I Am Anybody

April 05, 2015

(Easter Sunday)

By John Partridge
Scripture: Acts 10:34-43
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Mark 16:1-8
How many of you were raised by wolves? I would guess not many. But all of us were raised by someone. We
were cared for by our parents, grandparents, step-parents, aunts, uncles, foster parents, or even orphanage
workers, but when we were young, someone helped us. We all had help doing the things that we couldnt do
for ourselves and that carries on even into our adulthood. Many of us have had foremen, trainers, shop
stewards, senior employees, or mentors of some kind teach us what we needed to know in a new job and they
were the go-to people when we ran into new, strange, or particularly difficult or confusing parts of our work.
But sometimes, things were so hard that, like children, we needed someone who could do the work for us
because we simply could not do it ourselves.
In a sense, the story of Easter morning begins with what is almost a foreshadowing, a preview, of the entire
work of Jesus Christ in the lives of his followers. (Mark 16:1-8)
16:1

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so
that they might go to anoint Jesus body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were
on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the
tomb?
4

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they
entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were
alarmed.
6

Dont be alarmed, he said. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He
is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you
into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.
8

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because
they were afraid.
The two Marys, and Salome didnt know how they would roll the stone away from the tomb. They knew that
it was too large for them and they couldnt do it themselves. We dont know how large it was exactly, but
similar stones that still exist in the area weigh at least 1.5 to 2 tons. But what they could not do for themselves,
God sent an angel to do for them. God wanted the women to see that Jesus was already gone and so the work
that needed to be done, the work that they could not do for themselves, was done for them. But the work that
was specifically done for the women that morning, as well as the work that was done by Jesus generally, was
not done just for them, but for all people, anybody, and everybody.
In Acts 10:34-43, the Apostle Peter explains how he has come to understand the work of Jesus.
34

Then Peter began to speak: I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts
from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the
people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what
has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached
38
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good
and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
1

39

We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by
hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He
was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosenby us who ate and drank with
him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one
whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone
who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
In that speech there are three phrases that are critically important to our message this morning. First, Peter
realized that God does not show favoritism. Second, that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. And third, that
everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. Even though Jesus had often
said that he had come to save the lost children of Israel, after his death and resurrection, it was immediately
apparent, even to Peter who was very Jewish, that Jesus rescue was not only for the Jews, not only for Israel,
but for anybody and everybody, without any favorites.
But as Paul began to preach this good news outside of Israel to a growing number of non-Israelite, non-Jews,
he found that it was necessary to clear up something else. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Paul said:
15:1

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on
which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to
you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he
appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers
and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared
to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9

For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the
church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I
worked harder than all of themyet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or
they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Paul is writing to a church that first of all is in Greece, so it is made up primarily of non-Jewish believers, and
second of all in Corinth, which was widely known for its immorality. When I say that Corinth was widely
known for its immorality, what I mean is that the temple of Aphrodite in the center of Corinth was the home of
1,000 temple prostitutes and the slang term to Corinthianize had become common all over Greece and
referred to practicing immorality. In that place, and in that culture, the church in Corinth was struggling
against a tide of immorality both outside and inside the church. In this message, Paul reminds the church that
it was through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that they had been saved. And then, instead of scolding
the people how they had failed, he tells a story about his own failures. Paul reminds the people that he was the
man who had hunted Christians. Paul, by any measure, did not deserve to be called a follower of Jesus Christ
but God had chosen to use him anyway. The work that Paul did, and the things that he had accomplished, were
not something that he was able to take credit for. Instead, everything that Paul had done was because of Gods
grace.
Pauls knew that many of the church members in Corinth had come from backgrounds that were full of
immorality, and many of them within the church had fallen back into some of their old immoral habits. Even
knowing about their shortcomings, Pauls message is that Gods grace was the thing that did the real work of
the church. Many of the people in the church probably felt that werent good enough, that their backgrounds
were too ugly, that they had done too much wrong, or felt guilty for falling back into their old habits, but Paul
2

understood that too. He knew that as one of the most famous persecutors of Christians, he too did not deserve
Gods grace.
And yet, that was exactly the point.
If we deserved it, it wouldnt be grace at all it would just be a payment for services rendered. The gift of Jesus
rescue is a gift of grace precisely because we dont deserve it. We are exactly like the women at the tomb. Our
rescue is something that is too big, too hard, too impossible for us to accomplish on our own, even working
together and so Jesus came and did the work for us.
And he has given that gift of rescue to anybody and everybody that wants it.
Without favoritism.
Without regard to the things we might have done in the past, or even in the present.
And without any regard at all to whether or not we think that we deserve it.
None of us deserve it.
This gift of rescue, which was paid in full on Easter morning, is free to anybody and everybody.
(Pause)
I am anybody.
(Pause)
And so are you.

 You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first
page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry heights in Massillon, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part
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