Let me ask you a question. Why is there a Church of the Redeemer here on the corner of Palm and Ringling? Those who have been around here for awhile might tell me that the Church of the Redeemer didn’t start here on this corner, but that we have been in several locations in our history of over a hundred years. This is just the last location and we have been here since 1950. The first service was on a Friday night, the 17th of March, and the service was the Great Litany. The historians among us might also say that the founding father of this parish was John Hamilton Gillespie, who was the same John Hamilton Gillespie who was the first mayor of Sarasota. Gillespie certainly is part of the reason we are here today at the corner of Palm and Ringling, but he is not the most fundamental reason we are here. The reason the Church of the Redeemer is here on the corner of Palm and Ringling is that Jesus has risen from the dead. If his cold, dead body had not been resurrected on that first Easter morning, there would be no Church of the Redeemer.
Let me ask you another question. Why is there an Episcopal Church? Those familiar with our history might answer that there is an Episcopal Church because after the American Revolution those who worshipped according to the Book of Common Prayer needed a Church to go along with it, since we obviously were no longer a part of the Church of England. So, we had to arrange to have our own bishops and we had to write our own constitution and canons, and we had to change the Prayer Book somewhat, since the king was no longer the head of our Church. Those who answer that we have an Episcopal Church because of that would be partially correct, but more basically than that, we have an Episcopal Church because Jesus has risen from the dead.
A third question: Why is there such a thing as the Anglican Communion? The quickest among you might think you know the answer to this question without my having to tell you. But you might say that we have an Anglican Communion because a long time ago, probably in the third century, the Church was established in England. And it grew and grew and developed its own unique traditions. In the 7th century it was united with the Roman Catholic Church and it remained Roman for a thousand years. Then, for a variety of reasons, in the 16th century it became a separate Church. Because there eventually were Anglican churches all over the world, it found itself as a worldwide communion, the third largest Christian body in the world. That, you might say, is the reason we have an Anglican Communion. But the far more fundamental reason is because Jesus has risen from the dead.
Why is there a Church at all? Why does Christianity exist? Why is there a New Testament? Why are there Christian schools, hospitals, orphanages, programs for the poor and needy? Because Jesus has risen from the dead.
Let me ask you another question. Why is Jesus risen from the dead? Because God is love. It all follows from that. St. John puts it this way: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” God created the world out of love. God chose a people, the people of Israel, to be a sign to the world of the relationship he wants to have with all people. God sent the prophets to call his people back to him. And finally, God sent his Son to die for us as a sacrifice for our sin, that we might be reconciled to him. It’s all because of who God is.
The Church, the new Israel, is to be the sign of that reconciling love to the world. Francis Schaeffer said, “If we do not show love to one another, the world has a right to question whether Christianity is true.” As Christians, we need to exemplify that love wherever we are.
“Joe Ehrmann, a former NFL football star and volunteer coach for the Gilman High School football team, teaches his players the keys to successful defense: penetrate, pursue, punish, love. A former captain of the Baltimore Colts and now an ordained minister, Ehrmann is serious about the game of football but even more serious about the purpose of life.” (Quoted from the jacket of Season of Life, by Jeffrey Marx).
“You happen to see another boy off by himself, go sit with him or bring him over to sit with you and your friends,” Biff Poggi, a fellow coach on Ehrmann’s staff, said. “I don’t care if you know him or not. I don’t care if he’s the best athlete in the school or the so-called nerd with his head always down in the books. You go get him and make him feel wanted, you make him feel special. Well, that’s being a man built for others…Ultimately the boys would make the greatest overall impact on the world-would bring the most love and grace and healing to people-by constantly basing their thoughts and actions on one simple question: What can I do for you?” Ehrmann, and the people he brings onto his staff, incorporate their Christian faith even into the game of football.
The question that matters most to us is “Why are you and I here today?” Some of you are here because your parents insisted, or your husband insisted, or your wife insisted. Some are here to hear the wonderful music and some to see the beautiful flowers. I’m sure that some are here to hear the sermon! Some are here in spite of the sermon! Some are here searching for the meaning in life, some for healing, some for forgiveness, some for fellowship.
Each person here is in need in some way; in some very basic way. That need can only be filled by God. We all look for other ways to fill the need: materialism, power, respect, creative outlets, psychoanalysis, drugs, alcohol, sex, self-actualization. These things all have their place, but if used to replace our God-given need for God himself, then we abuse them and we abuse others through them.
Whatever the reason is that you find yourself here, the most fundamental reason you’re here is because Jesus has risen from the dead because God is love. You wouldn’t be here, you couldn’t be here, if it weren’t for that. Our risen Lord wants us to put our faith in him, that the same God who raised Jesus from the dead, will fill us with his life-giving Spirit, filling that void that can only be filled by him, who is pure, unbounded love.
Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
Easter Day, 2008