Dying To Ourselves -- To Live In The Joy Of Resurrection
John 20:19-31 Second Sunday of Easter April 11 2021 For the folks of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Hampton, Virginia Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! How do you need to die to yourself – so you can live in the joy of resurrection? Unless there is death, there is no resurrection. This is what we are baptized into! Here’s what Easter means (speaking words from the funeral liturgy!): “When we were baptized in Christ Jesus, we were baptized into his death. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” [1] “The fear of death…is at the bottom of all apprehensions,” writes Joseph Sittler. “To say of any of us that we do not fear death is a lie. To be human i