"THE Pivotal Event"

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text this morning is from the New Testament lesson for today, Colossians 3:1, Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God."

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

Christ is risen! Alleluia! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

I’d like you to think this morning for a moment about the pivotal events in your life. The crossroads of your life, those key turning points where things came together in such a way that they changed your life forever.

For example, some would point to the first time they met their spouse as a pivotal event in their lives. After that meeting, everything changed in their life. Or, some might point to the birth of their child as a pivotal event in their lives. Some might point to the day they opened the mailbox and found that registered letter from Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes as a pivotal event in their lives.

On the other hand, pivotal events are not always positive. Sometimes, it isn’t something wonderful that changes our lives, it’s something tragic that changes our lives. For example, some would point to the END of their marriage as a pivotal event in their lives. Some point to the DEATH of a child as a pivotal event in their lives. Some point to the day they opened their mailbox and found inside not a letter from Publishers Clearing House, but a letter from a lawyer, or a letter from a collection agency, or a letter from the sheriff as a pivotal event in their lives. Pivotal events can change your life forever–sometimes for the good, sometimes for the not so good. After we’ve experienced a positive, wonderful, pivotal event, we say, "I’m never looking back. It’s clear skies from here on out." But, on the other hand, after we’ve experienced a negative, tragic, pivotal event, we say, "You know, I don’t know if I’ll ever get past this."

Problem is, in this sinful world we live in, we tend to run into more negative pivotal events than positive. And, to make things worse, our sinful flesh tends to remember better the bad things that happen, rather than the good. And, to make things worse yet, the devil loves to remind us of all the things that have gone wrong, all the things we’ve done wrong, rather than all the things that have gone right. Put all that together and you’ll find that if you’re going to focus on the pivotal events of your life in this world, you’ll almost certainly end up disappointed. Disappointed in yourself, disappointed in those around you, maybe even disappointed in God. There are a great many people today living their lives as those who will never get past the past.

May I suggest to you this Easter morning that your focus ought not be on the pivotal events that this world gives you, but on the pivotal events that God, in His Word, gives you. May I suggest to you that your identity, your purpose, and your hope in this world do not come from things or events of this world, but come from God.

And what are these pivotal events that God gives us? There are three of them. And they’re given us in the Bible. In God’s Word you’ll find three pivotal events that explain who God is and who you are.

The first pivotal event is in Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve come to a crossroads, a pivotal event in their lives, an event which would change the rest of their earthly lives. God had created the world and everything in it. God had created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden. God had told them that they could eat from any tree in the garden except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So far, so good.

But the devil came along and said, "Why should you have to listen to God? Why don’t you do what YOU want to do? If you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you’ll be like God. You’ll get to decide what’s right and wrong and determine for yourself what you do and don’t do. Go ahead! Take the fruit!" And Eve took some of the fruit and ate it, and she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.

And that act of rebellion against God, that fall into sin, was a pivotal event for Adam and Eve. It changed the rest of their earthly lives. And it was not a good change. Now they were confronted with all sorts of terrible things which previously had been unknown to them. Now they had to deal with shame and blame and suffering and sweat and pain and death and, worst of all, separation from God. These are the things that sin does to people. These are the things that sin does to God’s perfect creation. Sin destroys. Sin tears down. Sin separates. Surely there were many times when Adam and Eve looked back at that pivotal event and said, "You know, I don’t think we’ll ever get past that."

What sin did to Adam and Eve, sin has also done to every one of their children, including you and me. Once sin entered into the world, it permeated and corrupted all of creation. Still, to this day, the devil comes to us with the same question, "Why should you do what God tells you to do? Why shouldn’t you do whatever you want?" And all too often, our answer is the same as that of Adam and Eve. We sin against God. And then we’re faced with the terrible consequences of sin in this world. Sin destroys. Sin tears down. Sin separates. Separates us from God. Separates us from each other.

This sinfulness is a pivotal event for us. It changes the rest of our earthly lives. And it is not a good change. Because of sin, you and I often think to ourselves, "You know, I don’t know if I can ever get past this." And you know what, you’re right. You can’t. This is one of those pivotal events that we can never get past. We cannot overcome or get rid of sin. We cannot achieve the perfect life that our holy and perfect God requires. We cannot get out from under the wrath of a perfectly holy and just God who must punish our sin.

We cannot get past the pivotal event of our sin. But God can. In fact, God did.

The Scriptures proclaim to us another pivotal event–the events which we have come to celebrate this morning. In His great mercy and love, God promised that He would send One who would crush Satan’s head. God promised that He would provide a substitute to receive in our place that punishment which we deserved. God promised that He would send One who would be the Way out from under the punishment of our sin, One who would be the Truth that sets us free from the slavery of sin, One who would be the Life that overcomes even death itself. He sent His own Son, Jesus, to suffer and die for us, for our sins.

And Jesus did just that. He died for your sins. That is to say, He came to pay the price of death for your sins and mine, in our place. His death was payment for the sins of the whole world.

And on the third day, He rose again. He rose because sin had been paid for. He rose because death and the devil were defeated. He rose as the first of many who, by faith in Him, will rise also and enjoy that same eternal victory in heaven.

Now, because of what Jesus has done, God counts you and me as forgiven, as holy and dearly loved. Now, because of what Jesus has done, we are covered with His righteousness. Now, because of what Jesus has done, we are reconciled with God once again. The separation that sin caused has been overcome. For a world which had been so horribly corrupted by sin, this redemption from God in Christ was truly a pivotal event.

The first pivotal event was the fall into sin, by which the world was separated from God. The second pivotal event was Jesus’ death and resurrection for us, by which the world was reconciled with God. Which leads us, then, to the third pivotal event God has for you in His Word.

Which is His calling to you, individually, specifically through His Word. For most of us, this happened at your baptism, where God came to you individually and specifically and said, "You are mine. You belong to me. What Jesus did, He did for you." This creation of faith in our hearts, this establishment of a relationship with God, this baptism is for each of us a pivotal event. A pivotal event which changes us for the better, not just in this world, but in the next as well. A pivotal event in which we each die to sin and rise to newness of life in Jesus’ love and forgiveness. A pivotal event according to which we can now say, "You know, I don’t ever have to look back again." I was a slave to sin, now I’m a child of God. I was headed for hell, now I’m headed for heaven. I was one who lived with no hope, no purpose, no identity. Now, I have all three, because of Jesus.

Therefore, as Paul says in today’s New Testament lesson, Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God."

Christ is risen! Alleluia! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.