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- Easter Sunrise Service -
Sermon by Manfred Schreyer
>>(John 20:1-18 NIV) 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. {2} So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" {3} So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. {4} Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. {5} He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. {6} Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, {7} as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. {8} Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. {9} (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) {10} Then the disciples went back to their homes, {11} but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb {12} and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at
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the head and the other at the foot. {13} They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." {14} At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. {15} "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." {16} Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). {17} Jesus said, "Do not hold on to 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.'" {18} Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Did you ever go somewhere and you expected someone to be there and then the person was not there?
Did you ever go some place and where the thought did not even come to your mind that the person you were about to meet would not be there?
I think we all have been in that situation.
We all have felt let down in our life. Sometimes we even have felt violated by the trust we gave to that other person or into a situation.
Most of us in life we have high expectations. We have expectations of health, of prosperity, of education, of good relationships . . .
And sometimes the tomb is empty. Our expectations are not met.
We feel disappointed! We feel alone and ask for reasons. I can only imagine what Peter and John thought when they checked out the tomb . . . and Jesus was not there. I can only imagine what Mary thought when she saw the tomb was empty.
All of them must have had flashbacks of the times they were with Jesus.
The scripture tells us that Peter and John went home. Nothing is said about their conversation, but Mary, the story tells us, wept.
The angels were asking her why she was crying. Picture this scene: Mary was not afraid and the angels who possibly knew that Mary was sad asked a question like that.
How do we feel in our life when we are struck by disappointment like an empty tomb? Others try to calm us down . . . like the angels from heaven . . .
Do we allow others to be angels?
I believe there is lesson #1: When we are at a place of disappointment we should allow others to talk to us and to be with us . . . just like the angels.
But generally nothing can calm us down until we see the face of Jesus. Of course most of us have never seen the face of Jesus, but how about if we allow Jesus to work in us.
Lesson # 2: Let Jesus come to you. How do we know it is Jesus? Jesus told us that He will always be with us.
John 14:16
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--John 14:17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
Always! Always! Always. Forever . . . A promise is a promise and we can believe our Savior.
His promise is that even in the darkest moments, Jesus will be with you. Jesus will never leave us. Although John, Peter and Mary were frustrated that the tomb was empty and they were disappointed . . . there is a good ending to the story.
General Wellington commanded forces at Waterloo. When the battle was over, he spelled out by code, "Wellington defeated...," yet fog set in, and people only saw news of "defeat." The fog cleared and the message continued. "Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo." People looked at the death of Christ and said "defeat." Yet, at the Resurrection, God's message was finished. The resurrection spelled victory.
Lesson # 3: We must believe that there is another purpose in our story of being and life as a whole. The empty tomb is a good thing for the world, though the disciples and Mary could not understand.
Is it not amazing that none of the visitors at the tomb are praying?
Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
Lesson # 4: Pray when the tomb is empty. Pray when your expectations where not met or when you feel alone. Pray to the God who loves you, who cares for you and who will never leave you alone. Pray to the God who tells you that His love will endure forever.
This morning the tomb is em
Although we may think this tomb is empty, God is about to bring us hope.
I want to invite you to come if you mourn over the empty tomb in your life. I invite you to come to the altar and pray to God and to thank him and to glorify Him and to say: "I understand . . . it will be well
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