Freely we receive – Freely we give (Easter Sunday)
Easter Sunday – April 5th, 2026
Freely we receive – Freely we give
In late 1992, my husband Paul and I zipped out for a much-anticipated date night. Our Peter was almost a year old, a wonderful babysitter was available, and a new film had just been released, “the story of an American family.” Our sleep deprived selves thoroughly enjoyed this semi-autobiographical drama set in rural 1920s Montana. The gorgeous cinematography and evocative score captivated us, while we kept one eye on our watches, feeling somewhat concerned about keeping our babysitter up too late. As yet another beautiful fly-fishing scene unfolded, it seemed like the story was wrapping up, so we skedaddled out of the theatre, having thoroughly enjoyed the story, beauty, and historical details. A couple of weeks later, we shared a meal with a friend. “We saw ‘A River Runs Through It’ – what a lovely film, really great story.” Surprise and then disbelief crossed our friend’s face. “What did you think of the ending?” “It was so peaceful, what a beautiful river … we left just before the closing credits.” Our friend’s face now betrayed that look of sorrow reserved for particularly tragic circumstances. That’s when we realized we had missed no just the credits but the last 20 minutes of the film. We had missed the crux of the story.
Today is Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday is a day like no other day in the calendar year because it is the day in which we celebrate the most momentous day in all of human history, a day so significant that we write dates as before this day (BC, or BCE) and after this day (AD, or CE). It is the day on which Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead, showing that he was who he said he was, God-in-the-flesh who has power over all, including death. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection show us who God really is and who we really are. And it turns out that we are all part of God’s story, the greatest story ever told. If we only see part of the story, if we miss the crux of the story, as Paul and I did on our date night all those years ago, we will likely end up having mixed up ideas about who we are and why we’re here.
It turns out that Jesus came to show us how to live, to really live. The Gospel of John does a really great job of describing the kingdom of God which Jesus inaugurated. After Jesus lived, died, and rose again, Jesus basically tagged his followers and said, “You’re it! Keep doing what I’ve been showing and telling!” What Jesus had been showing and telling is what we call the gospel, the good news – Jesus Christ the King has come, and God’s kingdom of justice and peace has begun. N. T. Wright puts it this way, “The good news is primarily that God – the generous God, the loving God – is being honored, will be honored, has been utterly and supremely honored, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.” Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection reveal the glory of God!
And now we are invited into the story, to become part of the story as we show and tell the good news of Jesus wherever we are. The Greek word for “good news” is euangelion (eu = good, angelion = message). In the earliest English Bible translations, this word became “godspell” which means “good story.” Eventually that became “gospel.” This gospel of Jesus that we get to show and tell, is all-encompassing good news. God has come to be with us – that’s who Jesus is, God-with-us – to celebrate his name and his nature, and to make all things new. Jesus’ good news is for every person and every part of creation. Jesus’ good news touches every aspect of life! Sharing this good news is about announcing and demonstrating that justice, righteousness, provision, peace, healing, wholeness, joy, and love have already-but-not-fully-arrived, and they are available right here, right now, on earth as it is in heaven! How is this possible? Jesus made this all possible by his life, ministry, death, and resurrection. While he walked the earth, Jesus showed and told the good news, proving he was the Messiah, God-with-us, by doing things like curing blindness, healing and restoring all kinds of people, multiplying provisions in miraculous ways, walking on water, calming stormy seas, and even resurrecting people who had already died. When Jesus gave his life for the world on the cross, he defeated all enemies including sin, suffering, sickness, and even death, which could not hold him – he rose again! This is what we celebrate on Easter Sunday – the resurrection of King Jesus! And now the good news of Jesus Christ goes on, from the empty tomb to the ends of the earth, revealing God’s glory!
We’ve been taking a closer look at the Gospel of John for about two months here at Liberty Vineyard Church. Let’s read what John reported as happening on that first Easter morning about 2000 years ago. The last thing Jesus’ disciples knew is that Jesus’ body had been laid in a new tomb on Friday. Now it’s Sunday morning. John tells us three things that happened that first Easter morning.
Firstly, three of Jesus’ followers go back to the tomb and make a surprising discovery!
John 20:1-9 – “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.”
Secondly, all but one of Jesus’ followers leave.
John 20:10-17 – “Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’”
Thirdly, a larger mixed group of Jesus’ followers, huddled together in a house, received a visitor!
John 20:18-23 – “Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her. When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’”
This is incredible! Jesus’ followers had all been there when Jesus was arrested, put on trial, and crucified. They lived under Roman rule and knew the brutality with which public crucifixions were carried out, maximizing humiliation, suffering, and terror. All who were crucified – slaves, rebels, criminals – were severely scourged, paraded through the streets under the weight of the cross, and nailed or tied to that cross high on a hill where they hung until death by asphyxiation occurred. They were all too familiar with what had happened to their Lord Jesus. They knew that Jesus’ lifeless body had been taken down from the cross after his death had been verified by professional soldiers who pierced his side with a spear.
And now, Jesus came and stood among them. Jesus came … and stood … among them! Jesus is alive! What? How? What is happening? Fear and panic and confusion and questions swirled in and among them.
“Peace be with you.”
Jesus showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” [long slow audible breath]
Then Jesus breathed on them …
“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Jesus Christ is risen! Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, is risen! Jesus continues to breathe on us today, freely giving us his presence, peace, forgiveness, hope, and freedom.
One of the ways in which we experience the presence and power of the risen Christ is through the sacrament of Communion, the Lord’s Supper. Everyone is welcome at the table of grace where we celebrate the presence of the Lord and the body of Christ as we eat and drink together. I invite you to form a line to receive the elements, which will be served to you along with the words, “The body of Christ broken for you, the blood of Christ poured out for you.” Receive the presence of Jesus Christ. Receive the peace of Christ. Receive the forgiveness of Christ. Receive the hope of Christ. Receive your freedom in Christ.
(after Communion)
Please look at the card you received when you arrived today. Each element is a symbol to help us to remember. The green “you are here” dot reminds us of God’s presence, the presence of Jesus Christ. The dove reminds us of the peace of Christ. The white tulip reminds us of the forgiveness of Christ. The butterfly reminds us of the hope of Christ. The cross reminds us of freedom in Christ. And the vine and branches remind us of the love of Christ. Freely we receive – Freely we give.
We rarely, if ever, know exactly how to receive, to give, to put all these things into practice in our lives. The clue is in the word “practice.” We are not going to do any of it perfectly. We are God’s beloved children who are learning and growing and practicing how to both receive and give the love of God. What God is looking for in us is a heart that says “yes.”
Are you willing to say “yes” to Jesus today, to surrender all that you are to the Lordship of Jesus, to pledge your allegiance to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ? Jesus is calling you: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). Will you join me in praying a prayer of surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?
Loving Father, I surrender to you today with all my heart and soul. Please come into my heart in a deeper way. I say, “Yes” to you today. I open all the secret places of my heart to you and say, “Come on in.” Jesus, you are the Lord of my whole life. I believe in you and receive you as my Lord and Savior. I hold nothing back. Holy Spirit, bring me to a deeper conversion to the person of Jesus Christ. I surrender all to you: my time, my treasures, my talents, my health, my family, my resources, my work, relationships, time management, successes and failures. I release it and let it go. I surrender my understanding of how things “ought” to be, my choices and my will. I surrender to you the promises I have kept and the promises I have failed to keep. I surrender my weaknesses and strengths to you. I surrender my emotions, my fears, my insecurities, my sexuality. Lord, I surrender my whole life to you, the past, the present, and the future. In sickness and in health, in life and in death, I belong to you. Amen.
As we live lives of surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, God sends us out into the world to continue Jesus’ ministry on the way of love, in the power of the Holy Spirit. I want to close with a quote from A River Runs Through It – “Each one of us here today will at one time in our lives look upon [one] who is in need and ask … : We are willing to help, Lord, but what, if anything, is needed? … Either we don’t know what part of ourselves to give or, more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted … But we can still love them – we can love completely without complete understanding.”
We are not called to have complete understanding. God calls us to love, and to love completely.
Jesus Christ the King has come! God’s kingdom of justice and peace has begun! In love, freely receive and freely give Jesus Christ’s presence, peace, forgiveness, hope, and freedom.
Freely we receive – Freely we give.
