Easter Sunrise Service
It's Empty!
"Come, see the place where his body was laying," the angel said.
Emptiness is not something we are very fond of!
In most cases finding something empty is a shock or a disappointment. Think about it. The sugar bowl is empty. Sigh.
The cereal box is empty. Sigh.
The gas tank is empty. Sign.
The card from mom or dad is empty. Sigh.
Emptiness can lead to a real let down, in some cases some real sadness, a sense of loss, even tears. The time capsule is empty. The house is empty. The baby's room is empty.
Think about an empty nest!
Those pesky teenagers are finally off on their own. Hallelujah - kind of. Because even if it is the right thing, the appropriate next step, it is still an transition with expectations – and a sense of loss.
None of us like empty, very much, unless it is an empty garbage can.
Empty is too close to discouraged, depressed, and despondent.
We would rather see, feel, taste, and experience full!
We want to be full of it!
But the women who went to the grave, they needed to see that the grave was empty.
That Jesus wasn't there. That the son of God was risen!
To understand resurrection, we need to wrap our heads around an empty tomb.
The women went to find him dead, and while that may seem morbid, it is what they expected and what they could comprehended in their sadness.
But risen was almost too much!
Just the opposite of empty, too full. Like an Easter Sunday dinner with too many courses. Like a balloon with too much air. Like a swimming pool with too much water spilling over the sides.
Like a risen Lord in the pathway, alive and well, whom you must touch and hold - but whom you now finally realize is not just Jesus, but God incarnate before you.
You kneel, but you also hold and worship! God is alive!
And all because the tomb is empty. Because it couldn't hold him.
Because its capacity was much too small for the Lord of life!
And now he is alive forever more. Hallelujah. Amen!