20th April 2024 Easter Celebration Service - Yasmin Chaffer - The Bridge from Loss to Life

Thank you, Lord. Lord.

She's prepared this word, Lord, and you've spoken to her.

And Lord, we want to have our hearts open and

ready to receive. Speak to us, Oh God, we pray,

Fill us with your spirit, inspire us of God. We

pray in Jesus' name.

Amen, Good morning, and happy sir. Thank you. Our theme

this month is resurrection, hope, that hope that we have

because that which was dead, the one who was dead,

came back to life. Jesus, whose name means God saves,

is the son of God who died to pay the

price for our sins, a price which included separation from

the One True God, our Father in heaven. Then he

rose again, hallelujah. But between death and resurrection there can

be a gap. In Jesus' case, it lasted three days.

For us, it might not be literal death, but for example,

the gap between the death of a long held dream,

a new hope or direction. That gap can be painful.

And nowhere in the Bible are we invited to deny pain,

but to deny it the power to define us. We

are who God says we are in the Bible, and

his word is eternal. In the Old Testament, the book

of Lamentations focuses on suffering, loss, and hopelessness. To lament

is to feel intense sorrow, sadness, or grief. Then, in

Lamentations three twenty one we come to the verse with

which I wanted to start. That's Lamentations three twenty one.

But this I call to mind. Therefore I have hope.

But this I call to mind. Therefore I have hope. Interestingly,

the Hebrew word for hope also means to wait, and

by implication, to be patient, to expect. This I call

to mind. Therefore I wait patiently and expectantly, despite how

circumstances look. What do you call to mind that brings

you hope when it looks like all is lost. It

might be reminding yourself of God's character, of who he is,

and maybe his faithfulness in the past. You might remind

yourself of certain promises in the Bible, his word, maybe

that He's made to you personally, or perhaps through a

prophecy through someone else. But notice it's active on our part.

We get to choose what we call to mind. It's

our decision to call to mind whatever it is that

causes us to hope. Sometimes, depending on what we're dealing

with We just have to make it really simple for

ourselves and call to mind basic truths. For example, Psalm

twenty three and verse one, and I'll read it from

the classic amplified translation, Psalm twenty three, verse one. The

Lord is my shepherd to feed, guide and shield me.

I shall not lack. It doesn't matter what it looks like,

it doesn't matter what it feels like. I shall not

lack because, as it says in Numbers twenty three nineteen,

God's not a man, so he doesn't lie. He's not human,

so he doesn't change his mind. Therefore I shall not lack.

Because the Lord is my shepherd. That settles it. Someone

said to me recently that she knows she has a

tendency to overthink things. It's probably something that we can

all do at times, although some of us may have

more of a tendency to it than others. It's learning

and practicing to focus on the promises of God more

than what we see or think, and not overthink things.

But to keep it simple. That's not denial of the facts,

but the faith that the truth of God's promises has

the power to change the facts. But this I call

to mind therefore I have hope. So for example, the

Lord is my shepherd. I shall not lack. That settles it,

Jesus said in John ten verse eleven, and I'll read

it from the NIV. That's John ten, verse eleven. I

am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his

life for the sheep, and in verse eighteen, no one

takes it from me, but I lay it down of

my own accord. I have authority to lay it down

and authority to take it up again. This command I

received from my father, and this is what we celebrate

at Easter, Jesus obedience to our heavenly father to lay

down his life and take it up again. He died

to pay the price for our sins. Every time we

break the law of love, love God, love others, love ourselves.

As it says in Mark twelve thirty to thirty one.

When I say loving ourselves, I don't mean in a

self centered way, but in the sense of valuing ourselves

because God does. It's so important that we learn to

value ourselves the way that he does. Jesus is reason

that we have a bridge between loss and life, and

it's best expressed in what is probably the most famous

verse in the Bible, which is John three sixteen. Thank

you John three point sixteen. For God so loved the

world that he gave his one and only son, that

whoever believes in him shall not perish. That word means

to be destroyed or given over to eternal misery and hell.

Whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish, but have eternal life.

So this is what Jesus did. He had a last

meal known as the Last Supper, with twelve disciples, whom

he had chosen approximately three years earlier, after praying all night,

as recorded in Luke's six. They were to be his

closest companions and learn his ways. This was so that

they could teach others the truth about God, our heavenly Father,

who is love, and how to live his way in

this world before going to be with him forever. After dying,

one of those twelve judas betrayed him to the authorities,

which ultimately led to his death. The way that Jesus

was betrayed makes it even more painful. Matthew twenty six,

Verses forty eight to forty nine. That's Matthew twenty six,

forty eight to forty nine in the Christian Standard Bible

says his betrayer had given them a sign, the one

I kiss, he's the one arrest him. So immediately he

went up to Jesus and said greetings, Rabbi, which means teacher,

and kiss him. Just to clarify, kisses were used in

friendly greetings, including respectful greetings to one's teacher. For a

superior it might have been a kiss on the cheek

or even their fingering. Either way, betrayal with a kiss

was particularly evil. Jesus knows what it's like to be

betrayed by someone close to you, and that's why he

can help us and sustain us if we experience betrayal

by someone close. He's been there. Jesus was without sin,

so he can help us to deal with betrayal like

he did in a way that is healthy and doesn't

cause further problems, either for us or for anyone else.

We can forgive because he has forgiven us, he helps us.

We're actually instructed to forgive others as we have been

forgiven in various places in the Bible, such as Ephesians

four thirty two. It's also in the model of prayer

that Jesus gave to his disciples when they asked him

how to pray Matthew six point twelve. In one translation

the Complete Jewish Bible, Matthew six twelve says, forgive us

what we have done wrong, as we two have forgiven

those who have wronged us. The New Living Translation puts

it this way, forgive us our sins, as we have

forgiven those who sin against us. And it goes on

to say in verses fourteen to fifteen, if you forgive

those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.

But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will

not forgive your sins. That may sound harsh, but God

is just, God is love, and God is wise. Notice,

forgiveness is not a feeling, but a decision, and one

that we may have to make repeatedly, depending on the

seriousness of a situation and whether it's ongoing or the

impact of it is ongoing. If we don't forgive, we

hurt ourselves as well as others, because if unforgiveness is

left to fester, it becomes bitterness. The problem with bitterness

is the destructive emotional state it creates and its impact

on relationships, faith, and potentially even our physical health, our spirits,

our souls, our minds, and our emotions and our bodies

are all connected. So the health and well being of

one can definitely affect another. As I've heard it said,

do yourself a favor and forgive Jesus dealt with betrayal,

and with his help, so can we. After Jesus was arrested,

he was physically brutally beaten, as well as mocked and ridiculed.

This behavior violated all official ancient legal ethics, although in

practice abuse of prisoners was common. At dawn, Jesus was

brought before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council, to formulate an

official charge for Ponches Pilot Punches. Pilot was the Roman

governor of the province of Judea, who served from approximately

twenty six to thirty six AD, and Jerusalem was its capital.

Pilot presided over the trial of Jesus such as it

was so the Sanhedron brought Jesus before Pilot, and as

it says in Luke twenty three, verse two Luke twenty three,

verse two, they began to accuse him, saying, we found

this man leading our nation opposing payment of taxes to

Caesar and saying that he himself is the Messiah, the King.

It was a combination of lies and truth. Jesus was

not misleading the nation or undermining law and order, as

it says in the Message Bible. And he certainly didn't

oppose payment of taxes to Caesar. That's explicitly recorded in

Matthew twenty two. But yes, Jesus did say he was

the Messiah because he was, and is and eternally will

be the Christ, the one anointed of God. And he

didn't deny who he was. Jesus endured all this, including

the lies and the twisting of the truth, and therefore

help us if we're faced with anything similar. There are

promises in the Bible for us to help us to

deal with any and every situation that we might face.

It says, for example, in Psalm twenty three, verse eleven,

the mouths of liars will be silenced. I strongly believe

that the Lord wants me to mention here a word

that the Lord gave me for a friend not that

long ago, because it contains truth that is not just

for that person. I'm going to read from Isaiah forty one,

Verses ten to eleven and I'm reading from the amplified

translation Isaiah forty one, verses ten to eleven. Do not

fear anything, for I am with you. Do not be afraid,

for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Be

assured I will help you. I will certainly take hold

of you with my righteous right hand, a hand of justice,

of power, of victory, of salvation. Indeed, all those who

are angry with you will be put to shame and humiliated.

Those who strive against you will be as nothing. As

I was preparing, I noticed something that I hadn't seen before.

In verse eleven, all those who are angry with you

will be put to shame and humiliated are his present

sense will be is future. There's a gap between the two.

And going back to what I said at the beginning

about the bridge between death and resurrection, we bridge the

gap between present and future by holding on to the

truth of God's word that gives us that resurrection hope,

the bridge from loss to life. To be honest, the

bridge may be longer than we would like and feel

like one of those bridges that you may have seen,

for example, on TV, or even experienced that sway, But

actually there's nothing more sure the truth of God's word

will hold us secure and be the bridge that takes

us into his future. For us, we need to train ourselves,

with the help of the Holy Spirit, to walk by

faith and not by sight, as it says in two

Corinthians five, verse seven, back to Jesus trial, pilot called

the charges against Jesus baseless, but gave in to mob

rule and had Jesus severely whipped, scourged, and handed him

over to be crucified. He was nailed to the cross

by his hands and feet, and in Luke twenty three,

verse thirty four, Luke twenty three thirty four said, Father,

forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

Spiritually speaking, Jesus was carrying the weight of the sins

of the world. That's unimaginable if we just consider what

we know of sin in our world today, never mind

that of the centuries that have already passed, and even

our own. Let's be honest, Jesus was probably exhausted, having

been betrayed and arrested at night, physically beaten, mocked, taken

to the Jewish council at dawn, scourged, and crucified. So

in indescribable physical pain too. God alone knows how he

must have felt emotionally. Then he says, Father, forgive them,

for they do not know what they are doing. Jesus

knew all that he was going through was necessary, but

he was fully man as well as fully God. At

his lowest possible moment, Jesus asked for forgiveness for those

involved in his crucifixion because they have no idea of

the enormity of what they're doing. I would like to

suggest that the power of forgiveness is something that we

need to understand better. The more we choose to use it,

regardless of whether we feel like it, the better we'll

understand it. After Jesus' death, he was wrapped in linen

according to Jewish burial customs and laid in a tomb.

Luke twenty three fifty five to fifty six tells us

that the women who had come with him from Galilee

followed and saw where the tomb was. Then they returned

and prepared spices and perfumes, then rested on the Sabbath

according to the Commandment forbidding work. The NIV Cultural Background

Study Bible tells us that Jewish tradition allowed washing and

anointing corpses even on the Sabbath, but these women planned

to honor Jesus body more fully after the sabbath ended

Luke twenty four, verse one. Luke twenty four, verse one

in the Amplified Bible says, but on the first day

of the week, at early dawn, the women went to

the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared to

finish anointing the body. Bearing in mind that the women

would do what the women were dealing with emotionally, which

can be very tiring, they then got up early. If

you think of a running race, when the starter says,

on your marks, get so all the runners are as

ready as they can be to get going as soon

as they hear the word go. It seems to me

that these women were like that. The sabbath had ended

at sundown the previous evening, but it wouldn't have been

safe for them to go to the tomb before morning light.

They couldn't have got up and going any earlier than

they did, but such was their focus and desire to

honor Jesus, they were off as soon as they could be.

What does it mean for us to always be that

ready to honor Jesus. How do we honor him? I'll

leave that as a discussion question for table talk, but

as a starting point, I'm going to suggest that it

has to do with focus. Where is our focus as

we go about life? What drives us? What motivates it

says the spices were to dismiss that excuse me. The

spices were to diminish the odor of a decomposing body.

And as I understand, it offered an expensive way of

showing appreciation. The women had bought and prepared the spices,

spending no doubt, emotional energy as well as time and

money on doing something to honor Jesus that was never needed,

but it wasn't wasted. It's never wasted when we do

something to honor Jesus but it doesn't work out the

way that we intended or wanted. God always sees our hearts.

Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks

at the heart. As it says in One Samuel sixteen,

verse seven, God noticed the women's desire to honor Jesus.

It's recorded in his word, which is eternal and his life,

and it serves here as an example to Us. So

the women arrived at the tomb and found the stone

had been rolled back. A tomb would have been cut

out of rock and was often covered by a disc

shaped rock, maybe a meter in diameter, requiring a number

of people to move it. Such a stone lay in

a groove so could not be moved from the inside.

But the stone had been rolled away, and when the

women looked inside, they did not find Jesus' body and

went to tell the disciples. A couple of the disciples

went to see for themselves, then went home again. And

then we come to John twenty verses eleven to eighteen,

and we'll look at this in a little more detail

John twenty verses eleven to eighteen, and I'm reading from

the NIV. Now he stood outside the tomb crying. As

she wept. She bent over to look into the tomb

and saw too angels in white seated where Jesus's body

had been, one at the head and one at the foot.

They asked her, woman, why are you crying? They have

taken my lord away, she said, and I don't know

where they've put him. At this she turned around and

saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that

it was Jesus. He asked her, woman, why are you crying?

Who is it that you're looking for? Thinking he was

the gardener, she said, Sir, if you have carried him away,

tell me where you have put him, and I will

get him. Jesus said to her. Mary. She turned to

him and cried out in Aramaic rabonai, which means teacher.

Jesus said, do not hold on to me, for I

have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to

my brothers and tell them I am ascending to my

father and your father, to my God and your God.

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news I

have seen the Lord, and she told them that he

had said these things to her. So back to John

twenty verse eleven. Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying.

Mary stayed at the tomb and wept. She gave herself

time and space to grieve, regardless of what others were doing.

Avoiding pain can cause so many problems for people, far

greater than actually facing the pain itself. Mary gave herself

time and was real. She cried, and Jesus met her there.

For Mary, that was literal in a physical sense, but

Jesus will always meet us when we're real with him.

It may not be in a way that we're expecting

or in a way that we notice immediately, but he will.

The angels asked Mary why she was crying. John twenty,

verses thirteen to fourteen. They have taken my Lord away,

she said, and I don't know where they've put him.

At this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there,

but she did not realize that it was Jesus. Sometimes

we feel like we don't know where Jesus is in

a painful and difficult situation. Sometimes we don't recognize Jesus'

presence in the midst of difficult circumstances in particular, or

even in everyday life. We may not feel his presence,

but that doesn't change anything. We have his promise, his

word from Matthew twenty eight, verse twenty. And be sure

of this, I am with you always, even to the

end of the age, the Passion translation says, and never

forget that I am with you every day. John twenty,

verse fifteen. He asked her, woman, why are you crying?

Who is it that you're looking for? I read this,

you've probably heard the saying it's not what you know,

but who you know that is important. As a Christian,

you're most likely learning that this is true. Are you

searching for something more in your life? Jesus did not

ask Mary what she was looking for, but who whom.

He asked her whom she was looking for, and that

made all the difference. Knowing about Jesus is important, but

it is knowing Jesus, the risen Savior that is the

most valuable and important element of our lives. We need

to ask him to help us to know him more fully.

Back to verse fifteen. Thinking he was the gardener, she said, sir,

if you have carried him away, tell me where you

have put him, and I will get him. I can

only think that Mary didn't recognize Jesus because his resurrected

body looked so different, especially to the man who was

so badly beaten that he was unrecognizable. Jesus fulfilled all

prophecies in the Old Testament about the savior of the

world who was to come, and this includes the one

in Isaiah fifty two, verse fourteen, which says he was

so disfigured that he didn't even seem human and simply

no longer looked like a man. John twenty, verse sixteen.

Jesus said to her, Mary, I love this verse. I

came to love it after watching a passion play. When

the actor who was playing Jesus said Mary's name. There

was something in the tone of his voice that really

resonated with me. I just heard the love that was

expressed in that one word. There's something in Jesus speaking

Mary's name that tells us of relationship. Jesus knew her

on One of the first words that Jesus spoke after

he had risen from the dead was her name, Mary.

How special is that? I always hear the love in

his voice when I read that Jesus saying her name.

How do we hear his voice? I hope that we

hear the love in Jesus' name when he's in Jesus'

voice when he says our name. She turned to him

and cried out in Aramaic rabonei, which means teacher. In

her recognizing his voice, we see relationship. She knew him

when she heard his voice. John ten twenty seven says,

my sheep, hear my voice, and by implication, Jesus is

saying my sheep, no, my voice John twenty Verse seventeen,

Jesus said, do not hold on to me, for I

have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to

my brother's and tell them I am ascending to my

Father and your father, to my God and your God.

And this is why we have resurrection hope. The one

who was dead is risen, because he lives we live.

Verse eighteen. Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the

news I have seen the Lord, and she told them

that he had said these things to her. With whom

will we share the good news that Jesus is risen.

We need to be bold and we need to be wise,

and we have the Holy Spirit to help us to

be both and to trust him when God gives us

opportunities to share so our clothes. By summarizing with just

two points, firstly, Lamentation three twenty one, this I call

to mind, therefore I have hope. What do we call

to mind to take hold of hope? To keep hold

of hope? And secondly, holding on to the truth of

God's word gives us resurrection, hope, the bridge from loss

to life. I'd like to give Jesus the last word,

always a good thing to do from the Last Book

of the Bible in Revelation one eighteen. In the New

King James version, in Revelation one eighteen, Jesus says, I

am he who lives and was dead. And behold, look,

I am alive forever more. Amen. Let's pray, Father God,

how can we thank you enough for sending Jesus to

die for us. Because he lives, we live. Teach us,

help us, strengthen us to hold on to you and

your word regardless of circumstances, and live, really live in

hope and for your glory, because we ask it in

Jesus' name, knowing that you've heard us, because you've promised.

Thank you Lord, Amen.