Jesus Christ is Risen – He is risen indeed Hallelujah!
Happy Easter.
Today is Not St George’s Day. Lots of you think it is but it isn’t. And some of you are still thinking “It is! Its Always 23rd April – what nonsense is this! Of course it is St George’s Day.”
No it isn’t. This year St George’s Day is on Monday 28th April.
The Reason for this is because today is actually Easter Wednesday.
It doesn’t matter who you are, what sort of a saint you are, you are not more important than Easter.
The only reason George is a Saint is because of Jesus, because of The Resurrection and so for a week after Easter, no matter how great a saint you think you are, you take second place to Jesus.
It is in Jesus, in His life, his teachings, his miracles we see joy and wonder.
It is in Jesus in his death and sacrifice that we see both a role model for us to emulate – greater love has no one than this that they lay down their life for their friend –
but we also see a love that we cannot copy – Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the Sin of the World – you and I can’t take away our own sin let alone another’s. Here is the one who gives his life as a ransom for many.
St Paul explained Good Friday saying “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”.
So that in this moment of Christ’s death, we find that Jesus has taken our sin and guilt off our shoulders, placed it upon Himself, nailed to the cross, so that we might be free, free of sin, reconnected to ourselves, our souls, our maker sustainer redeemer and friend
And in the resurrection we find that Death is swallowed up in victory – O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory! But thanks be to God who gives us – you and me – the victory over death, over the grave – through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So you can see why, if only for a week, all saints bow before the empty tomb.
So George is only a saint because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So now, from the book of Joshua we are encouraged by God saying, as Jesus reminded us before His Ascension – I will never leave you nor forsake you, I will always be with you. Don’t be afraid, don’t be discouraged.
Three times in that first reading you heard the call, the command to Be Strong and Courageous. Be Strong and Courageous.
I’m not good at either of those. When I hear this command it sounds to me very much like the command to Not Look Down. When someone says Don’t be afraid. I’m suddenly extra nervous and wondering why and what I should be afraid about.
When this happens. What I have to do is to remember the encouraging words of God – I am with you wherever you go, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
This is a good prayer to pray when you find yourself angry because a train has been cancelled and now you need to find the Replacement Bus and you’re trying to stay calm.
This is useful when you’re waiting to go through for that Doctor’s appointment, ‘the Nurse will see you now’.
And so as you wait you remember – not the command to be Strong and Courageous, but the comfort that God is with you, I will never leave you nor forsake you, I will be wherever you go.
So ‘Be Strong and Courageous’. I can do this. Sometimes. I can stand up tall and walk into a meeting and say what needs to be said, but very often I find this difficult, and exhausting, and I have found that over the years I cannot do this in my own strength.
And so St Paul encourages us saying Put on God’s armour. Not your own. Your own isn’t very good. It will hold back some arrows for a while, but what you need is God’s armour; His assurance of salvation to protect your mind, His righteousness not your own self-righteousness but we need the Goodness of God to protect our hearts. This armour is all a gift from God – its His Peace, His Spirit, that is given to us so that we can stand, take a stand.
The scariest bit of this 2nd bible reading is the word When. When the day of evil comes. It’s as bold as the call to be Strong and Courageous. Don’t look down now. When the day of evil comes.
You can hear that both as a small personal matter, you know that day when you get a flat tyre and you’re whole day, week, month, just seems so exhausting –
Or you can hear it as a global worry – the Ecology warming up, the Economy cooling down, another idiot dictator threatening another country with war.
In either setting, you can cope with the stress and discombobulation in your own strength, you’ll be fine. For a while.
But what you need is to live in God’s Grace, with His armour – and to do that we need to pray, all sorts of prayers, my favourite prayer is “Help me Jesus”. I seem to pray this quite a lot these days. Wherever I am going, whatever I am walking into. It is a prayer that reminds me that God is with me, that God’s grace is going ahead of me, that God’s armour is ready.
When you wake up tomorrow, instead of saying – ‘Oh good Lord its morning!’ Try instead to pray – Good Morning Lord, where are we going today? Good morning Lord, where are we going today?
Because here in this prayer is the reminder that God goes with you, you are not forgotten, so Don’t be afraid, wherever tomorrow may take you.
This evening, we’re remembering the love and power of Jesus in His life, death and resurrection. Because it is all of that that gives George or for that matter you or I any chance of being a saint.
It is only in Jesus that we might find that strength and courage, so we pick up, by prayer, the armour, the gift of His grace, that He gives us, and we remember to keep it on by praying – Help me Jesus!
And Morning Lord, where are we going today?
Amen.