What Jesus offered Legion - what He offers us - is more than healing. He offers forgiveness. C.S. Lewis differentiated between the two in his classic, The Problem of Pain, “We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. I have heard others, and I have heard myself, recounting cruelties...committed in boyhood as if they were no concern of the present. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin. The guilt is washed out not by time but by repentance and the blood of Christ: if we have repented these early sins we should remember the price of our forgiveness and be humbled.”

The mystery of Holy Trinity Sunday is this simple: God created you as a unique an unreproducible miracle. Jesus paid for all the junk and mistakes in your life. The Holy Spirit is with you e

You can tell Jesus He is full of demons. You can build all sorts of barriers between you and Him. You can listen to the demon on your shoulder. You can do whatever you want. It doesn't change the truth that God loves you - forgives you - has a place in heaven with your name on it - and is tearing down all the obstacles between you so you can enjoy this life as you get ready for the life to come.

Everytime someone tells me only pastors can preach - I point to this verse. It may be my job to deliver a sermon on Sunday - but you, whether you are male or female, young or old - have a calling to preach. You don't have to be long-winded like me - you just have to tell people what God has done and is doing in your life. And you don't need to go into great detail - sometimes it's as simple as, "I was lower than a snake's belly the other day when I heard my favorite Christian song" or "did you see that sunset - it was amazing" or "how can I pray for you?"

People who through the gift of faith believe the resurrection happened, live in a world where death and satan and evil no longer have any power over them. It doesn't mean death isn't scary. It doesn't mean they don't work to avoid it. But ultimately when death comes - the believer looks it straight in the eye and says, "do your worst - you can't win" because even if you steal my last breath - one second later I will wake up in heaven and get to live forever where you can't touch me anymore.

The difference between a myth and the truth is not if you believe it or not. It's whether it really is true. You cannot change truth just by believing or not believing.

This is why we live by faith. As much as I would love to live in complete certainty - knowing everything without doubt or fear - it is impossible. My brain will not allow me to completely trust God. It works to sabotage me over and over again as it tries to convince me I know more than God and everyone else. My self-deception is a myth that threatens to destroy me.

As we look around, we see signs of a world so deeply loved by God that even as it spirals into nothingness He refuses to give up. And the only thing God said that was worth saving from this world and this universe was you. There will be a new heaven and new earth - and you will get to see it take place. And because I know God - I know you are going to love it - because what you were really searching for your whole life will be found in what is new which as it turns out isn't so new at all because it's always been what you were looking for.

We cannot avoid pain or suffering or uncomfortable moments or the judgment of the world. When we run away from God - we get further and further away from His voice - the voice that speaks Truth. And I know we are often afraid of the truth - and yet there is a truth we need to hear. I know we don't like being told we're sinners or that we shouldn't have said that or done that - but that is not the only thing God says.

The voice of God also calls out to us to remind us we are His child - forgiven - eternal - loved - did I say forgiven? Yeah - I know I did but I think you need to hear that at least twice - along with you are loved. No matter where in the world our feet happen to be - God wants us to also be in His arms where He can hold us and give us peace and speak words of promise - even in, make that especially in, the midst of pain and uncertainty

Revelation was written for a very specific purpose - and it wasn't to create anxiety, fear or doubt in the minds of God's people. People are always saying they want to study Revelation because it's filled with 7 headed beasts, angels fighting demons, dragons and other science fiction worthy scenes. But all of that is just creamer in the coffee, icing on the cake, the pickle on the Chick-Fil-A sandwich. You can boil the whole book of Revelation down to just two words: God wins. All those demons and beasts and dragons and fire and darkness and death and threats - God wins every time.

The church is not a group of people who all believe the exact same things. That is the goal - but it ain't going to happen until we get to heaven. The church is a group of people caught up in a story that has Jesus at the center. We are drawn into that story and the life of Jesus as the Holy Spirit works in our heart, mind and soul to deepen our relationship with God and one another to the point where we no longer see God and heaven and theology and the church from our perspective - but God's.

Easter is the epitome of the Christian identity. We are people who every single day stand completely exposed to death and pain and all the rest of the world's evil deeds. Faith allows us to declare they cannot hurt us.

When someone asks how we could say that - it would never be enough for us to give the reason for our faith as - an empty tomb. They would just stare at us and think we were crazy.

But a living Jesus - one who is alive and breathing and working in and through us - that is more than enough proof. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.