Imagination is a Wonderful thing...
Out of it we get –
A FAT Man that delivers gifts...
A RABBIT that lays/hides Eggs...
A FAIRY that pays money for Teeth...
WHY CAN’T WE Have an IMAGINATION?
OF HOW GOOD LIFE REALLY CAN BE W/JC
Or About HEAVEN...
EASTER STORY
HOPE in the MOST HOPELESS of Situations...
LIGHT...LOVE...STRENGTH...
FULLNESS in the MIDST of EMPTINESS
John 20:1-14
Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him. Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?
IMAGINE –
2000 years ago...Graveyard w/Flowers...Tomb is Ripped Open...Casket Busted Open...
Body is Gone – Clothes are Lying in the Casket = FOLDED...
They went to the tomb and it was empty!
Empty – In that what was supposed to be there wasn’t. There was no body!
They saw the stone rolled away and looked inside and Jesus’ body was gone. It was gone!
Tomb was empty!
EMPTY
Is not Something we normally are ready to Celebrate
Empty means void. Nothingness.
A place...A bowl or container...My car/truck...Empty handed...Stomach...
Empty can also be an inner condition...Feel Empty within...
Empty
Means there should be something there, but is not.
Easter is all about emptiness – CELEBRATION OF IT!
That’s really quite strange when you think about it.
Who in their right mind celebrates emptiness?
Easter is a celebration of emptiness.
I. FIRST WORDS
IF
IF You Came Back from the DEAD – What Would YOU SAY?
1st WORDS?
YO...SUP...COOL...WOW...You Won’t Believe this one...
Like LAST Words in LIFE Are Important – WORDS on the Other Side Would Be Also...
BOOKS Are Written By People Who Have Claimed to have Had that Encounter –
WE BUY Their BOOKS AS Thought THEY Are the 1st Ones to Have that Experience & As THOUGH
They Have Something Profound TO SAY
I Think Jesus’ First Words are Extremely Insightful ALSO
CLUE as to the Meaning of it all...Intended Result...Objective...
2 of the Gospels have Words From Jesus Recorded hat DAY
Matt. & Jn.
Jn. 20:15 Woman, why are you weeping?
Matt. 28:9,10 Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” ...Then Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid...Go & tell...
Other GOSPELS – 1st Encounters
Mk. 16:15 Go into all the world & preach the gospel...He who believes...will be saved...he who doesn’t will be condemned. ...Signs...cast out demons...speak with new tongues...serpents...drink anything deadly...lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Lk. 24:17 He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this...and why are you sad?”
THEY EACH Seem to Deal with AN INNER Condition – that no LONGER MAKES Sense Because of The RISEN SAVIOR!
Lk. 24:5 Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!
THE IRONY –
They weren’t Looking for the LIVING
They came FOR THE BODY of Jesus – DEAD Not ALIVE
They Had Given Up ON HOPE...
Coming out of RESPECT...SADNESS...LOSS...CLOSURE...MEMORY...
NOT
IN HOPE...LOOKING FOR LIFE...
IF THEY WERE LOOKING FOR LIFE –
THEY CAME to the WRONG PLACE!
LIKE US!
We Look to FIND LIFE in ALL the Wrong PLACES too!
They We’re Simply Looking for a Little Comfort...Memory...
We too Lose Hope –
Look for Very Little & FIND IT!
Too Many Have Given up
ON HOPE...DREAMS...VISIONS...
Marriage...Family...Career...Life...
IMAGINATION!
Settle for Just A Little "FEEL GOOD"..."WARM FUZZY"...
KEEP Looking for
Something to Fill VOIDS...
LIGHT...JOY...
SOMETHING TO FILL the EMPTINESS
Anything will do – YET None of it Works...
EASTER
JESUS wants to Step into Your life & BLOW YOUR MIND
LIGHT into YOUR DARKNESS
BEAUTY in the Wasteland
HOPE for Despair
Love where none Exists
Joy for Sadness
Victory in place of Defeat
TURN your GRAVEYARDS into CELEBRATIONS
EMPTINESS into FULLNESS
Philip never felt like he belonged. A pleasant...8 year-old...Born w/ Downs Syndrome. SS @ Easter...Special project.
Plastic "egg"...Go find a symbol for new life & put it into the egg. Enthusiastically, the class responded.
Later - Eggs were opened...1 x 1...Each explained the meaning of his symbol.
Flower...Butterfly...Grass...Rock...Last egg - Nothing.
" Stupid,"...Phillip – spoke up "That’s mine & I did do right! It’s empty, ’cause the tomb was empty." Silence.
Later Phillip died. Funeral – 8 yr. Olds - brought their symbol of remembrance and placed it near his coffin.
Their unusual gift of love to Phillip wasn’t flowers. It was an empty egg - now a symbol to them of new life and hope.
TODAY WE Celebrate
That Out of Brokenness = Wholeness...Healing...
DEATH = LIFE...
LOSS = GAIN
EMPTINESS
II. WE Celebrate EMPTINESS
3 Places of EMPTINESS
1. WE Celebrate that Jesus Emptied his Life for US
Last Words
IT IS FINISHED
Mean?
That Everything that needed to be Done was DONE!
That Jesus has Literally Emptied Himself of Everything he had to offer TO ME/YOU
That We might Live LIFE ABUNDANTLY!
He Poured it out – that it might be found within us!
In Him WE LIVE & MOVE & HAVE OUR BEING
When you Watch Him Live – you Know that His life was Consumed for Humanity – You & ME
He Went around Doing Good...Serving...Sick...
Healed...Touched...Blessed...
Stepped Into Humanity at its Worst – Offered his Very Best!
EMPTIED HIMSELF of ALL LIFE –
To FILL Ours With HIS
2. WE Celebrate the EMPTY CROSS
THE EMPTY Cross Tells me that I Can BE Forgiven of ALL my SIN...
Cross was/is a Cruel place of Death...
It WAS For me – Jesus was Beaten...Broken...Bruised...
Is. 53 Who has believed our report?...He is despised and rejected...A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief...He has born our grief & carried our sorrows...He was wounded for our transgressions...bruised for our iniquities...our peace was upon Him...by His stripes we are healed...It pleased the LORD to bruise Him...An offering for sin...
LIKE
From a CAST – Wholeness...BAND-AID – BETTER...STITCHES – MENDED...
Why Should it Surprise us that From the Broken Body of Christ these things Come to us?
It is why he came –
He is Our Cast...Band-Aid...Stitches...Splint...Salve...Balm...
HE TOOK it all on himself – that we might not have to!
THE CROSS tells me how Much Jesus Loves ME!
BECAME SIN - KNEW NONE
WHILE I was yet a Sinner – Jesus Died for me!
Behold – What Manner of Love the Father has BESTOWED Upon US...
Bloodstained Pages
The Empty Cross – Tells me that I can be free from my past
Have a Great life in & Through Jesus
Jesus did die – that is why I want you to see the cross this morning. It is the place where he died – but today, it is empty. Empty of Jesus body, but full – full of God’s promises. Full of hope – for you and me. The promise of the empty cross is that you and I stand forgiven. Because it was on that cross that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins.
3. WE Celebrate the EMPTY TOMB
Without The Empty Tomb –
There is No SAVIOR
No Salvation...Hope...
Nothing is Sure...
Tomb, You shall not hold Him longer, Death is strong, but life is stronger
Stronger than the dark, the light; Stronger than the wrong, the right;
Faith and hope triumphant say; Christ will rise on Easter Day.
While the patient earth lies waiting Till the morning shall be breaking
Shuddering beneath the burden dread Of her Master, cold and dead,
Hark! she hears the angels say; Christ will rise on Easter Day.
And when sunrise smites the mountains Pouring light from heavenly fountains
Then the earth blooms out to greet Once again the blessed feet;
And her countless voices say; Christ has risen on Easter Day.
For, in the fact of the empty tomb is the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise to every one of us that we too will be raised to eternal life. To those who know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, death has lost its sting – it is no longer something to be feared. What fear is there when we have the promise that one day we will live forever with Him in Heaven?
In Jn – JC Asked a 2nd Question
Whom are you seeking?
i.e. What are You Looking for?
I recently came across this story, it was told by “Dear Abby” in a response to someone’s question.
A young man from a wealthy family was about to graduate from high school. It was the custom in that affluent neighborhood for the parents to give the graduate an automobile. "Bill’ and his father had spent months looking at cars, and the week before graduation, they found the perfect car. On the eve of his graduation, his father handed him a gift wrapped Bible. Bill was so angry that he threw the Bible down and stormed out of the house. He and his father never saw each other again. It was the news of his father’s death that brought Bill home again. As he sat one night going through his father’s possessions that he was to inherit, he come across the Bible his father had given him. He brushed away the dust and opened it to find a cashier’s check, dated the day of his graduation - in the exact amount of the car they had chosen together. As I thought about this story, I couldn’t help but wonder how many people in this world have done the same thing to God. Literally tossed aside a wonderful promise, because they didn’t understand it, or they didn’t believe that it was possible. In our world, we are taught that; “if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.” So many of us have been taken in by “empty promises,” that we are leery of anything or anyone that tells us we can have something for nothing.
In John Masefield’s drama The Trial of Jesus, there is a striking passage in which the Roman centurion in command of the soldiers of the cross comes back to Pilate to hand in his report of the day’s work. After the report is given, Pilate’s wife beckons to the centurion and begs him to tell how the prisoner died. When the story had been told, she suddenly asks, "Do you think He is dead?" "No, lady" answers the
centurion, "I don’t." "Then where is He?" to which the Roman replies, "Let loose in the world, lady, where...no one can stop His truth." The gospel of the resurrection is an indisputable fact, an indispensable faith, and an irresistible force.
