THE EASTER SURPRISE!

In the fall of '94, my little brother passed away and with heavy hearts, Sherry and I made our final trip to Anniston... to pay our final respects. We gathered and grieved. We noticed that Randy didn't look like himself and we greeted people whom we hadn't seen in a long time. Mostly though, we gathered to express our love for this "angel who flew too close to the ground,"to borrow a phrase from Willie Nelson. We gathered to express our love and we certainly didn't expect to see an empty casket. And it was much the same when my brother, Larry, died in 2010. I was blessed to spend some quality time with Larry shortly before he passed on, but still, it was with heavy hearts that Sherry and I drove to Plano, when he died. We gathered with heavy hearts to pay our respects. We didn't expect to find life in the graveyard. We simply wanted to say "goodbye" and "we will always love you." It's always the same. I've conducted a 100 funerals during my ministry and I've seen them their sad faces as they paraded by their loved one's body... just to pay their respects and maybe to reach out cautiously touch him or her one last time.
      

In the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, God asked his eccentric prophet one of the Bible's many great questions: can these dry bones live? You're standing in a valley of dry bones, son, he seemed to say. They're up to your waist and their very dry. They're not dying, or nearly dead- they're dead, dead- and my question to you is this: can these dry bones live? Well... can they? And many would say, of course not! Dry bones can't live. But the old prophet had more faith than that and he replied, "You know, Lord. You know. I don't know, but you do." Yes, God knows, but Mary Magdalene hadn't seen any dry bones come to life. Nothing is too hard for God. With God, all things are possible. So, with a heart filled with memories of her dearest friend, she made her way to Jesus' tomb, just outside of Jerusalem's gate, 1985 years or so ago. She made the journey because love demanded it, She was drawn by love to do the right thing. That's all she wanted to do and that would have been enough, but when she neared the tomb, her worst fears were realized! The heavy wheel-shaped stone had been rolled away from the entrance and she was overcome with the fear that the Jewish authorities or just grave robbers... had taken his body!                                                                                               

She wasn't thinking resurrection or that somehow he hadn't really died. She knew the score. She had seen them take his dead body off of Calvary's cross and lay it in this very tomb. So she ran to tell Peter and John, who confirmed that the tomb was empty and returned home, leaving Mary of Magdala weeping outside of his tomb. Then, as the passage goes, she spotted a man whom she took to be a caretaker, and she cried out, "Sir, where have you taken him? Please tell me so that I can do what I came to do." To grieve and pay her respects and say goodbye- that's all she wanted and all that she expected,  But instead of giving her the directions she sought, the man said: "Mary!" Mary, he said and her heart nearly burst because she recognized the voice immediately! When she heard her name, Mary cried, "Rabboni," and reached out to hug him. She wanted to embrace him! But he said, "Noli me tangere," (don't cling to me). Don't cling to me. Mary, because I have to go to my Father and besides, you have things to do!

Go and tell them, Mary, that I live! Tell them, Mary, and all of you who are Mary, that you have seen me and that those who believe in me will never die! Tell them, Mary. Tell them in your own words, from your life experience, in ways and with words that they understand... that I am risen! Tell them that death has lost and that life has won. Tell them that, Mary, and tell them that Easter is much more than candy and bunnies, more than families and friends, even more than hope itself. Tell them that Easter is more than anything they've ever expected and more than anything they can completely grasp or understand. Tell them that I am alive and that because I live, they will live-fully, abundantly, purposefully and eternally. Mary, and all of you who are Mary, Peter, John, Dave, Jack, Barb, or Ginny, go and tell them that. Tell them that death is simply a moment in time because dry bones live!      

After we buried Randy, Sherry and I received a bulb garden in the mail from him, which I planted, although I planted some of the bulbs upside down. And come Easter, of 95, his flowers were standing tall in the sun and I found myself saying, "Who's the preacher now?" Thank you, Lord, for being an Easter God and for giving us the faith to believe that neither our loved ones nor we will ever perish! Show us how to live as Easter people, Lord, and give us the courage to tell others that you live! Open our mouths and loosen our tongues that, even when our own hearts are filled with grief and our eyes are filled with tears, we might bear witness to the greatest truth that there is and ever could be- He lives! He is risen and He lives! Amen!