In a world of promises, it is often hard to know which ones we can count on and which ones may fall through.  Which ones will hold up and which ones, in spite of best efforts and intentions, will collapse.  I have come to believe, there is but one promise, given by one person, that has not changed in over 2,000 years, and it does not fail.

The most powerful and identifiable promise Jesus gave is found in John 11.  The encounter takes place between Jesus and Martha and precedes the incredible moment when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  Lazarus was the brother of Martha and Mary and when he came down sick, his sisters sent for Jesus.  Four days later Jesus arrived, but it was too late, Lazarus was dead.  The sisters were devastated and confused, maybe even angry and disappointed in Jesus.  They didn’t understand and Martha’s comment was “if only Jesus.”   

The power of Jesus’ promises as recorded in the gospel of John is that they are not to be taken only as some future hope or assurance.  It is not just about what is to come, it is about what is now.  When Jesus says, “I AM,” he brings the future to the present.  

Jesus’ reply to Martha and the conversation they then have speaks to the fact that God, through Jesus, is past, present, and future.  Instead of looking at the past, and dreaming about what might have been (but now can’t be), in this case Martha longing for her brother, Jesus first invites Martha to look to the future: Do you believe your brother will be raised?  (Future).  

Then, having looked to the future, he asks her to imagine that the future is suddenly brought into the present, or in the case of Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown in the blockbuster movie, Back to the Future, the future is brought back to the present. 

Jesus’ promise, I AM the resurrection and the life became central to early Jewish belief and continues to be foundational to our belief today.  Without it, Jesus was just another great teacher or historical leader but not the son of God. 

This means that the resurrection isn’t just a doctrine. It isn’t just something we think about, debate, or contemplate with academia.  It isn’t just a future fact.  It is a person and that person is Jesus.  It is a relationship.  It is understood in the heart just as much if not more than the head.  Jesus stood in front of Martha inviting her to take that leap of faith and trust his promise that he is the resurrection and the life.

The promises of Jesus place us alongside Martha and present us with an ongoing challenge: to exchange our “if onlys…” for an “If Jesus…”   
 
For example: Martha said, “Jesus, if only you had been here sooner.  My brother would be alive”  Jesus’ challenges her to instead ask, “If Jesus…”

• If Jesus is who he says he is…what shall I fear?
  
• If Jesus is the one who was promised by the prophets…then why do I doubt?
  
• If Jesus is God’s own son, the one in whom the living God is present…then is there anything he can’t do?
  
• If Jesus is resurrection in person and life come to life…then why do I question?
  

What “if onlys” do you bring today?  

• If only I had said something…done something.
  
• If only I had kept my mouth shut.
  
• If only they had caught the cancer sooner.
  
• If only I had done more.
  
• If only I was a better parent, son/daughter, spouse.
  
• If only I knew what to do.
  
• If only I had more money. More time.  More energy.
  
• If only they had gotten help. 
  
• If only I had seen the signs. 
  

What are OUR collective “if onlys”? 

• If only our leaders would listen to understand.
  
• If only the violence would stop.
  
• If only there wasn’t so much division.
  
• If only there was a Chick-Fil-A on this side of town!
  
• If only there was a Texas RoadHouse.
  
• If only there was even a small grocery store! 
  
• If only we would love like Jesus. 
  
• If only we could find peace.
  
• If only we knew what to do.
  

What would happen if we exchanged those “if onlys” for “if Jesus” and we held tight to his promises?  

• If Jesus is the resurrection and the life…who does that make us as his followers? 
  
• If Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life…why don’t we trust Him?
  
• If Jesus taught us a better way…why are we afraid to live it? 
  
• If Jesus commanded us to love…why do we so easily choose hate?  
  
• If Jesus so loved the world…why do we make it so complicated? 
  

Jesus promised I am the resurrection and the life.  Two weeks ago we stood with the women at the empty tomb and proclaimed that good news: “He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed.”  Last week, we were reminded that every week is our metaphorical wilderness experience.  What “if onlys” did you experience in your wilderness this past week?  If only I had made that call.  If only I had remembered my list.  If only I wouldn’t have answered.  If only I hadn’t lost my temper.  If only I had more sleep.  If only my body would work like it used to.  The wilderness is a place of “if onlys.” But that also means that every Sunday is our Little Easter.  Our day to remember and exchange that “if only” for “if Jesus.”  

Today church, I ask you to hold tight to the promise of Jesus and consider what that means for the faith promise you make to Jesus. 

​Pastor Jenothy Irvine

It’s been said that people, in general, live much of their lives with this idea of “just getting through.”  It’s an escapist drive and for those who work through the week, it is a drive toward the weekend, thinking those two days will fulfill all of our needs and dreams. More sleep. Less stress.  More time to work on those assignments. Less pressure.  A chance to have clean clothes again. A chance to spend time with people we like. Time with God.  Time away.  Just time. 

And then…Monday rolls around.

I think our walk through the season of Lent is kind of like that.  We prepare our hearts in eager anticipation of Easter. We reflect on the cross and its significance. We feel the weight of Maundy Thursday, the heartache of  Good Friday, the silence and loneliness of Holy Saturday.  We know the waiting and longing we feel for the discovery of an empty grave and a risen Savior.  And then it comes. He comes, and we proclaim, “He is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!”  

But  then… it’s Monday.  Then Tuesday.  Then Wednesday.  And before we know it Easter is gone and it's just a regular Sunday (or for us at Grace, a regular weekend of worship).  We somehow forget it all til next year. 

The excitement is gone.  The hype is over.  And we are left with a tired staff, leftover candy, plenty of open seats and parking spots, and some would say, the relief of not having to go through it all again for another year. Easter kind of wears us out but it’s also unfortunate because “the other shoe has yet to drop.” (Ken Sehested) 

The temptation is to treat Easter like it’s an ending and now it’s back to “normal - regular life” yet Easter is not the conclusion.  Just as our faith does not end with Good Friday crucifixion, neither does it end with Easter resurrection.  I love how one author put it, “We may be exhausted, but the New Testament story is not”. (KH)  We may be exhausted, church, but the ‘good news’ of Jesus is not. 

We have become so acquainted with and desensitized to the story;  so comfortable in our comfort zones, and accustomed to our customs that we need Easter to shake us back up.   Nothing was the same ever again. Or as one author put it, “When a man who claims to be God rises from the dead, “business as usual” isn’t a thing.” (Patreeya P)  Easter isn’t just a time to pause and reflect on some nice truths we tend to forget about the rest of the year. It is the entire crux of our faith. 


Remember that other shoe I mentioned a moment ago?  This is what I meant: the resurrection of Jesus is the pivotal moment in the God story, but there is another act to follow.  If we leave Easter behind or treat it like it's over / the end, then we might as well say Easter is about spring fashions, colorful eggs, chocolate bunnies, the number of services one church can put together in a week, or whether or not this year’s easter sunday was better than last!.

Think of your favorite movie.  One that really gets ya - speaks to you - means something and you could watch it over and over again.  Got it?  Ok, now imagine you only saw the first half - just enough to get you interested, intrigued, or inspired and then - that’s it, it's over, the end, no conclusion, no resolution, no finding out how the story ends, no lasting impact. 

It’s not the end.  If there was ever a time when we needed a reset button; a begin again, do-over button, it is now.  If there ever were situations we need  a come to Jesus moment - a come back to the basic truth and start again, it is the many situations we find ourselves in today.  If there was ever a time for the forgiveness, compassion, faith, hope, and the peace that Christ came to give, died to secure and rose again to establish, it is now.  It’s today: the day another shooting took place at a school, a bank, or a tight knit neighborhood.  It’s today: the day another soldier paid the ultimate price. It’s today: the day another child is bullied at school or abused at home and can’t think of any other way out but death by suicide.  It’s today: the day a tornado hits just 6 miles from our backyard.   It is every day and that is why this post Easter time is called Eastertide.  

It is the time we live into the Easter promise Jesus gave us through his ultimate act of love and sacrifice.   It is the time to not only remember but to live into what the radical death, relentless love and revolutionary power of our God means for every day of our lives, not just Easter Sunday. 

How are you…how are we like those disciples hiding out of fear, not trusting Jesus’ word?  Afraid of failure?  Judgment?  Uncertainty?  Worried we don’t have anything to offer?  Scared we are too young, too old, not enough?  How many of us are still waiting behind locked hearts and minds waiting for proof?  “Show me your hands and feet Jesus.”  He did dear church, he did.  

Every week is our chance to live the Easter story.  To grow in our example of what it means to follow Jesus; to carry out what he taught, modeled, and commanded.  Every week is our small-scale lenten journey.  It is our six days in the wilderness: facing the struggle that is oh so real, navigating the unknown and uncertain aspects of our lives, and making our way through the metaphorical deserts and storms that await us in this world.  Oh but the good news church, the good news is that every Sunday is our little Easter.  Our day to once again porcelain “He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed!”   

Pastor Jenothy Irvine

I don’t know if you have ever noticed, but on the first Easter morning everyone is running. In John’s Gospel, we read how there is a great deal of dashing about. Note how folks were racing to and from the tomb.
First, there is Mary Magdalene. She is first to arrive at the tomb and she sees how the stone in front of the tomb had been rolled away. But what does she do? She starts running. Not that she believes at this point, that comes later, but in the darkness of the morning, she begins running back to tell the rest of the disciples that Jesus’ body is gone (20:1).
But as she is sprinting back, she meets Peter and the one who is called the beloved disciple. She tells them what she had seen, or didn’t see, and then they break out into a run.
Mary is running away from the tomb, but now Peter and the beloved disciple are running to the tomb.
John says that these two disciples didn’t just run together, they ran against each other. In fact, they get into some sort of footrace, sprinting – one gaining on the other, and then other falling behind and gaining again – but toward what?
Some scholars suggest that there was some kind of rivalry between Peter and the beloved disciple. John says that it is Peter who is the leader of the disciples, the one who is ready to speak up on most occasions, but that it was the beloved disciple, whoever he was, maybe John himself, who seemed closet to Jesus’ heart.[1]
Whatever the case, they ran to see who would arrive first.
Yet, surely, there is something within them telling them that, in this strange moment, they are running toward some new, some different possibility, a future that was arriving faster than they were running. Can you imagine running toward something like that?
Easter is that moment when we find ourselves running! Yes, we run to and from all kinds of things, but on Easter we run toward Christ, toward the One who meets us in unexpected ways, just long enough to surprise and slow us down, toward the One who wants to call us by name and greet us with a new hello!

Pastor Andy Kinsey

           At the beginning of the most important week in the Christian faith, we are at that inflection point where the cheering crowds along the streets of Jerusalem will stop, giving way to a jeering mob. The memories of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee will fade as the forces of political and religious power collude to eliminate him in Jerusalem.
          An overnight sensation in Galilee, Jesus will now face his biggest challenge yet. In Galilee, people knew Jesus for his healings, his feeding the multitudes, his teachings, his miracles; he captivated rich and poor alike. Yes, there were those who opposed Jesus, but it was typically in the context of argument, which was a Jewish way of seeking what God was doing in the light of the law and the prophets.
         Those images, however, fall away as Jesus rides through the gates of Holy City on a colt and a donkey (21:30.) The crowds are shouting, “Hosanna in the highest,” or “God saves,” with palm branches and cloaks before him. Excitement is in the air. There is this expectation that something big is going to happen, but what? God will save, true, but from what?
          The cheering did not last long. The tide against Jesus begins to turn, as Matthew indicates, with the city “in turmoil” (21:9). Indeed, there seems to be confusion as to who Jesus is. Even the religious leaders are asking, “Who is this man?” whose caravan stops traffic and upends business. Yet, the crowds are quite clear that the man on the donkey is a prophet from Nazareth in Galilee (21:11).
           Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the religious leaders become more open in their attacks against Jesus: they see how the crowds are reacting, and they are fearful of how Jesus might excite them. It is Passover, after all; the city is already abuzz.
      Palm Sunday is the day when the Passion of Jesus begins. It is a time that ushers in Holy Week. In terms of our discipleship, it is a time of saying goodbye to the old ways and hello to the new, noting the cost of it all: Jesus’ life. Palm Sunday is a time of turning and realizing what the love of God encompasses – a cross and a tomb, God’s ultimate goodbye. 

Pastor Andy Kinsey