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Minister: Marv Vose

John 20:1-18

Would you believe that a native Tennessean was knighted by a foreign king? That's not too hard to believe, but how about this? Would you believe that same individual has climbed Mount Blanc, the Eiger, the Jungfrau and the Matterhorn? Even that isn't too hard to grasp, is it. But how about this complication? Would you believe that this person was blind from the age of four? It's true! His name was Sir Francis Joseph Campbell.

How about this one? Would you believe that a missionary to America was saved from Indians by a rattlesnake? It's true! Count Zinzendorf was reading so intently one evening that he didn't notice a rattlesnake crawling over his foot. A band of Indians were about to pounce on him, but they fled because they believe he must lead a charmed life. And maybe he did! Both of those are examples from Ripley's, Believe It or Not.

How about this? Would you believe that the child of God crawled upon a cross and died to save an ungrateful world? Would you believe thatthree days later, that same child of God came back to life and the tomb isempty? Would you believe that because of Jesus, you and I get to liveforever? In other words, do you believe in Easter? All of that is true. It is God's believe it or not.

Easter is God's Believe it or not.

Some people have a hard time with Easter. It is just too good to betrue. It is just so incredible; they can't wrap their minds around it. Godcares that much? God is willing to go to that extreme for me? I have thatmuch to look forward too? Easter really is an incredible proposition!

Sometimes children do better with Easter than adults. Sometimeschildren just have an easier time with this whole faith thing. A pastor wasworking with a group of second graders and they were talking about Easterand the resurrection of Jesus, when one of the students asked, "What didJesus say right after he came out of the grave?" The pastor tried toexplain that the Bible doesn't really tell us. But one of the otherstudents raised her hand and said, "I know what he said! He said,'Tah-Dah!'" That might be a pretty good interpretation!

But not all kids get it quite so clearly. A Sunday school teacherwas working with her class on the real meaning of Easter. She asked theclass, "Why do we celebrate Easter?" She wanted to get them beyond theEaster bunny and chocolate eggs. One little boy raised his hand and hesaid, "We celebrate Easter because Jesus came out of the tomb!" The teacherwas so excited! One of her students understood and so she said, "And whatelse?" And the little boy continued, "If He sees his shadow he goes backinto the grave for another six weeks!" Easter can be pretty hard tounderstand and believe.

Mary was the first one on the scene. Remember the scripture? Marywas fudging just a little bit on Sabbath law. She shouldn't have been outand about before dawn. It was still Sabbath and you weren't supposed totravel on the Sabbath. But she just couldn't wait any longer. She had togo. And so she was the first one there. She was the first one to see thestone rolled away, but she didn't understand. Even after John and Peterarrived, she didn't understand. Even after she saw the angels in the tomb,she couldn't grasp what was going on. Even after she talked to Jesus, itwasn't clear. It was only after Jesus had spoken her name that she startedto understand. Jesus was alive. And she could say, "I have seen the Lord!"

John and Peter had the same problem. They walked into the tomb.They saw the burial cloths. By the way, for those of you who have seen themove the Passion of Christ, do you remember towards the end where they havethat shot of the tomb? And do you remember seeing the burial cloths settledown in the tomb? It's like all of the air came out of a balloon and theyjust gently settle down. That's exactly what is being described in thisscripture. The burial cloth hadn't been unwrapped like you might expect,strand by strand. They just collapsed! And at that point the scripturesays that John "saw and believed," but even yet, he didn't understand thefull implications of this. It is just too incredible!

And today is no different. People still have a hard time believingin Easter. Some of you may have read The DaVinci Code? Or maybe you'veseen the movie. It was very popular for some time and it really is anexcitingly written mystery novel. I need to emphasize that word "novel,"because it is so well written people start to think that it is a historicalbook. It really is fiction.

If you haven't read the book it is based on the stories that grew upafter the resurrection of Jesus as alternative ways of explaining theresurrection, because the resurrection is just too good to believed. So inthis book, Jesus doesn't really die. He takes off with Mary Magdalene, theyget married and have children and the descendants of their children are inFrance today. And the Roman Catholic Church knows all about this, but iskeeping it under wraps. Now when I tell it, it sounds pretty silly, doesn'tit? But when the author writes it, it sounds a lot better. Even in the faithful--even inside the church, there are those folkswho struggle with Easter. They may say they believe in Easter, but theyhaven't been able to internalize it yet. They really can't appropriate themagnitude of the gift for themselves. They just can't believe that Godcares that much.

I heard a pastor tell a story that illustrates the point well. Thepastor was visiting in the hospital. A man's wife was very ill. The husbandand the minister were talking and the minister asked, "Why do you think yourwife is sick?" The husband went through all of the medical explanationsthat the doctors and nurses had given him, but the pastor went on and said,"But how do you explain it?" The man hung his head as if he was embarrassedand he said this. "When I was 18 years old I had sex and I think God ispunishing me." The man was over 60 years of age at the time. And he hadbeen carrying around that load of guilt for all of those years. You see,there is someone who doesn't really believe in Easter. Not for him anyway.He cannot comprehend a God who cares so much for him that Jesus would die totake on that burden. Easter and all of its implications simply didn't touchthat man's life!

But it doesn't have to be that way. We can begin to make Easter apart of our lives. We can let it sink into our souls and our heads and ourhearts. Norman Neaves a pastor in Oklahoma City was telling hiscongregation about a young father and his daughter who were on a "get-away"cruise. His wife--the little girl's mother--had just died. And this was atime to begin to heal. They were huddled together on deck on day when thelittle girl asked, "Daddy, does God love us as much as Mommy did?'

At first, the dad didn't know what to say. But he knew he had toanswer the question. So he pointed out across the water to the most distanthorizon and he said, "Honey, God's love reaches farther than you can see inthat direction." Then turning around, he said, "And God's love reachesfarther than you can see in that direction, too." And then the dad lookedup at the sky and said, "And God's love is higher than the sky, too."Finally he pointed down at the ocean and said, "And it's deeper than theocean as well." The little girl thought about that for a moment and then she saidone of those "darndest things." She said, "Oh, just think, Daddy. We'reright here in the middle of it all!"

Now that young lady is well on her way to understanding Easter. Andbelieving in Easter. I really believe in Easter. I know it is incredible. I know it isamazing. I know it is phenomenal, but I still believe in Easter. And Icould give you a list of reasons, but I'll just give you one. It's becauseI can say with Mary, "I have seen the Lord!" That's it. I've seen theLord. And when that happens, you have a hard time not believing is Easter!

I'm not talking about having seen him in his resurrected body, theway May was able to do. But I have seen his presence. I have seen hiseffect. I have seen what Jesus could and did do.

I've seen him in scripture. Those 11 disciples were running fortheir lives. They were hiding out in fear. And I would have done the samething. I would have been grieving my bad decision. I had backed the wrongperson. He wasn't really the King we had been waiting for after all. Butyou see what happens to them. They are transformed! They change from beingterrified to become courageous messengers of the faith and most of them evendied for the faith. What a change!

I see him in the life of Paul. The apostle Paul was a good Jew whowas preserving the truth faith by persecuting these heretic Christians. Andwhat happens? Jesus gets a hold of him and he goes to the ends of the earthto share the incredible news of Easter.

I see him in you. I really do. You know all of the sermons arepublished on line and on the radio. Folks from all over read then orlisten. Once I got an e-mail from a family who lives far from here. Butthey had been reading the messages on-line. And they wrote just to let meknow that this congregation had answered their prayer. They have a childwho lives in this city. They had been praying that God would send someoneto their child. And God had answered that prayer through you. Prettyincredible isn't it? I have seen Jesus working around the world. I saw him in Ukraine.Most of you know that we have a connection with Living Faith UnitedMethodist Church in Lugansk, Ukraine. When we were first establishing thatrelationship, a few of us went to visit with them. We were there to worshipwith this struggling little congregation awash in a sea of atheism. Theywere just a small group in those days. They didn't have a building. Theywould rent some space on Sunday mornings and that is where they wouldworship. And we worshiped with them. At the close of the service, thepastor invited folks to come up for prayer. Lots of folks came up forprayer. Some wanted prayers for healing. One embarrassed young lady came up and asked for help in finding a husband. And then there was this commotion in the back of the church and a lady stood up and came forward to accept Jesus as her own. She was a babushka-a grandma-type, probably 60years old. This was only the third time she had been to church in her life.She had never really heard about Jesus before. But Easter happened that day for her! And she gave her life to Christ!

Would you like for Easter to become more real for you? Would youlike to see Jesus? I can tell you how to do it. You do it just like Marydid. You look. That's how it happens. Can you imagine what it must of havebeen like for Mary after she met Jesus at the tomb? She never knew whereshe would see him next. Every time she turned a corner, she knew that Jesusmight be there. Every time she opened the door, she knew that Jesus mightbe there on the other side. Everywhere she looked, Jesus might be there.She was expecting to see Jesus. If you look and expect, I guarantee, you'llsee. And Easter will become more and more real.