Sermons In Time Easter

Easter Sunday

COME AND SEE...GO AND TELL

Gospel Luke 24:1-12

If you were to ask the question, "What is the most important day in the Christian Year?" without hesitation, the answer would be given, Easter Sunday! In fact, each week that we meet together as Christians to worship God, we are remembering Easter. The song says it well: "Every morning is Easter Morning from now on."

In the Gospel of Matthew, the story is told somewhat differently than here in Luke, which we have read this morning. In going into the tomb, the two Marys are told not to be afraid (is it any wonder that they are?) Once inside, it is said to them, "I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen as he said. Come here and see the place where he was laying. Go quickly now, and tell his disciples he has been raised from death."

It is in the context of this passage that today we experience four of the most dynamic words the world has ever known: COME and SEE; GO and TELL! Come to the place where he lay. See that he is no longer in that place. Go to where his disciples have gathered. Tell them that he is risen as he said!

1. First, Come and See.

1.a. Come and see the place where he lay. There was no doubt in the minds of any that Jesus had been crucified, dead and buried. The purpose for coming to the tomb in the first place was to anoint the body, and a serious question had been "Who will roll the stone from the door?" There was a heaviness of heart that is as natural as any of us have when there is an experience of grief. The ignominy of his dying was so great, this one who was so fully an expression of the fullness of humanity, their own sense of incongruity was overwhelming.

In approaching the tomb of Jesus, we approach the grave of all those we have known and loved and appreciated, and feel the loss deeply. In death alone, there is a serious disruption of all that is holy and important in living. When we bury one we love, there is a finality of that life in this world, and we are faced with the necessity of ending a very important relationship. Even in the burial, the "anointing", the act of "laying to rest" is an appreciation that the life that was so valued is no longer there, and all we have is the fullness of memory in the body, and because that person lived in that body, we treat it with respect. It is the least we can do.

1.b Come and see the sorrow and grief of those who approached the grave. "Blessed are those who sorrow now." In the story of crucifixion and death and resurrection, the awareness of grief and sorrow is very real. We have, as the People of God a great encouragement to understand and experience our own grief. Nothing in the celebration of Easter discounts for one moment the sadness that is experienced in the loss of someone important to us. All of the Gospels in one way or another express the sorrow of the followers of Jesus as an important part of this whole event.

1.c Come and see the overwhelming sense of mystery that surrounds the events of this day. Mark speaks of those who came as being frightened, distressed and terrified. It is not appropriate for us to take this experience of the Church, which has become so central to our faith, and treat it as routine or lightly. There is no question in the mind of any of us that when we read of the Easter event, we are confronted with an event shrouded in great mystery. The events of Easter are not easy for us to understand. It is almost as easy for us to believe that bunnies lay Easter eggs as it is for us to believe that someone whom we have known would rise from the dead, after all that dying means.

Today, there are those who are hoping that through the science of cryonics, it may be possible for persons who are near death to be frozen, and in some future time, when the human processes are better understood, they may be "thawed" and the illnesses that brought them to death may be healed. There are people today who are being frozen with this in mind. But even to hear of these stories, is to relive the story of Lazarus, knowing that the time will come when all those who live in this life will die, and if such an event as living anew in this life were possible, death still is an inevitability.

But the testimony of those who experienced the resurrection event is that Jesus lives, and has continued to live from that time until the present. It is appointed unto man once to die, but the story of the church is that Jesus not only died, but lives again, and will be alive forever more.

1.d. But there is more to "Coming and Seeing" than just to live again in this world, or to be "raised from the dead," as unusual and unique as that may be. I truly believe that today if you were to be asked "Just how important is it to you that you 'live forever?'", most of us would say something to the effect that it is much more important to live welland to live fully than it is to live forever. There is about the story of Easter more than just the resuscitation of life as we know it. Recently, I have asked a number of people what Easter means to them. Almost to a person, they have said, "New Life." By that, they seem to be saying that because of the faith they have in God, there is a joy in living day by day that makes each moment an opportunity to experience living in a new and exciting way. There may be mystery, there may be pain, there may be valleys of shadows that one has to pass through, but because of this new life in Christ, there is a willingness to take all that happens, and make it rich and full.

It's almost as if each day is a "Land of Beginning again." That one can get up in the morning and honestly say, "This is the day the Lord has made, and given to me as a gift. I will accept the gift, and rejoice and be glad in it. "There's never a burden that He cannot carry, never a load that he cannot bear." is the way the hymn writer put it.

But the emphasis of "New Life" is neither on the difficult nor the pleasurable alone. It is rather on the Spirit of the day, the attitude of heart, the awareness that within the soul there is a joy in looking out on the world and saying, "What do we do now, Lord?" and gladly taking it on. It is also living at each stage of life as fully as possible. There is a uniqueness in Children that is delightful. Do we call it "Wide Eyed and Bushy Tailed?" The excitement of birthdays, of seeing something beautiful for the first time, of standing amazed in the presence of something or someone which is totally exciting. There is a pleasure in watching teenagers grow up, and knowing that life is very much like "walking on eggs" through the maze of changes we call maturing. There is a reverent appreciation for caring parents, who love each other with mutual respect, and are able to share their maturity with small children in a nurturing way. And there is contentment in the "Quiet eyes" of one who has lived well, and approaches the older years with integrity and without fear or despair. It is called living well. And never does the spirit of "New Life" leave one who passes through this earthly journey with the Spirit of the Living God in their heart.

2. And the angel said, "Go and Tell." How beautiful to share that which has made life significant with others. Not only did those who come to the tomb go and tell Peter and the other disciples, but they all were so filled with the newness of life that was in Christ Jesus, that they told the whole world. And the story they told and we still tell is one with which the world resonates gladly. In many ways, to be fully human, to grow up and be able to be a mature person, and to have the fullness of life within is to experience the Easter Message.

It is to understand that as a human being, we will suffer disappointments, great pain, and struggle of both spirit and mind. It is to understand that abundant life is the enjoyment of "Being at home in the world" and believing that there is a hope in this life that those who hurt can be healed, those who are imprisoned can be free, those who are hungry can be fed, and those who have been at odds with one another can be friends. To "Go and Tell" is to be fully alive every moment of every day. It is to give yourself gladly in serving God and serving one another. It is to live in trust, and to appreciate your own gifts, talents, which are yours, and to appreciate the gifts and talents of others.

3. Finally, we Come and See and Go and Tell because there is an abundance in our living in this life. We are also those who dare to believe that there is resurrection. There is hope - the evidence of things unseen - that because of who Jesus is, and what he represented as the very nature of God, life does not just "end" as a bad joke for all of us. Instead, it goes on, from generation to generation, but also, in some way we do not understand except as promise. We do not have any idea of what may be in the promise except, "We shall be like him, and we shall see him as he is." And the Church stands as witness to that promise.

Today, you and I have come together to remember the events surrounding the death and resurrection of our Lord. We have come together to bear witness to the richness of the Life that is ours as Christians in the unique fellowship of the Body of Christ. We are grateful for the promise, but we are even more grateful for the abundance of life together as members one of another. Thanks be to God for this amazing and gracious gift given to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.

		This document maintained by melshort@stroxel.com.
		For permission to use material from Mel Short's website:

Accessed times since11/7/98