SPECIAL DAYS: April 20, Easter Sunday

Lesson: Psalm 118.1-2, 14-24; Isaiah 25.6-9; 1 Corinthians 15.1-11; Mark 16.1-8

Sermon Title: Resurrection Day!

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INTRODUCTION:

A Bunny Story

Once upon a time there was a man who was peacefully driving down a windy road. Suddenly, a bunny skipped across the road and the man couldn't stop. He hit the bunny head on. The man quickly jumped out of his car to check the scene. There, lying lifeless in the middle of the road, was the Easter Bunny.

The man cried out, "Oh no! I have committed a terrible crime! I have run over the Easter Bunny!"

The man started sobbing quite hard and then he heard another car approaching. It was a woman in a red convertible. The woman stopped and asked what the problem was.

The man explained, "I have done something horribly sad. I have run over the Easter Bunny. Now there will be no one to deliver eggs on Easter, and it's all my fault."

The woman ran back to her car. A moment later, she came back carrying a spray bottle. She ran over to the motionless bunny and sprayed it. The bunny immediately sprang up, ran into the woods, stopped, and waved back at the man and woman. Then it ran another 10 feet, stopped, and waved. It then ran another 10 feet, stopped, and waved again. It did this over and over and over again until the man and the woman could no longer see the bunny.

Once out of sight, the man exclaimed, "What is that stuff in that bottle?"

The woman replied, "It's harespray. It revitalizes hare and adds permanent wave."

  1. Some people see Easter as the expression of the Easter Bunny

    1. The Easter Bunny brings eggs and other gifts.

    2. Easter is not about the Easter bunny, nor about harespray.

In his book, THERE I GO AGAIN, Steven Moseley tells about Anna Pavlova, a Russian ballet superstar of the early 1900s.

Ms. Pavlova has been acclaimed as the greatest ballerina of all time. Her most memorable performance, however, took place after her death.

Anna was to play the role she made famous, the Dying Swan, at the Apollo Theater in London.

Tragically, she succumbed to pneumonia and died two days before the event.

Still, on the appointed night, a crowd of her fans packed the Apollo Theater.

The orchestra began playing, the curtain rose, a spotlight flashed through the dark, and the entire audience rose to its feet.

They all stood gazing at a pool of light wandering around the stage, accompanied by the orchestral theme.

As the light danced and the orchestra played, they remembered Anna Pavlova.

In their hearts they could see her on stage, dressed in white with flashing dark eyes.

When the music stopped at last, they gave the vanished Anna a thunderous ovation that echoed on and on in the night. (1)

  1. This experience may highlight the devotion and reverence that people gave to Anna Pavlova.

    1. Easter is not chasing a beam of light around a darkened stage.

    2. It is not the celebration of a life that is not alive.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. On this day people all over the world gather to celebrate a more significant event.

    1. We do not celebrate a decorated egg, an empty stage, nor an empty tomb.

      1. It is much, much more

      1. We celebrate a risen Christ.

      2. We celebrate the victory of love over hate.

      3. We celebrate the victory of life over death.

      4. We celebrate the re-birth of hope.

      5. We celebrate new life the promise of which is demonstrated and sealed in the resurrection.

    2. We celebrate the gift of God revealed in God's will and purpose for his family.

Many years ago there was a movie titled, "Stars in My Crown." It told of an elderly black man who owned a little farm outside a southern town.

Some very precious metal was discovered in that area, and suddenly there was pressure on him from many people to sell his land.

But he would not sell.

He wanted to stay exactly where he was.

However, the people in the area would not take "no" for an answer.

They did everything they could to make him move.

They burned down his barn,

One night shot they through his house, and eventually threatened to hang him by sundown the next day if he did not agree to sell.

The local Methodist minister heard about the trouble and went to visit the old man.

At sundown of the next day, all the leading citizens of the community came to the farm dressed in their white hoods.

They were ready to hang the black gentleman if he refused to sell.

The farmer came out on the porch to meet them wearing his best clothes.

He said that he was ready to die and that he had asked the minister to draw up for him his Last Will and Testament, which he wanted to have read at that time.

The minister read the will, and those present realized quickly the old man was giving everything to them.

He willed the farm to the banker who seemed so hellbent on having it.

He gave his rifle to another of the men there who had first learned to hunt with it.

He gave his fishing pole to another.

In fact, that old man gave everything he had to the people who were prepared to kill him.

He killed them first with love and affection.

The impact was incredible.

Seeing goodness given in the face of such animosity was more than any of them could tolerate.

One by one, in shame, they turned away, and the entire lynching mob disappeared.

The minister's grandson had watched everything from a distance, and as everyone departed, he ran up to his grandfather and asked,

"What kind of will was that, Granddaddy?

The old minister answered,

"That, my son, was the will of God."

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  1. Easter is the testament and will of God.

    1. A group of people decided to put to death the one who had loved and cared for them.

      1. He had given them healing for their bodies.

      2. He had given them peace for their anxieties.

      3. He had given sight for blindness.

      4. He had given hearing to those who could not hear.

      5. He had raised a friend who had died.

      6. His love was not recognized.

      7. His gifts went unappreciated.

    2. They thought that they had accomplished their purpose.

      1. Yet, the stone was rolled away and the dead one lived.

      2. We witness to his resurrection.

Robert Browning concludes his poem, Easter Day, with these words.

Thank God, no paradise stands barred
To entry, and I find it hard
To be a Christian, as I said!
Still every now and them my head
Raised glad, sinks mournful-all grows drear
Spite of the sunshine, while I fear
And think, How dreadful to be grudged
 No ease henceforth, as one that's judged,
Condemned to earth forever, shut
From heaven!

But Easter*Day Breaks! But
Christ rises! Mercy every way
Is infinite,*and who can say?

      1. In answer to Robert Browning, "We can say!"

      2. In answer to the sceptics, "We can say!"

      3. In answer to the doubters, "We can Say!"

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CONCLUSION

During WW II, some Jews, with the help of the conscientious, were passing themselves off as Christians.

The Nazi's grew wise

One day the Commandant forced a priest to read from a piece of paper.

Will all the Jewish fathers leave the church.

Will all the Jewish mothers leave the church.

There was a rustle as people left to be taken to the camps.

When heads were raised a bare crucifix was to be seen in the cancel.

Christ had gone with his people.

  1. A crowd gathered in the Apollo Theater and paid tribute to Anna Pavlova.

    1. They applauded their memories.

    2. A crowd gathers in the country side and in churches to pay tribute to Jesus Christ.

    3. We applaud a risen Christ, and his and our resurrection to new life.

  2. As you leave this celebration and go out into the world

    1. Do not leave Christ here in this place.

      1. Take him with you.

      2. Take him with you to your home and let him help you to live in peace and harmony.

      3. Take him with you to your places of pleasure and let him help you to live with a sense of joy and recreation.

      4. Take him with you to your places of work and let him help you to live with a sense of satisfaction in your productivity.

    2. My dear friends, Please, take Christ with you!

      1. Hold On

      2. Give God a round of applause!

      3. This is because Jesus does go with you.

1. (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1991)

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