The Three Words of Easter

Rev Dr Mark Porizky

Luke 24:1-12

4/8/07

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had prepared.  And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body.  While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel; and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise."  And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.  Now it was Mary Mag'dalene and Jo-an'na and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told this to the apostles;  but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

      It’s always good to stand here on Easter Sunday. 

      But it’s important to remember that on the Saturday just the day before Easter things looked seriously different.

      Somebody this week told me about a bumpersticker they enjoyed seeing. It said, “My Black Labrador is Smarter Than Your Student of the Month”. It’s only funny because of the culture that surrounds us – one that worships achievement – one that loves to fill resumes with long lists of accomplishments.

      This is a good day to remember a man who, during his life, didn’t make the honor roll. He never had any children, he left no inheritance anyway. He didn’t get along very well with his family, and of his twelve good friends, only a handful stuck with him to the end. He was considered a public nuisance by the authorities.

      Yes, he did and said some remarkable things during his life. There was a lot of hype about him for a few years. But in the end, when he died, most everyone had forgotten about his accomplishments. He was seriously under-appreciated. On Palm Sunday, he was a hero. But by Holy Saturday, he was a disappointment – his fifteen minutes of fame had come and gone – he was a flash in the pan - he was an also-ran – he was the Student of Last Month.

       But it turned out that Good Friday wasn’t his final exam. The story of his life didn’t end on the cross nor in the tomb. Starting on Easter, he got some serious extra credit.

      And so do we this Easter. Today, we have the opportunity to make the grade, regardless of what has come before in our lives. Today we are offered resurrection – new life – a chance to reflect on what Easter means.  So what does Easter mean? 

      Well, I think there are three words that sum up Easter.  Three.

      Easter is a message of hope

      The message that comes from the empty tomb is that there is hope. There is an everlasting hope. There is a certain hope of life eternal in Jesus Christ.

      For many centuries the men and women in Europe looked out upon the western sea, what we call the Atlantic Ocean , and they saw the sun sparkling upon the glittering surface of the waters, and they wondered. They wondered if there was anything beyond. Scholars said that you could sail off the edge of the world—there was nothing out there at all. In fact, inscribed on the shield of the coat of arms of the nation of Spain was its national motto, Ne Plus Ultra, meaning, "There is nothing beyond."

      One day Columbus went west on the shiny waters. He sailed off into the sunset as people waited expectantly, and finally after a long time the sails reappeared and the crowds were exultant. They shouted with joy, and Columbus announced that there was a land beyond the sea that was rich beyond their dreams. It was a glorious paradise. The king of Spain changed the motto of that land until it reads as it does today, Plus Ultra, meaning, "There is more beyond."

      For many centuries innumerable people stood beside the dark hole that we call a grave and watched the remains of their loved ones lowered into the earth, and they wondered: Beyond the dark waters of death, is there anything beyond?

      Then one day, a young explorer went west into the setting sun and descended into the blackness of the pit. He sailed off the edge of the world and crashed into hell.  Finally on this Resurrection morning, as the sun arose in the east, the Son of God stepped forth from a grave and declared, "There is something beyond. There is a something beyond your greatest expectations. And there awaits a heavenly Father, waiting with outstretched arms to wipe away every tear from your cheek."

      The message from the empty tomb is a message of hope.

      Secondly, Easter a message of love

      Easter is a message of love because we should never forget though the tomb was empty, it was a tomb. It wasn't an empty house, or an empty palace. It was an empty tomb. And that empty tomb speaks a message of love.

      For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. 

      The following story is so powerful if only because I don’t know if I could do it.

      John Griffith grew up with one dream in his heart—a dream of travel. He wanted to travel to faraway places and see exotic sights. Those strange-sounding names of strange-sounding lands—that's what he dreamt about and read about. That was his whole consuming passion of life. But that dream crashed with the stock market in 1929.

      The Great Depression settled like a funeral cloak upon the land. Oklahoma , his native state, was turned into a swirling dust bowl by the dry winds, and his dreams were swept away with the wind. So he packed up his wife, his tiny baby boy, and their few meager belongings in an old car and drove away to find greener pastures. He thought he might have discovered those on the edge of the Mississippi , where he got a job caring for one of those great, huge railroad bridges that cross the mighty Mississippi .

      It was in 1937 when this story took place. For the first time, he brought his 8-year-old son, Greg Griffith, to work with him to see what Daddy did all day. The little boy was wide-eyed with excitement, and he clapped his hands with glee when the huge bridge went up at the beck and call of his father. He watched with wonderment as the huge boats steamed down the Mississippi .

      Twelve o'clock came, and his father put up the bridge. There were no trains due for a good while, and they went out a couple of hundred feet on a catwalk out over the river to an observation deck. They sat down, opened their brown bag, and began to eat their lunch. His father told him about some of the strange, faraway lands that some of these ships were going to visit. This entranced the boy.

      The time whirled by, and suddenly they were drawn instantly back to reality by the shrieking of a distant train whistle. John Griffith quickly looked at his watch. He saw that it was time for the 1:07, the Memphis Express, with 400 passengers, which would be rushing across that bridge in just a couple of minutes. He knew he had just enough time, so without panic but with alacrity he told his son to stay where he was.

      He leaped to his feet, jumped to the catwalk, ran back, climbed the ladder to the control room, went in, put his hand on the huge lever that controlled the bridge, looked up the river and down to see if any boats were coming, as was his custom, and then looked down to see if there were any beneath the bridge. And suddenly he saw a sight that froze his blood and caused his heart to leap into his throat. His boy! His boy had tried to follow him to the control room and had fallen into the great, huge gear box that had the monstrous gears that operated this massive bridge. His left leg was caught between the two main gears, and the father knew that as sure as the sun came up in the morning, if he pushed that lever his son would be ground in the midst of eight tons of whining, grinding steel.

      His eyes filled with tears of panic. His mind whirled. What could he do? He saw a rope there in the control room. He could rush down the ladder and out the catwalk, tie off the rope, lower himself down, extricate his son, climb back up the rope, run back into the control room, and lower the bridge. No sooner had his mind done that exercise than he knew—he knew there wasn't time. He'd never make it, and there were 400 people on that train.

      Suddenly he heard the whistle again, this time startlingly closer. And he could hear the clicking of the locomotive wheels on the track, and he could hear the rapid puffing of the train. What could he do? What could he do! There were 400 people, but this was ... this was his son, this was his only son. He was a father! He knew what he had to do, so he buried his head in his arm and he pushed the gear forward.

      The great bridge slowly lowered into place just as the express train roared across. He lifted up his tear-smeared face and looked straight into the flashing windows of that train as they flashed by one after another. He saw men reading the afternoon paper, a conductor in uniform looking at a large vest-pocket watch, ladies sipping tea out of teacups, and little children pushing long spoons into plates of ice cream. Nobody looked in the control room. Nobody looked at his tears. Nobody, nobody looked down to the great gear box. In heart-wrenching agony, he beat against the window of the control room, and he said, "What's wrong with you people? Don't you care? I sacrificed my son for you. Don't any of you care?" Nobody looked. Nobody heard. Nobody heeded. And the train disappeared across the river.  

      The mills of God grind slow but exceedingly fine. God the Father cast his Son into the mills of his justice, bearing upon himself all of the sin of the world, and in the great gears of God, Jesus gave up his life for us. The remains of that were placed in a tomb outside of Jerusalem , a tomb that has a message for us of unspeakable love: that God should thus love us, "Amazing grace! How can it be that thou, my God, should die for me?"   

      Finally, Easter is a message of grace

      Easter is a message of hope and a message of love. But it is also a message of grace—of amazing, astounding, astonishing grace—that the Creator of the universe would and die for the creatures' sin. The wages of sin are death, we are told. And there at Calvary, and there at that tomb, those wages were paid in full—signed, sealed, and delivered. Signed in blood, sealed with the promise of Scripture, and delivered into the pit of hell. Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe.

      Theologians divide the work of Jesus into two parts: the passion of Christ and his exaltation, or glorification. The first he did for us; the second we do with him. He left the heavens for us. He left eternity and came into this world of woe. He endured the mockery of men, and probably women too. He endured the pain and agony of the spikes upon the cross. He endured death and hell and the grave for us. He descended into the pit for us. All of this he did for us, in our place.

      Are only task is to receive and give thanks.  When given an Amazing Grace, will should stop and give thanks.

      (My story)  

      When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his quilt, but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.

      The judge asked, “Guilty, or not guilty? ”When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, “That’ll be ten dollars—a dollar for every mile you went over the limit.”

      Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. “You have violated the law,” he said. “The fine must be paid—but I am going to pay it for you.” He took a ten dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner!

      “That,” said Billy Graham, “is how God treats repentant sinners!”

      Easter.  Hope.  Love.  Grace.  

Will you pray with me now?   

St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Groton, CT

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