2017 Easter Sunrise service
I love sunrise
I wish I rested and slept enough to see them all
Over the years I have looked at many Sunrises
In many locations
I remember sitting around a charcoal fire in Chong we village Zambia
Waiting with anticipation for what God had on the agenda for the day
The African sun rising though the haze of wood and charcoal smoke
The cool crisp air causing us to draw near the fire and pull the blankets we had made coats out of around us close we waited for the warmth the sun would bring
Many mornings patiently waiting for the light of the sun
On the side of a mountain watching for elk
In a deer blind with my Dad, remembering the sounds of the morning – seeing deer everywhere I looked only to have the light show them for the rocks and brush they were
I remember many sunrises from the back of a horse pushing cattle toward the pens so we could begin the days sorting and shipping
Or checking calving heifers to make sure they had made it through the night
Sunrises on the banks of many rivers
Sunrises on many lakes from east Texas to Africa
Or ocean listening to the waves as the boat or ship pushed on towards the destination
Many sunrises just on the front porch a hot cup of coffee, a dog at my feet
Waiting for it to get light enough to read God’s word
Waiting for what the day will bring
In anticipation
Excitement
Adventure
I also can remember other sunrises and other emotions
I remember praying with a family a few years back that had lost their mother in a house fire
As he sunrise , I felt their pain, mourned with them and tried to give comfort
As we began the process of recovering her body
I remember waiting with a family with my crew as we watched for the body of their son to surface following his drowning earlier that evening
The sun coming up
A lump in our throats
Wanting to comfort the family
Unable to find the words, not know what to say
Hoping and praying that just our presence would give some comfort
I see in my mind
The sun coming up
Over burned houses and apartment building
People’s belonging reduced to just charred remains
The sun coming up over
Twisted metal that used to be cars
And lifeless bodies that just a short time earlier had had the breath of God inside of them
Seeing in the light ---the destruction- the desperation
The loss of life and property
Other sunrises bring different memories
The day after my dad’s death
Awake all night -Unable to sleep- Exhausted but
Up at the crack of dawn
Thinking
Remembering
Asking why?
On other sunrises
Sitting in a hospital waiting for the doctors to come
And tell me a friend or family member had lost their battle
---Pause--
Sun rises bring many emotions to the surface for me
And I have no doubt as you look back at the sunrises of your life
Your stories although different from mine
Share a familiarity
Times of excitement
Times of disappointment
Times of elation
And times of despair
Sun rises
Seems to hold the ability
To get us thinking about the past- Remembering
Thinking about the present- Meditating
Or thinking about the future – Contemplating
Some 2000 years ago
There was a Sunrise
I have no doubt it was similar in appearance to this one
And I know
It brought with it many emotions
Let me read for you from God’s word
The account of this special sun rise
John 20:1-18
Early on Sunday morning,[a] while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— 9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.
11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
16 “Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
In this passage of scripture
On this sunrise so long age
Mary like we often do
Is experiencing
A wide range of emotions
Sorrow
Fear
Anger
Disappointment
She watched as Jesus was tried
She watched as he was abused
She watched as he was beaten/ nailed to a cross
She watched as he died
She had been there when he said
“ It is finished”
And now on this cool morning so long ago
As the sun rose
And warmed the earth
Place yourself in her shoes
Hope is gone
The one you believed to be the savior is dead
He has been brutally killed
Feel her pain as they took his body from the cross
Share her emotions as the prepared his body for burial
Imagine how her mind must be swirling
With the pictures and events of the past few days
Trying to piece it all together in her mind
But
Then
She gets to the tomb
And new emotions flood her mind
First anxiety
The stone is missing
What has happened?
Has someone stolen his body
And her sorrow turns to even deeper despair
To make things worse
She goes inside the tomb
And her fears are confirmed
Jesus’ battered body is not there
Crying- sobbing
Where have you put him she asks the man she believes to be the gardener
Tel me and
I will go and get him
Please
Just tell me where he is
And then
Jesus
Calls her name
Mary
Mary he says
And suddenly the morning changed
This sunrise was different now
She was looking at Jesus
Talking to Jesus
Right there with Jesus
New emotions
Wonder
Love
Elation
Joy
Hope
He is alive
Imagine what must be going through her mind
The questions she wants to ask
The emotions spilling out of her
She has seen the risen Lord
And
He is not dead
He is alive
Alive and well, just as he had promised, just as he said
She for the first time since he said the words “it is finished “
Maybe in a small way
Started to understand
What he meant
What it all meant
Why it all happened
This sun rise
Has turned out so different than it began
It began with emptiness
Not just an empty tomb and an empty cross
But emptiness inside, a loss of hope, a loss of peace
And now it has changed to fullness
Fullness of hope/ fullness of peace
As I said
Sun Rises bring with them many emotions
The “Son Rise” I just described to you changed the world
In his words” it is finished”
Jesus removed the fear that comes with death
With This Sun Rise
Jesus removed the penalty of our sin because he himself paid the debt that we owed
With this Son rise
Jesus brings with him the possibility of salvation, the joy of salvation- the assurance of salvation
With this Son rise
Jesus brings redemption, restoration, forgiveness
This Son rise fulfilled all the laws, settled the accounts
This Son Rise was different than all the others
Those before or those since
You see
Mary came to the tomb at sun rise
So long ago
Expecting to see a dead teacher
But instead she found a risen savior
What did you come here to see?
What did you come here to celebrate?
What is your attitude?
Towards Jesus
What emotions are you feeling today?
The stone has been rolled away
Is his resurrection a reality for you today?
Jesus is not dead
He is alive
And because he lives
We can live
Because he lives we can face tomorrow
Because he lives all fear is gone
Because he lives
We have a future
And he holds it in his scared hands
He died for you
Because he loves you
And he is alive for you
Because he loves you
Please stand with me as we sing together
And raise our voices
To celebrate our risen savior
“Because he lives”
Pray
