He's just sitting there

I have been a pastor for 18 years. I have been coaching soccer far longer. Over the years, my players and their parents have been able to notice a few things about my coaching style. 1) I am constantly talking to the players throughout the game; 2) the parents can hear me talking (i.e. yelling) to players from the other side of the field; 3) I am always pacing the sideline during the game. I can’t sit down.

Oh, I’ve tried. I’ve brought a chair to sit in. The players have even timed me. 42 seconds. That’s my record for sitting during a game.

Whether it’s pounding the sideline of a close soccer game or pacing in the office with a stack of unpaid bills on the desk or lying awake at night when we should be sleeping, we act this way because the outcome of the game ... or work ... or life is in jeopardy. We can’t sit back and relax. We can’t take it easy. We have no confidence that we will triumph in the end.

Epiphany Lutheran Church in Racine, WI, where I have served for the past 10 years was graced Easter morning with a new set of paintings for the Easter season. I want you to focus on the painting of the angel sitting on the stone. Next week we'll focus on the other painting.

The angel is just sitting there!

He's not pacing back and forth. He doesn't look worried. There is no anxiety at all on his face.

He is sitting calmly pointing at the open tomb. The fainted guards have left their helmet and spear behind as they have hastily retreated from the tomb. Feeling the earthquake, seeing the heavenly angel, and peering into the open tomb only to realize that Jesus' corpse was gone was too much for them! They skedaddled as quickly as their wobbly legs would carry them!

Golgotha’s hill, the place of the skull is in the background. That is the place where the serpent struck Jesus’ heel and caused the Holy One to die. But that is also the place where the Woman’s Seed crushed the serpent’s head under His heel. For several hours, the cross appeared to be Jesus’ greatest defeat. But on Easter morning, it is announced to the world that is where Jesus won His greatest victory! It was unnaturally dark on Friday afternoon at Jesus’ death. But a bright, new and glorious day is shining on this Easter dawn!

Jesus is alive! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Nothing can stop Him. The Roman seal on the tomb door could not keep Jesus in the grave, just like the locked door in the upper room could not keep the resurrected Jesus out.

Jesus’ burial clothes lie in a heap inside the grave. He won’t be needing them anymore. The second angel is sitting where Jesus’ corpse once lay. The angel fills the dark tomb with his brilliant glory.

We Christians can learn a lesson from the angel. The outcome of the battle between heaven and hell has been decided. The devil is defeated. Sin is conquered. Death is dead. Jesus is alive. The tomb is empty. The angel is sitting on the stone.

Now we can sit down and relax.

At the funeral home.

In the office.

At the dinner table.

Yes, even on the sideline of the soccer field.

Listen to the words of the angel as he's just sitting there: “You are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” Believe those words. Then put them into practice. Sit back and relax.