Sunday, April 6, 2026… The Resurrection of Our Lord
“The Road We’re On that Ends in Glory”
A Hymn Service for the Resurrection of Christ, with Holy Communion
Scripture Readings: Psalm 16; Acts 10:34-43; Colossians 3:1-4; Matthew 28:1-10
Hymns: “The Lamb” #547; “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today” #457; “Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds” #463; “Crown Him with Many Crowns” #525; “He Is Arisen! Glorious Word” #488; “I Know That My Redeemer Lives” #461; “He’s Risen, He’s Risen” #480
Dear Friends in Christ,
Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and from our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Do you believe God speaks to us in dreams? I do! Whatever it takes to get our attention, right? It worked for Jacob, and for David, and for Abraham, and for father Joseph in the Christmas story. God spoke in dreams to St. Paul, and St. Peter, and St. John, and to others; so why not to us?
I had a dream like that earlier this week, and not an awfully pleasant one. In my dream, there was a creature of some kind, sort of human, but not really, that came to kill me. Whatever it was, it was evil, dark, and black, and much stronger than me. The thing was crushing me; I couldn’t breathe, and I was sure I was going to die. And then something told me, in this dream, to call out to Jesus. So that is what I did: Lord Jesus, help me! Jesus, save me! And the thing, whoever or whatever it was, let me go and was gone. Some dreams you don’t remember when you wake up, but not that one. Some dreams make no sense and are hard to figure out, but not that one. I get the point, Lord; I do get the point.
This road we’re on, this life we’re all living, isn’t easy. This world can be such a scary and dangerous place. There’s a reason the 23rd Psalm calls this place “the valley of the shadow of death.” Sin is real, and evil is real; and the devil, if he could, would smother us all. And yet, blessed children of God that we are, “Call out to Jesus” will always and forever be our saving grace. “Resist the devil and he must flee.” “At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow.”
So, says St. Paul, in our reading from Romans: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” The word for confess – homologeo in the Greek - means “I assent, I agree.” So what God says, I believe to be true. If God says I’m a sinner, I agree that I am. If God says Jesus died for the sake of my sin, I agree that it’s so. If God’s Word says Jesus lives, that I may live also, I also confess with great joy that that is true. And if God says I’m loved, forgiven, and saved, by the blood Jesus shed for me, who am I to disagree?
Salvation, says Paul, is first by the heart and then by the mouth: “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” If you believe in your heart in this wonderful Resurrection story we’re talking about today, then by your faith you have been justified; that is, made right with God. And if your faith is real and true, then out of your mouth, as natural as breathing, will come the good confession that “Jesus Christ is Lord.” With your heart your believe in Him, and with your voice you acknowledge Him.
And that, folks, is what it means to be part of God’s kingdom and part of His holy Christian Church. Jesus says, “Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will acknowledge before My Father in heaven; but whoever disowns Me, I will disown before My Father in heaven.” And St. Paul says in another place, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes.”
Paul goes on, here in Romans, “As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.’” That word for “ashamed” means embarrassed, dishonored, made to blush, exposed for what you’ve done, for everyone to see. Jesus says in John’s Gospel, “Whoever loves evil won’t come into the light, for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” But trust in Him – trust in His cross for forgiveness and pardon, and trust in His Resurrection for the promise of life -- and God will “forgive your wickedness and remember your sins no more.”
“For there is no difference,” says Paul, “between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him.” This is something we need to be clear on, on this Easter morning: This Christian Church isn’t some exclusive club that you have to check off the right boxes to qualify for. There are no forms to fill out, no test you have to pass. You don’t have to be “one of the right people” to qualify for membership. Jesus died for everyone without exception, including you. God loves all His children, and you are one; don’t ever let anyone tell you different. God’s grace is for you, His love is for you, His gifts are for you -- yours for the asking whenever you call out for help in His name. All who believe, and make the good confession, are brothers and sisters in Christ and part of this family of God, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
This is why it’s so important that “confess with your mouth” should follow after “believe in your heart.” Faith comes by hearing! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! That’s some great news; the greatest Good News, in fact, in the history of creation. Jesus’ disciples saw Him alive, after He’d been crucified and buried and written off as dead. They saw Him, heard Him, touched His scars, and found Him to be warm. And Jesus sent them into the world to let the whole world know He lives. Person to person, Sunday to Sunday, Easter to Easter, that Good News has been passed down through the years; and now I’m blessed to bring it to you once again on this Easter Sunday morning. May the Lord move you to open your mouth and pass it on. Your feet can be beautiful, too!
St. Matthew tells us in our Easter Gospel: “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.” Oh, evil was a heavy thing, like a bad dream. Jesus, God’s own Son, the Lord of love and life and mercy, had been murdered before the eyes of the world, hung on a cross to die in a public place, and buried in a tomb; roll the stone in place and walk away. The devil Himself, dark and black and evil, had done his very worst to suffocate our hope forever. Where would we be without Jesus to call out to?
When the Mary’s went out to look at the tomb, their souls were crushed. They had no hope of doing anything but what little they could do, giving His body a little care, the last thing they could do for Him. And even then, that awful, heavy stone was in their way, a stone they hadn’t the strength or power to move on their own.
“There was a violent earthquake,” our Gospel says, “for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat upon it.” That earthquake was the result of every evil thing in this world being shaken. God’s holy angel came down from heaven and moved that stone like it was nothing at all, and took a seat upon it, pretty as you please. Imagine, a bright, shining angel sitting there on a tombstone, calm as calm could be.
The guards were paralyzed with fear, and who could blame them? They’d been assigned to guard a tomb in a cemetery; no one there was supposed to be going anywhere. And now all the darkness and quiet of death had been shattered by an earthquake and a heavenly angel.
What the angel said to the women was the greatest thing they, or us, could ever hope to hear, but also one of the hardest of God’s promises to believe – especially when your life is hard. “Do not be afraid,” the angel said. Do not be afraid, even when it looks like we have so much to be afraid of. Do not be afraid, even when “devils all the world should fill,” as Luther said in his fine old hymn. “Do not be afraid,” even though the enemy is nine-foot-tall Goliath, and you and I are weak and small. “Do not be afraid.” Father in Heaven, why in the world not?
Because Jesus, who was crucified, “has risen, just as He said.” A promise made, a promise kept. That’s why we can pray in the 23rd Psalm, “Even though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil.” Jesus has shown Himself, proved Himself, to be stronger than death, stronger than hell, stronger than any dark and evil thing the world can throw at us. This road we’re on, difficult and dangerous as it can sometimes be, will end with us in glory. The road Jesus walked brought Him out His tomb, living forever, never to die again. And for those of us who walk with Him, our road will end in glory, too. “And there we will see Him.”
Until then, He is with us. With us by His good Holy Spirit; with us whenever we pick up a Bible and read it; with us whenever we gather as God’s Holy Church; and with us in body and blood whenever we come to the His Table. Alleluia! Christ is risen! Alleluia! He is risen indeed! In Jesus’ name; Amen.
Rev. Larry Sheppard
Trinity Lutheran Church, Packwaukee, Wisconsin
St. John’s Lutheran Church, Oxford, Wisconsin
pastorshepp@gmail.com