Sermon Tone Analysis

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normal'>May only God’s truth and Grace be spoken and only God’s Truth and Grace be heard – in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – Amen 

 

Martin Marty, an editor and publisher of many things had a newsletter called /"Context,"/ and tells this true story:

"His classmates noted that eight-year-old Stephen's mental impairment was becoming even more manifest.

In April, the Sunday School teacher asked all eight children in his class to hide within an empty Leggs pantyhose container one small object that represented the new life in spring.

I don’t know if they still have Leggs pantyhose and if they are still in those ostrich egg shaped plastic containers

But I certainly remember them from my childhood – I think that my Grandma might have bought that brand just for us kids to have the eggs to play with

/Back to the story…/Fearing that Stephen might not have caught on, the teacher had the children place all unlabeled containers on the table so that he could open them.

The first had a tiny flower.

'What a lovely sign of new life!'

The donor could not help but erupt, 'I brought that one.'

A butterfly flew from the second container, and another child bragged that her choice was the best sign of all.

The third Leggs container was empty.

'It has to be Stephen's,' thought the teacher, reaching quickly for the forth.

But, 'Please, don't skip mine,' Stephen interjected.

'But it's empty.'

'That's right,' said Stephen, 'the tomb was empty, and that's new life for everyone.'

"That summer Stephen's condition worsened and he died.

At his funeral on his casket mourners found eight Leggs containers… now all empty!

[1]

/23//Jesus told them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; *but* if it dies, it bears much fruit.

/(John 12:23-24)  

 

 

When I have an empty stomach, it’s an inconvenience to my day

I need to grab a bite and it is either a can of soup or out I go to fast food restaurant – if I don’t I will have my stomach continually reminding me that it feels empty

When my car’s gas tank becomes empty,

It always seems that fuel prices have just taken another jump

And like any preacher, I don’t enjoy looking out from the pulpit and seeing empty pews

Oddly enough, however, the best news in history is: … “It’s empty!”

On Easter morning the tomb where Jesus was laid was found empty.

The stone had been rolled away, the body of Jesus Christ was gone, and the news of his resurrection began to spread from that moment on.

The women who were the first witnesses of this miracle *ran* to share the story.

The Church of Jesus Christ has been “running on empty” ever since.[2]

So on this day, brothers and sisters in Christ – fellow empty tombers - when I say:  

“Halleluiah – The Lord has Risen”

            You respond with “He has risen indeed”

This timeless call and response has been with the church for countless years and it is for Easter - the occasion of the greatest celebration

 

We are not glass half full or glass half empty people

– We are ones that celebrate that it is completely empty!

Christmas is for calendar makers the pivot point in history

            Easter is when the significance of the incarnation reaches its climax – its victory!

Today is the highest point in the whole year, for us Christians

                                    It is truly a dramatic day – it is a day of transformation

 

/“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”/

/            55 “Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”/

/            57 But thanks be to God!

He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

(1 Corinthians 15:54b,55,57)/

 

 

Charles Dickens' celebrated Christmas Carol is a Christmas story only in its setting;

In theme it is actually an /Easter Carol/, because it describes the resurrection of a dead soul.

Scrooge was *as* mean and selfish an old miser as it is possible to imagine;

His heart was cold to every generous impulse and kindly emotion.

He was living in the night — the time when ghosts, like the ghost of Christmas past, come to one.

But *in* the course of the story he is led to see how hateful a being he has become,

And in the end his old soul dies and a new soul rises within him.

Scrooge is led from night to day and the difference is as different as night and day.

Scrooge inhabits the same body, but he is no longer the same person.

Instead of being a withered old miser – he is a kind-hearted, charitable gentleman.

And this is clearly a story which illustrates the truth of Easter.[3]

Another big break-through at the break of dawn occurred to a newspaper reporter a few years ago.

They hold Easter sunrise service each year on the rim of the Grand Canyon and this particular reporter was assigned to cover the event.

He was not especially noted for his religious fervor.

It was below freezing and he stood there is the pre-dawn darkness shivering dolefully, wishing himself back in bed.

"But," he later wrote, "as the sun rose and light poured into that stupendous chasm, I forgot all about being cold.

One moment everything was gray and formless.

Then came a flood of radiance, torrents of light plunging down the canyon walls, making them blaze with color, dissolving the blackness.

Watching the shadows vanish, I had the conviction that the darkness that had filled the great gorge was an illusion, that only the light was real, and that we silent watchers on the canyon rim were somehow a part of the light.

…

He continues “I have listened to sermons and read about religion, but for the first time in my life I felt I had made contact with the spirit called God."[4]

 

There’s a lovely old legend that tells of the priest who found a branch of a thorn tree twisted around so that it resembled a crown of thorns.

Thinking it a symbol of the crucifixion, he placed it on the altar in his chapel on Good Friday.

Early on Easter morning he remembered what he had done.

Feeling it was not appropriate for Easter Sunday, he hurried into the church to clear it away before the congregation came.

But when he went into the church, he found the thorn branches blossoming with beautiful roses… He was confronted with life.[5]

This morning’s sermon is a collection of stories – and there are a few more still to come

            I tell you this because all of us come to Easter morning with a different story

                        All of us meet the dawn of new light – the risen Son – feel and meet God in a different way

And God, in turn, responds differently to each one of us

The gospel of John, which we have for Easter each year, reveals people coming to Jesus in very personal and unique ways

 

Some people will see and just believe like the beloved disciple – but no two are the same, see how others in John’s Gospel choose to believe … John is always dealing out options

1.      Peter ran to the tomb and yet even seeing it empty did not understanding that morning – and previously failing with the cock crowing three times and then later received grace on the beach

2.      Nicodemus who wants to believe, yet is confused and questions in the secret of the night but ultimately assists in the burial of Jesus with the highest respect – with the tomb that he purchased and was never used before

3.      Pilate who doesn’t want to make a decision

4.      The man born blind who becomes a follower

5.      The religious leaders who, because their establishment is threatened, refuse to see the signs

6.

The woman at the well, who believes after a significant personal revelation – and then is transformed both in trust and her place in the community

7.      Thomas who finally makes the great confession

·         All these great options to belief

o   Some will believe instantly

o   others through personal revelations and miracles

o   others still gradually

o   others /even still/ faced with all the reports of Jesus, will still go on in unbelief to protect what they have always known

 

Consider for yourself – how /you/ came to this Easter morning?

Is it exactly like anyone else?

Would all the circumstances that bring you here today match anyone exactly?

Consider further , when was it when you first came to believe and trust in Jesus Christ

– Your first Easter moment – is it exactly like anybody else?

I suspect if we look at enough details we will see that God has met each and every one of us in a special way… just for us

 

Look at how John tells the story of Mary – How Mary has come that Easter morning 2000 years ago bringing with her, her own expectations – her own understanding of God

            And she is asked a major question

/“Woman, why are you weeping?