Easter Sunday

Has anyone here ever looked at Easter and went this is a little bit of an odd holiday?

Because I found an article that said around this holiday we eat 1.5 billion peeps ( I might account for that .5)

Not only that but on top of that Americans spend 1.9 Billion dollars on just Easter candy

We consume 16 billion jelly beans

And altogether we spend 24 Billion dollars on Easter each year.

And we are probably going that doesn’t sound weird, that sounds awesome haha.

But whats so weird is that Easter is what the celebration centers on is an empty tomb.

Because the truth is we usually do not celebrate things that are empty.

If your bank account is empty you are probably not celebrating,

If your gas tank is empty you are not rejoicing

Kids or teens if you found out your parents ate all your Easter candy you are not happy because your candy stash is empty

And we know that Easter celebrates a risen savior not an empty tomb, but what I love about the Easter story is it starts at an empty tomb.

And here is the thing because if I had to guess this morning while we are excited to be here, a lot of us might be coming from a place where there is an emptiness in our lives this morning.

For some it might be the past few years have just worn on you and you are just tired, your energy is low, and you feel empty

It might be some of us have been so busy we feel drained.

It could be that maybe someone is missing this Easter

But this morning as we look into the Easter story, I want to encourage you, because we see God moving in the middle of one of the most empty and broken places in human history.

And I believe this morning the God of the universe can move in the empty and broken places in our lives.

And so I do not want to get to far but we are looking at the Easter story found in Luke 24:1-12

Because the beauty of this story is it starts at an empty tomb.

Look at the first 3 verses with me.

Luke 24:1–3 NIV

1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

So I just want us to understand what exactly is happening because the passage starts with a group of woman (that are all named later)

And before this passage even started they saw a man that they left their old lives for, a man that they believed was the Messiah, crucified and killed in the most painful way.

And not just that but right before this passage after he was killed one of the woman named Mary followed them as they placed Jesus’s body in the tomb.

And now its 3 days later and its so early that is most likely still dark outside.

And we see these women walking to the tomb to place spices on the body as the last part of the burial process.

And you can almost sense how dark this walk would have been.

And as the long walk ends these woman arrive to the tomb to find the stone rolled away and the body is gone.

And all they can probably think is someone stole the body.

And ultimently you can just picture them thinking what is going on. Everything has fallen apart.

I mean have you ever been in a place like that?

Where it looks like things just got completely demolished?

If you have ever done demaltion or remodels in a house there is a point where things look terrible.

I mean their is rubble everywhere, the walls are stripped to the studs and it is ugly isn’t it.

It looks like this right? (dump barrel of remodel trash)

And if we are honest its easy to look at our lives and go thats how I feel. Things are not how they are supposed to be.

But look at the next couple verses because in the middle of the dark, void space something happens. Look at verses 4-8. It says this:

Luke 24:4–8 NIV

4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.

So they are wondering what had happened, and an angel tells them that Jesus is no longer dead, but He has risen

And here is what I want you to catch: In the middle of this hopeless situation, hope entered.

This morning before I go any further you might only see the wreckage of your life, but the God we serve sees so much more.

You might go who would even care or want anything or anyone who life looks like this?

But Jesus is saying I want you,

You might say well let me clean up first,

but God is saying no, I want you and your mess

You might go well how could God even move in this mess, because all I see is the mess,

but I can promise you that God can enter a these places where hope seeems far

and He can use the broken pieces and put them back together in a way only He can (put together cross out of the rubble)

Because the good news about Easter is that God did not run away from the mess but He entered into it.

And if God met you on the cross (one of the most painful places imaginable) then there is no place that God cannot meet you this morning.

But here is the issue, because the angel that proclaims this message says somthing in verse 5 that we read,

“Why do you look for the living among the dead”

You know the people that were closest to Jesus were looking in the wrong place for Him.

And here is what I want us to get, because when our life looks like this and we feel empty,

And our natural response is look all over the place to find a way to make something fulfill us.

We can try our job, but something goes wrong and we just add to the pile of the rubble (Throw hammer into the pile)

We can try our money, (throw change into it) but eventually we want somthing else

We can try a hobby (craft supplies/ book), but eventually it will not be enough.

We can try a relationship (throw flowers)

And what happens is we search for hope in all these things, instead of pushing us closer to God (which is how God designed creation) they end up cluttering our view of Him.

And its easy to get to a place where its hard to see God even though He is pursuing you.

And I want to just read this last part of the passage, because the women leave and look what it says:

Luke 24:9–12 NIV

9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

They come to the disciples or apostles and they tell them what had happened and you can picture them saying guys Jesus is alive! We thought He was dead but He has defreated death!

And I want you to notice that there are two responses here, because on one hand the disciples go this is nonsense.

And to be honest who could blame them, because they witnessed Jesus put to death and saw what He went through and you can picture them thinking theres no way.

But then there was a guy named Peter and Peter hears this an immediately gets up and runs to the tomb. (JOE COMES FORWARD TO PLAY)

And we do not know if Peter fully believed it or not, but he realized if there was even a small chance this could be real, he needed to know.

I do not know about you guys but every Easter I find myself at this place there is this amazing news

That the God of the universe came for every person in this church, every person in the community and every person in this world.

And really that He came for you.

And it would be easy to write off so many parts as nonsense.

And maybe this morning your going I think this message is nonsense.

Im not sure I can believe it

and even if I could, could God fill the void I am feeling

Could God pick up the broken pieces?

Could God pick up the pieces in my addiction?

Could God really pick up the pieces in my marriage?

Could God really do that in (fill in the blank)

But this morning as we close I guess my invitation would be come and see.

Come and see what God has done and is doing

Come and see what He can do in your life.

Because Easters message is that God so loved the world that he came for you.

To give you a hope, but also to begin to change your life today.