Alive! (A Sermon for Easter Sunday) Luke 24:1-12 and Romans 6:3-11 Rev. Dr. Rhonda Blevins April 20, 202

Alive! (A Sermon for Easter Sunday)

Luke 24:1-12 & Romans 6:3-11

Rev. Dr. Rhonda Blevins

April 20, 2025

Luke 24:1-12

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices that

they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in

they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in

dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the

ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not

here but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of

Man must be handed over to the hands of sinners and be crucified and on the third day rise

again.” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all this to the

eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and

the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an

idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and

looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had

happened.

Romans 6:3-11

Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his

death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was

raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in

a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin

might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is free

from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that

Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over

him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you

also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

______

“Resurrection” takes on a new, special meaning for us this Easter Sunday at Chapel by the

Sea! After months of displacement from our sanctuary, our most holy place as a faith

community, we finally return to this sacred space for the first time on this, the most

important day on the Christian calendar. We celebrate the resurrection of Christ even as we

celebrate the resurrection of our sanctuary!

But I must confess, there were a few weeks at the end of last year, when all I could see was

destruction. You see, we took this space literally down to the studs. The flooring, the

chancel, even the ceiling came out. It was utter destruction. Dust and debris from 75 years

lined the floors and filled the air. There was one moment in particular, I remember

stepping into this room, looking around, and thinking/praying, “My God, what have we

done?”

The demo phase was ugly and emotionally challenging. It also was somewhat triggering for

me. The demolition of our sanctuary reminded me of the hardest mission trip I have ever

been on.

When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other areas on the Gulf Coast in

2005, I led a team of volunteers from churches across Kentucky to go and help the

hurricane victims for one week. We worked in Bayou La Batre, Alabama and Pascagoula,

Mississippi. And our job that week? Demolition.

Some of you are far too familiar with this kind of work after our visit from Hurricane

Helene late last year . . . taking a house “down to the studs,” cutting out drywall, carrying

out sopping wet cabinets and appliances and flooring and precious family heirlooms. Our

job that week in Alabama and Mississippi was the work of demolition. We’d demo a house,

spray for mold, and then we’d leave.

And while it was physically grueling work, it was the emotional piece that was the hardest.

It felt like we were adding to the destruction those families had already experienced. We

didn’t get to rebuild anything. Just demo. More destruction. And then we would leave.

To me, leaving those homes in that devastated state felt like ending the story on Good

Friday without ever experiencing the joy of Easter Sunday. It felt like death without

resurrection. And yet, we knew it was necessary work, critical work. This “death”—this

demolition—had to happen to prepare for the resurrection to come.

I think this idea—the idea of a requisite death before a resurrection—is what Paul was

talking about when he was writing to the Romans about death and resurrection. He uses

these phrases about us being: “baptized into [Christ’s] death,” “united with him in a death

like his,” and “our old self was crucified so that the body of sin might be destroyed.”

“Our old self was crucified” sounds a lot like taking a house or a sanctuary “down to the

studs” doesn’t it?

The women who followed Jesus from Galilee witnessed, firsthand, the crucifixion of their

teacher and friend. Luke tells us that they followed when Joseph of Arimathea placed Jesus’

limp corpse in a tomb. He tells us, “they saw the tomb and how his body was laid.”

Then they had to leave. This was Good Friday. They had to leave Jesus’ body there in the

stone-cold tomb. Feeling all those feelings I felt when I left those homes in Alabama and

Mississippi, but multiplied by a hundred or maybe a thousand. Leaving the site of

devastation.

Now, we know the rest of the story, but they didn’t. We know that this death on a cruel

Roman cross on Friday was necessary for the resurrection to happen on Sunday. Just like

we know that demolition is necessary for restoration. Just like we know that the chrysalis

must happen for a caterpillar to turn into a beautiful butterfly.

Do you know what happens inside the chrysalis? When the caterpillar enters the chrysalis,

it actually digests itself. It releases enzymes that dissolves all of its own tissues. This can’t

be a pleasant experience . . . it’s a dark and painful time. Yet the caterpillar instinctively

knows that this death must happen for it to become the fullest expression of who God

created the creature to be . . . a beautiful butterfly!

So let me ask you to consider your own life. Have you felt like you were inside the

chrysalis? Have you ever felt like your life was in “demo” phase, with no end in sight?

People in recovery call it “rock bottom,” but you don’t have to be in recovery to find

yourself in a dark and painful time. A chrysalis. A stone-cold tomb. We’ve all been there.

Maybe you’re there now.

Here’s the truth . . . the crux of the entire Christian faith . . . the tomb never has the final say!

So on the third day, when the women came to the tomb, they expected to find it just as they

had left it on Friday. A crucified body, a life taken “down to the studs.” But that’s not what

they found at all!

 They found a stone rolled away!

 They found an empty tomb!

 They found two angels in dazzling clothes who told them that Christ had risen!

And over the next forty days the risen Christ would prove that what the angels said was

true.

 He appeared to Mary Magdalene

 He appeared to other women with Mary

 He appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus

 He appeared to the eleven remaining disciples, including Thomas who needed to

touch Jesus’ hands and side

 He appeared to seven disciples on the Sea of Galilee

 He appeared to over 500 people at one time

 He appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus

Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!

What does this mean for us? Paul tells us:

But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ,

being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The

death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God.   So you also must

consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

The resurrection of Christ means that we, too, are alive! It means that death, that darkness,

never has the final say. It even means that we can find meaning in the tomb . . . that even

when our lives feel like they’ve been taken “down to the studs,” a resurrection awaits.

This is the meaning of Easter, dear friends!

And so today, we celebrate not only the resurrection of Christ, but the resurrection of our

beloved sanctuary after a season of destruction. We are poised for at least 75 more years of

being a beacon of God’s love here on Clearwater Beach and beyond.

And somewhere, perhaps not too far from here, a little butterfly has pushed its way out of

the chrysalis after two dark and painful weeks. The beautiful little creature is experiencing

daylight as it clings to the chrysalis shell, spreading its wings for the very first time. She’s

almost ready to fly, and live into her fullest potential.

And that, dear friends, is what it means to be alive! It doesn’t mean that you haven’t known

difficulty or hardship. It means that you’ve made your way out of the tomb and into new

life, new possibilities, on your way to your fullest potential, to self-actualization. It means

that the next time you find yourself in the chrysalis or that your life has been taken “down

to the studs,” you can believe in your bones that a resurrection is just around the bend. The

crux of our faith is that beyond every death, a resurrection awaits. Thanks be to God!

In the words of my favorite saint, Dolly Parton: “He’s alive! He’s alive! He’s alive and I’m

forgiven, heaven’s gates are open wide.”

He’s alive, dear friends! And so are you.

Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed.