4/4/2021 Normal Service

Sing for today comes from John chapter 20 verses 1 to 18.

And it's entitled the empty tomb. Early on the first day of the week while it was still dark Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple the one Jesus loved and said they've taken the Lord out of the Tomb and we don't know where they put him. So Peter and the other disciple started for the tune both were running but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the term tomb first. He been over and looked in at the strips of linen wine there, but did not go in then Simon Peter who is behind him arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus's head. The cloth was folded up by itself separate from the wedding. Finally. The other disciple could reach the tomb first also went inside. He saw and believed they still did not understand from scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying as she wept she been over to look into the tomb and saw two angels and white seated were Jesus's body had been one at the head and the other at the foot. They ask her woman. Why are you crying? They've taken my Lord away. She said, I don't know where they put him at this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. Woman he said why are you crying? Who is it you're looking for? Thinking he was the gardener. She said sir, if you carried him away tell me where you put him and I will get him. Jesus said to her. Mary She turned toward him and cried out and Aramaic rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus said do not hold onto me for I have not yet returned to the father go instead to my brothers and tell them I am returning to my father and your father to my God and your God Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news. I've seen the Lord and she told them that he had said these things to her the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

the moment and thank everyone who has helped make this day possible. It takes a while in the life of the church for the children's programs and for the Easter Sunrise Service and for the breakfast and for this service in particular in for all of our services, so I want to just thank all of you for coming together and helping us continue to be church. I have to say today feels like church and that's really good. We had a long time where we haven't been able to gather in the ways that we are used to and so it's just so nice a Sunday school teacher was teaching a rather difficult group of children. And she asked them direct questions kind of out of season and she said what is it Easter? One student raised their hand. It's a tight Easter's the day were where moms and dads go out and they take each other out for dinner and we get a babysitter. No, I think it's Valentine's Day. Another student Giants in Easter's the day where we go to the to the park and we grew out and we watched the boats on the lake. Sure. Thanks 4 seconds is no I think you're talkin about Memorial Day or Labor Day one of those two. There's nothing pops up and says I I know it's it's where we celebrate Jesus coming out of the empty tomb. Did you says you're right and just doing says yeah, and then if Jesus sees his shadow then he goes back in for a first 6 weeks.

You know, we have these words that mean more than than what is just a simple definition. Right? Like we have words for for complex things one of those which is is Easter. I have a blended family. I have a wife he's had a family before and I've had a family before and so we have his hers and ours and in these situations where there's his hers and ours, sometimes there's a lot of conversation that needs to happen where kids can't necessarily be around like you don't want all the ears listening in so we had a term that we made for this so you can just kind of convey we need a minute and it's called peppermint. Peppermint cuz sometimes summer kids don't like peppermint is too spicy for him until the conversations are too spicy. So they have to leave the room, right? And so so it's like the peppermint and then we have a little moment together. There's some others that we have as well as it as a family if we're doing things all is a large family. We say Dilly Dilly. An end Dilly Dilly means it's time to go like everybody in the building. If you'd last name is Dillingham. Let go. Okay. So it's Dilly Dilly. There's some some others as well. And so one of those is my son likes deep pressure. Sometimes deep pressure helps calm him down and it's really hard to explain to a four year old to ask for deep pressure as a supposed to just getting out of sorts. And so that is kanumba. I think is that right? An Uber thinks he says the word. I just do the thing like an Oompa and that means like deep pressure for him. And sometimes these these words that we have they can have meaning to us that we have to explain to other people right? I said peppermint before when we had friends over and they look at us like what are you talking about? And then they see all the kids go away. I like. Oh we want to have a conversation without little kids around. We just use that word right now. There's some other words in our in our common vernacular that don't necessarily have meanings to every other group, 214 this area here is Cubs fans in the world series or October, right or Sorry, my bad. It didn't it fell short it felt short. So you get the idea We Gather this morning. to talk about Easter and Easter is a uniquely Christian word doesn't mean anything else but didn't let me do it just has meaning for us that we are then called to share with others. Before I go any further, let us pray. Lord May the meditations of our hearts in the words of my lips be pleasing in your sight our Rock and Our Redeemer. amen Don't marry that morning was going to the tomb. tonight

Jesus was was dead. She couldn't provide care in the way of healing for the body. Right? But she was going to do the de spices and to prepare the body now in Jesus's day when a family had a tune it was like a tomb but it wasn't like a graveyard like the purpose of the tomb was it would be used for one year the body would decompose in there and then a year later you would go and you would gather the bones and you would put them together and then you would put them in another container. Okay, so you could use the same tomb over. Mary was going.

To try to move on to figure out what was next for her. She was going there. Not sure what was going to happen next but she knew she had to try to find some way to continue on with her life.

Easter is always

allotted holiday for us in the life of the church because so many songs that we sing the hymns that we sing at Sunrise Service May remind us of our favorite songs or our loved ones favorite songs that have went on before us, right and so it's not only that we're celebrating Easter, but we're also remembering all of those that have went before us. We're all in this process of grief. the offer the author Jodi Picoult said this of grief

She said I think grief is like a really ugly couch. It never goes away. You can decorate it. You can throw a dolly on top of it to do a lie on top of it. You can push it into the corner of the room. but eventually you got to learn how to deal with it.

That's kind of grief that Mary Had. And that's the kind of grief that we also have but there's something distinctly different about our faith. As Christians and that is that the tomb was empty. The tomb was empty. Jesus was raised from the dead that the other term is resurrection. And we we have this term that resurrection that helps us to understand what it means to be raised from the dead.

Jesus was raised from the dead. What what is what does that mean? It means that Jesus had victory over death. It's not just that Jesus came back like Lazarus. It's that Jesus overcame death even death upon across that the death upon the cross which Crosses we can look at it and it and they can be for us beautiful things, but two thousand years ago. They were symbols of torture and destruction. We through. Seeing the cross as a symbol of empty like the tomb is empty.

Jesus is resurrected have been able to to help move that to something. That's more beautiful. There's other things that that we celebrate and commemorate this morning. When is is Resurrection the other is?

Hattie's my notes. Sorry eternal life The other is eternal life.

When loved ones pass away we know that they are still cared for children of God. And that God will take care of them and that we will one day see them again. There's Hope in that message hope that doesn't exist outside of our faith is it death doesn't have any victory in our lives anymore? We Gather this day to celebrate life the life of the church The Life of Christ in US The Jesus Lives because Jesus lives in you and me and Jesus lives in the world around us because we choose to follow where Jesus would lead us. Oh Jesus is Ministry keeps going on and on and on.

sometimes we think that

time changes things a lot Like we live in a new day and a new wage. So therefore those old those old struggles that people had died this week. There was some horrible horrible footage out of Ethiopia. Some people being being murdered through war crimes and I didn't watch all but I I saw the beginning of it and it looked It look like it belongs in a World War II documentary as if world war was longer than just 80 years ago. Even though we came so far in time. You still struggle with the reality of what it means to be a people of Faith In The Temptations of power in this world. And so the grief that we feel when we see things like that and the reality of the Brokenness of this world. What can we say the people who have seen their loved ones and massacred?

How can we respond as people of faith? One of the ways that we can respond to anyone who's grieving as people of Faith as just saying I love you and I care for you. Mary went to the tomb. To share her love of Jesus to show her love We Gather this morning to show our love of God to show how we gather and how we worship how we praise Our Risen Savior.

The flowers are beautiful this morning.

What are the yellow ones daffodils? Okay, I was going to say lilies, but I know not lilies daffodils. They're they're beautiful right and the vibrant colors of spring. but

they provide us Cent. A lot of families that have had their funerals of loved ones. They can tell you that this smell of flowers in the home after the funeral right can be overwhelming right? Maybe so many smells of flowers that it's It's really there at initially just not to bring Beauty but to provide smell.

But the flowers also provide for us this morning or remembrance. that we can't change the world in which we live in the terms of we no longer experience death grief is a reality and each and every one of our lives. Banner Christian faith, we can find Hope in the story of Jesus. Hope in the love Shared Hope in the Miracles Live down.

This morning. We're going to continue this tradition by celebrating communion. We celebrate communion as a body of Christ. And in our church, that means everyone is welcome to it. This isn't Pastor Rob's table. This isn't Neoga Grace's Table listed in the United Methodist Church is tabled this table here belongs to Jesus and anybody. Curious who's thirsty and hungry are welcome to that table. That is why we've gathered this morning.

We Gather

because this and the empty tomb have changed us. So much so that an important part of our life is gathering together to praise God and to share what God has done in our lives.

I hope this Easter. You're able to share with others what Easter means to you? How you define the word? And how that word has defined how you live. What is prep?

Ord Help us. show us and guide us

to living out What you have done for us?

the sharing

are you rekindle in us when we are weak?

Comfort us when we are grieving.

And remind us that we are never alone.

May we rise every morning? aware of your victory over death And the importance of the empty tomb?

amen