Think of the world without Easter!
Goodness!
There’d be no Easter bonnets and no baskets filled with jellybeans.
There’d be no chocolate eggs with cream filling.
No cuddly bunnies and purple Peeps.
Oh no, how could it be?
A world without Easter?
Well, we can have a lot of fun, can’t we?
And we should.
Spring is springing and hope is hoping.
Easter Bunnies and chocolate eggs and Purple Peeps – sure, why not?
There is no greater day in the Christian faith than Easter! The day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead!
New hope and new energy – to meet the challenges of life and to meet them head-on … to look at the darkness and take a deep breath and try all over again … to look for the best and keep on going.
Can you imagine a world without Easter?
Easter gives us Christmas … without Easter, no one would have cared about the birth of Jesus … and a little town called Bethlehem … the shepherds in the hills watching their flock by night … the wise men from afar.
Without Easter, Jesus would simply be one more man who tried to change the world, but the world killed him instead, as the world often does!
Without Easter, Jesus would be nothing more than just another victim of Empire and Temple … big things crushing people, as big things often do.
Without Easter, Jesus would have been forgotten!
Without Easter, not one of us would be here as we are.
We’d be somewhere, of course.
But who knows where?
But here we are.
Covenant on the Corner … and all around the world.
Singing our hymns and finding ourselves all over again.
Recalibrating our spiritual compass.
Fine tuning our moral sensibilities.
All because of Easter!
Easter is our faith!
Easter is our hope.
Easter is the anchor of our love.
Faith, hope and love.
They abide.
They endure.
They last.
Because Christ is forever!
Christ is real!
Christ is the cornerstone of everything true and everything good.
Christ is the power of all that is decent and kind and generous.
Nothing puny or temporary about the resurrection!
The stone rolled away … a heavy stone … a stone too weighty for our little strength … a stone beyond our meager abilities.
The stone of death.
The power of the final enemy.
Dust to dust, earth to earth, ashes to ashes.
This, and no more!
Who will roll the stone away for us?
God rolls it away.
What impossible for us, is more than possible for God.
The God who brings life out of death.
Who makes nothing into something.
But who expects it?
The women at the tomb - they weren’t looking for a miracle – they were on their way to finish off the burial.
The two men on their way home to Emmaus – they weren’t looking for a miracle - it was all over for them. It was a good run while it lasted, but we bet on the wrong horse!
The disciples who remained in Jerusalem – they weren’t looking for a miracle - Where do we go from here? What’s next?
They had all been with Jesus.
They had heard his words and seen the healings.
But they weren’t looking for a miracle.
When push comes to shove!
When the last bit of dirt is thrown into the grave.
Death is just too much for them.
The might of Rome takes away their Jesus.
Religion, hard and heavy, will not be swayed!
The powers that be have their way.
There will be no change today in the ways of the world.
Power and might remain in Rome.
Religion is as religion does.
Death remains!
There will be no change in the ways of the world.
Give up.
Go home.
Forget about it.
We all came that close to a world without Easter!
A heartbeat away from a stone too heavy to move.
When the women arrive at the tomb, wondering about that hideous stone, they discover it’s been moved and set aside. Angels meet them, and ask them, Why do you seek Jesus in the land of the dead? He’s not here! He is risen. Don’t you remember?
Two men on the road to Emmaus … a third man joins them … they talk … the third man doesn’t know what’s happened … so they tell him, The man Jesus is dead. We had our hopes, but hope died two days ago. We’re on our way home. Nothing more. Nothing more.
They invite the stranger to join for the dinner.
Before either of them can do a thing, the stranger takes the bread and gives thanks and then breaks it … and suddenly their eyes are opened; in a flash, they see Jesus!
In a flash, he’s gone.
Didn’t our hearts burn as he walked with us on the road?
We had no idea.
But it was our LORD Jesus!
They hurry back to Jerusalem, 7 miles on the run, to tell the disciples what they’ve seen.
Only to discover that others have seen him, too.
What’s going on?
Someone tell us, please.
Rumors and reports.
Some have seen him and some haven’t.
Come on now, let’s get a hold of ourselves.
Settle down.
Think!
And while they were still talking, Jesus came and stood among them.
Just like that.
Peace be with you! he says.
Peace!
And the rest is history.
History.
His Story.
The story of a heavy stone.
The story of two men and a stranger.
The story of a confused and uncertain church.
Yet, quite expectedly …
With no one looking for a miracle:
Bewilderment becomes faith.
Confusion becomes hope.
Uncertainty becomes love.
His Story.
Our story!
He is Risen!
He is Risen indeed!
To God be the glory!
Amen and Amen!
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