord is my strength and my song and he has become my salvation.” This is the first Hallelujah. All of this is just a prelude and preview into the Bible’s greatest against all the odds story.
People opposed Jesus early in His ministry. Pharisees plot with Herodians. Detractors think he is demon possessed. Scribes test with Torah trivia. His brothers ridicule him. It gets worse. Christ will have hell to pay.
Once arrested, Jesus is bound, accused, blindfolded, and mocked. But it gets worse. They strip him naked and beat him into a bloodbath. But it gets worse. He is spiked to a tree for six hours. He is crucified, dead, and buried.
Just when everyone thought is was all over, the angel announced, “He is not here. He has risen just as he said.” Thomas for the ages, “My Lord and my God!” Against all the odds, Jesus lives. Hallelujah! Again our goal is to profess Easter. Easter happened. That’s profess. Easter is happening in me. That’s possess. What are the barriers to us possessing Easter?
Maybe you grew up in a family that didn’t work. Childhood is a haze and you are broken inside. Your parents divorced or one had a mental illness. Maybe you had a dad not around or a mom who controlled you. You feel the odds are against you.
Maybe you experienced a devastating loss. Your spouse died. Your marriage died. Your child died. Your mom died. Maybe for some of you your dreams died. You feel crushed. You feel as though the odds are against you.
Maybe you are crippled by a destructive habit. Always on your phone. Always critical of others. Gambling. Drugs. Work. Play. Your problems have you looking around and thinking the odds are against you.
Lee Capps knows about having the odds against him. He was flying with a pilot friend when that friend had a heart attack. It was Lee and the plane and an air traffic controller who told him, “Would you be interested in a flying lesson?” Lee Capps brought that plane in like a drunk duck. He was all over the place. He hit it hard. But Lee Capps walked away with only a few minor cuts. Later, the air traffic controller was interviewed and asked if he thought Lee would walk away alive. His answer, “Folks, Lee Capps made it against all odds.”
I know. God knows. You have a lot of stuff going on in your life. You are circling the runway and trying to land and your greatest fear is that you will crash and burn.
Let me remind you of two honest-to-God facts. Against all odds, Israel made it out of Egypt. Better yet, against all odds, Jesus Christ is risen today. We profess Easter with all our being. We also long to possess Easter with every ounce of our being.
Paul says we can. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Rom. 8:11) Through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, Easter can happen in us. God promises resurrection for everything that looks so lifeless, so hopeless, so dead! May the Holy Spirit make all of this real for you.
In John 14:19 Jesus puts it this way, “Because I live, you also will live.” Easter happened. That’s profess. Easter is happening in me. That’s possess. We live now and we will live forever. We have a word for all of this. What word would that be?
Hallelujah!
Amen.