“The Exclamation Point!”

Scripture: Acts 10:34-48

Easter was never meant to be a one day holiday – it was given to us so that it could become a lifestyle. Think about it – the finality of death was overturned, and the resulting change was the beginning of an eternity of life. The end has become the beginning.

Let’s go back to that very first Easter. The disciples were beside themselves. Since Thursday evening, they had been in a constant state of panic. Some left town. Some went into hiding in the Upper Room. One actually would deny that he even knew Jesus. John would be the only one who would follow Jesus all the way to Calvary.
Wasn’t Jesus the long waited Christ? The Anointed One of God? How could He die? Who would lead them now? Would any of them live long enough to find a new rabbi? How could this wonderful experience go so horribly wrong?

[The Campville UMC has a signout front with sayings that change each week.] You may have been watching the sign out front this week, and wondering just what that message was all about. “Life is a ?” I suspect that many folks thought that it was a little odd, but the truth is that even in our best days, the next day, the next hour, the next minute is little better than a question mark! But if you noticed the message this morning, it now includes the punch line – “Easter is the !” Life will continue to be a question, until we discover that Jesus not only has the answers, but is the answer.

An anonymous writer once offered
“Christmas is the Promise, and Easter is the Proof.”
—Anonymous - (Homiletics OnLine.
It’s the same idea.

In our reading today, we find Peter speaking to Cornelius, the Roman centurion who, at an angel’s prodding, invites the disciple to his home. Peter had seen the vision of a sheet being raised and lowered from heaven, filled with both clean and unclean animals. He had gotten the message and now he is ready for this mission.

Read Acts 10:34-38

As Peter addresses Cornelius and his household, he begins by reminding them of everything that they already know about Jesus. It seems that this Roman officer already knew the God of Israel and His Son. He was devout and generous in a Christian way, and was already one of the faithful. But in his own mind, his life was still a question mark. He and his family knew the Lord, but what was to be done about their faith?
And in comes Peter – who, in the best Christian style, doesn’t give him an answer right off. He begins with telling this Roman that he, Peter, has now learned that God doesn’t play favorites (confession is always good for the soul!), and welcomes people from all nations and all walks of life to come to rejoice in Him.
At this point, we have to begin to wonder just who this visit was for – was it for Cornelius, or was it for Peter? Consider the old Peter – the impetuous, spontaneous, uncertain, crude man who had come to understand the truth of Christ – that there was nothing that He wouldn’t do for His faithful, that there was nothing that could stand in the way of His ministry, that His love for humanity was immeasurable. And here he is, standing with a Roman, leading him and his family into glory.
As Peter recalls all of Christ’s activity on earth – the baptism, His teaching, the healings from physical ailments as well as satanic ones, the power and Spirit that always filled Him - he continues to understand that all that Jesus said and did went far beyond the borders of Israel and Judaism. That this Jesus who he now served wholeheartedly was God for all, and not for a few! And so he witnesses to this Gentile family.

Read Acts 10:39-43

Peter continues to let Cornelius know that the things that he talks about weren’t just stories, that they were seen and experienced by not only him, but by many others. That this isn’t just some unbelievable story, some fairy tale that looks good on the surface, but falls apart the deeper you dig into it. It is the truth. It all really happened.

Then he gets to the resurrection – that it, too, wasn’t just a story, that Jesus didn’t just return to heaven, leaving his followers stumbling around in the dark! He stayed to eat and drink with them, continued to teach them and encourage them and call them into the ministry that He had begun, a ministry that extended to Gentiles and Jews alike. And that His story wasn’t just one that had been sprung on them, but that it was one that had been told for centuries by the prophets and other holy people.
And then the punch line – “everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” Sin had always been the very thing that held the indestructible wall in place between the people of earth and God. No one could gain access unless they were clean and prepared to meet the wrath of almighty Jehovah Himself! And now there was a way that was available for all – belief in Jesus Christ, Judge of the living and the dead, the one who knows all about us and who loves us anyway, the one who has already prepared the way for us to move beyond our sin.

And that’s the exclamation point for our life. The curtain has been torn in half, the wall of sin has been breached, death has been defeated, and life is, for all time, triumphant! Hallelujah
We now have a way to move beyond the confines of thi!s life. Praise the Lord!

Did you know that “After” is every Christian's middle name?
The Methodist missionary Earl Stanley Jones, in his autobiography A Song of Ascents (Nashville: Abingdon, 1968), tells of an African who changed his name to After immediately following his conversion. He reasoned that all things were new and different and important after he met Christ, so he was going to reflect that new reality in his name as well as in his thinking (16).
Easter is what makes us “After” Christians. After Easter, nothing in life is ever the same again.
- Anonymous - (Homiletics OnLine.

After our personal Easter morning, everything is made new.

Read Acts 10:44-48a

And now there is an exclamation for Peter’s companions. The Holy Spirit settles on the Roman and his family, and very possible, his servants. All who receive his message of salvation is touched and begins to speak in tongues. And Peter’s friends are amazed! They had never known of the Spirit’s blessing on anyone but a Jew, and now they, too, know that the full extent of the Father’s Blessing is for all who believe, not just for a select few. They had been baptized by the Holy Spirit, and now they would be baptized with water, and welcomed into the fullness of Christian faith and thought.

Christ’s Way would never be the same again. There would be no limits and no question as to who would be welcomed into the faith. Gentiles, even the hated Romans would be welcome. Women, for the first time in their life, and regardless of their personal history, would be welcomed. Social status would no longer create an obstacle – free, slave, servants, even criminals, - your past would be left in the past, because of course, in Christ, they would all become “After” Christians.

Any question that may revolve around Christmas is answered with the exclamation of Easter!
Any misunderstanding that may exist regarding the parables that Jesus taught are set right in the exclamation of Easter!
Any confusion that we may have over Christ’s death and resurrection are soundly answered in the exclamation of Easter!
Any fear in this life, any fear for the next life, is satisfied and settled in the exclamation of Easter!

Easter is, once and for all, the very answer that we all have been waiting for –
Jesus is Risen!
He is Alive!
His message is sure and forever!
And all who will believe in Him receives forgiveness for their sins, and will rejoice in life eternal through his holy name. Amen, and Amen!