Thoughts regarding an Easter sermon

Today I attended Easter services with my brother and his family. My brother is "born again" and he and his family are pretty involved with thier church. I really don't consider myself a Christian (I'm more of an Agnostic-Buddhist, if you need a label), but I grew up in the Episcopal Church (as did my bro) so I am knowledgable to some extent with the traditions and Bible stories.

Anyways... I thought the sermon at today's service was rather odd and I wanted to see what others here thought as well. The pastor played the role of Paul, complete with costume that made him look like one of the Three Wise Men from a Christmas Pageant. He made a big speech about how he was once a bad guy, persecuted Christians, but since then he has accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior and now he is a good guy. The take home message was that everyone should emulate him (Paul) and if we just accept Jesus into our lives we will go to heaven.

I found this to be more than just a little wierd. It is EASTER Sunday afterall, and instead of talking about the goodness of Jesus, His teachings about loving thy neighbor and turning the other cheek, His sacrifice on the cross, etc etc, this pastor decides to tell Paul's story, glorify Paul's life, and use Paul as the role model. WTF?

Does anyone else think this was a little off? And is my understanding of the Christian faith wrong if I say "There's a little more to it than that." IMO, he isn't telling the whole truth: You just don't say the magic words and receive a "Get Into Heaven Free" card - it takes a lot of work and sincerity and emulation of Jesus' words.

The cynic in me thinks this is an evangelical pastor taking advantage of a packed house on Easter to try to find a few more followers. The congregation was cheated out of hearing some really great stories and lessons for finding happiness. Just becoming a Christian isn't a recipe for success - hence there are a lot of unhappy Christians out there. The pastor had a chance to make a difference in someone's life and I think he failed us. He passed out a cheap chocalate bunny instead of something a little more nutritious, if you will.

Any thoughts?

explain his theology to some strangers. Some preachers do that, because a lot of people who never go to church at any other time just pick a church at random for Easter.

The NT Lesson for today was 1 Corinthians 15 - where Paul talks of others meeting the presence of the Resurrected Christ. He then concludes with "and I, Chief of Sinners..." But the focus is completely on God's Grace, not on any personal decision or choice. In fact, Paul is quite humble in this passage.

Sounds to me like the pastor had a good idea, but it backfired. Well, at least you weren't at the Passion of the Easter Bunny pagaent (I'll look for the link on that - you won't BELIEVE the crap some churches are doing!!)

On edit: Here's the link to the post in the lounge:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=5034942&mesg_id=5034942 :evilgrin:

I made have left the impression that we attended an Epicopalian service. We did not - I think it was a "Mennonite Brethran" church. I don't know if they follow a standard lesson plan like the Episcopalians, Catholics and others.

At any rate, what bothers me is that the entire sermon was ALL about Paul. The only real mention of Jesus was to demonstrate why Paul is so great - because he converted and is a follower of Jesus. No mention of what Jesus stood for, what Jesus said, what Jesus did - just Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul.

I guess I'm just leary of Paul and I'm leary of those who venerate him so much. Paul said "...a man is justified by faith apart from works..." which was the message of the sermon - just accept Jesus and go to Heaven. I really don't believe Paul is correct. I think Jesus felt that in addition to faith, works and deeds are essential for salvation. A sermon entirely about Paul who have bothered me on any day, but on Easter sunday it was especially irksome.

Anyways, thanks for the reply. You're far more understanding than I.

Nothing wrong with getting people to emulate Paul, who WAS a persecutor, who then became the persecuted.

And in answer to one of your posts above, the whole idea of Jesus is grace - grace meaning the unearned (emphasis on UNEARNED) salvation. So it's not about how good we are; it IS about whether we have faith. That is the theme of the entire New Testament, except the letter of James, which has the "Faith without works is dead" line. With which I agree, yes - but grace is NEVER earned, because it can't be. Good and righteous living does not get one into heaven - grace does. It's all God's action, not ours.

But I do agree with you that this was an odd sermon for Easter, even given the epistle lesson in the lectionary (but it's quite possible that the church you went to doesn't use the lectionary, so the text that RevCheesehead offered might not be what you heard in worship - do you remember what Scripture was read?). Doing a whole Easter sermon on Paul is, I would say, rather a waste of a good opportunity to talk about grace and not hammer people with guilt for not living up to Paul's truly extraordinary example.

But then, the church that you went is VERY concerned about people's state of salvation, and so in that context, the sermon makes perfect sense - you have a packed house, that's a perfect time to try to save some souls, and NOT to try to save some souls would be unethical (given the theology that is prevalent in the extremely evangelical churches).

I grew up in and am still in liberal mainline church, and Easter sermons are always about love, hope, peace, grace, and how we're loved unconditionally by God and how Jesus died and was raised for our salvation. A much more appropriate easter sermon, in my opinion.

You know how hard it is to think up fresh approaches to liturgy every calendar year? I shudder to think how it will be when I get my own church. I fear it will get to be a chore, not a joy, to do Easter/Christmas/(and in my UU tradition)Samhein/etc. year after year. Like a rock star whose favorite song became a big hit, but after touring with it for a lifetime, grows to feel a certain resentment at having to play it every single concert.