Wingham United Church

April 5, 2026

Easter Sunday

Keep Singing

Acts 10:34-43

John 20:1-18

         We arrive this morning at the most important event of our faith. Although most of the world gives far more attention to Christmas and the birth of Jesus, our scriptures spend far more time talking about his death and resurrection. Every Christmas we tell the story of Jesus birth from the gospel of Luke, because that is the only one that has much to say about it. In Matthew, Christ’s birth receives one sentence. Mark and John ignore Christmas altogether.

          But all four of the gospels speak at length of Jesus death and resurrection. This is the big story of our faith. In fact, for the early apostles, like Peter in our reading today, Jesus’ death and resurrection was THE story. Every sermon from those first apostles was about the way Jesus had been crucified, yet three days later, rose from the grave, and how this brought salvation to everyone who believed it. In fact, to be considered an apostle, a person had to have known Jesus before his death, witnessed his crucifixion, and had a personal encounter with him after he came back. We call Paul an apostle, but the others, like Peter and James, questioned his credentials. He did not know Jesus as they had known him, and his conversion experience on the road to Damascus was quite unlike the way they had known Jesus after his resurrection. They had met with him, touched him, even ate with him. On the morning after their discovery of the empty tomb, when they thought all was lost, Jesus prepared breakfast for them while they were fishing.

          To be an apostle, one didn’t need a degree or theological education. Quite honestly, you didn’t even need to know how to read or write. All that was required was firsthand knowledge and a willingness to testify to the truth of Christ’s identity.

          They didn’t talk about discipleship or social justice. It was all about the Easter story. The reason? Everyone is born. But only Jesus rose from death and walked out of his tomb! Their purpose, in those early days of the church, was to convince people that Jesus was the Son of God, their Messiah and Saviour, and what that meant for them. John emphasizes Jesus’ ascension to God during that three day wait between the cross and the empty tomb.

          John wanted to make sure people did not confuse the story of Jesus coming back from death and that of Lazarus just a short time before. When Lazarus rose from the grave, it was at Jesus’ command, and Lazarus came from the tomb still wrapped in the grave cloths. He needed help to remove them. When Jesus arose, there was no one there to call him forth, and when he emerged, the graveclothes were left behind. Someday, Lazarus would die again. Jesus never would.

          That part of the story is so significant because, without it, everything else loses its power. The sermons Jesus taught about faithful living are just good advice until you accept that they come from the authority of the Son of God. Then they take on a whole new importance. We pray all the time for God’s will to be done. This is how we know what God’s will for our lives is. He told us himself.

          People often tell me that they don’t need to go to church to be a good person. I won’t argue with that. I know many good people who never come to church. But it isn’t enough to just be a good person. None of us can ever be good enough. If we want the eternal life Jesus offers, or even the life of freedom and joy offered us for this life, we need more. We need the salvation that comes from the acknowledgement that Christ died for us, but his death can do nothing for us unless he is the One sent from God to redeem us. We need that faith in Jesus’ identity, and we need to constantly affirm that faith by coming to him in worship, prayer, and praise.

          Even the disciples missed this point, at first. Even though they heard all the teachings Jesus shared with them, even though they saw all the miraculous things he was capable of, they still did not fully accept him until after that first Easter morning. After Jesus’ death, John tells us that they went home. It was over. All hope was lost. The ones Jesus had promised to teach to fish for people returned to their boats and nets and went fishing … for fish. And even that failed. In learning to fish for people, it seems they lost the knack for catching fish. They try all night with nothing to show for their efforts, but at daylight, Jesus is there on the beach, cooking some fish over a charcoal fire. He tells them to bring him some more to prepare for them, but they have nothing to contribute, so Jesus tells them to try a different approach. Throw the net over the other side of the boat, and they can hardly bring their catch to shore.

          That was the moment everything changed. It was at that point that disciples became apostles, students became true believers. Good men became Christians. Not because Jesus was born. Not because Jesus told them new and innovative things about the Kingdom of Heaven. Not because Jesus had died on the cross. Not even because Mary had told them about her encounter with Jesus at the tomb. Only because they had seen for themselves that Jesus had risen from the grave.

          So, why is this important for us? The answer can be found in the evening news. A man who demands to be awarded a peace prize starts a war. Young people are driven to such despair that they take vengeance against those who have tormented them in ways so violent they are hard to imagine. Last month was Fraud Awareness Month. We have become fearful of answering our own telephones. Food banks receive less support but more requests for help. Even people with full-time jobs must sometimes choose between rent and groceries. We think that the way to solve our problems is by keeping people out, protecting ourselves. But it isn’t working.

          Our good works are being eroded by the chaos that surrounds us, and even good people are sheltering in place in an attempt at self-preservation. People lose hope.

          After Jesus’ death, the disciples also lost hope. Rome still ruled over them. Hard times persisted, and the one upon whom they had hung all their hopes had been taken away. Even fishing was unproductive. But hope was restored. A hazy figure sitting by a fire on the beach fed them. The One they thought they had lost returned, and that made all the difference.

          It didn’t change their outward circumstances. If anything, life was about to get harder. The change happened inside, in their hearts, their minds, their sense of peace and well-being when everything around them was broken and chaotic.

          The closing hymn for today’s service is called “My Life Flows On.” It was written just after the end of the American Civil War. Although the fighting had ceased, families remained torn apart. Home, even whole communities lay in ruins. 600,000 people had been killed. The devastation would take years, even decades, to rebuild. Yet, in the midst of it all, a Baptist minister found a source of peace and inner calm. The words of the second verse are perhaps the most poignant.

         What though my joys and comforts die?

                   My Saviour still is living.

          What though the shadows gather 'round?

                   A new song Christ is giving.

          No storm can shake my inmost calm,

                   while to that Rock I'm clinging:

          since Love commands both heaven and earth,

                   how can I keep from singing?

          The final verse even expresses that same sense of calm and peace as life draws to a close: “all things are mine, since I am Christ’s – how can I keep from singing?”

That is what Easter brings us. We who know the truth, who know that Christ lives on, and offers us salvation can live in peace knowing that we are all held in the care and embrace of the One whom death could not defeat. That was the message the early apostles gave their lives to share with the world around them.

           It isn’t about being good people. You already are. It’s about having a source of resilience, confidence, and peace to sustain you when being a good person just doesn’t seem like enough.

          Christ lived. Christ died. Christ lives again. How can we keep from singing?

Rev. Colin Snyder, MDiv