TALKING POINTS:
1. A mother was teaching her young son to use the phone. She showed him which numbers to push and explained about the dial tone and the sound of the other phone ringing. The process had begun. The son waited anxiously for the call to be completed, but no one picked up the phone on the other end. Mom told him to hang up the phone. “We’ll try again later, son.” The boy was not so easily discouraged. “Wait a minute, Mommy, I think I hear someone coming!”
2. What is your #1 hope for this world? What do you desire more than anything else to happen? What is your #1 hope for yourself? What would you want to hear on the other end of the line?
3. That young boy is us! We are creatures of hope! We live with a yearning, a deep desire to find the phone answered. To experience a happy ending. We are desperate for fulfillment. We seek to be satisfied, to be at peace with ourselves and with others. Where does this desire come from?
4. This desire goes all the way back to the beginning of the Bible and it has never grown cold. It comes from our origins. It comes from being created in the image of God. It is a statement that we are incomplete creatures until we are satisfied in a deeply, deeply spiritual way. What we really yearn for is the voice of God on the other end of the line.
5. Two passages of scripture, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament that has already been read, is the ground upon which we walk this Easter Sunday 2002. One sets the stage for the other and the other undoes the results of the first.
6. Garden #1 – The Garden of Eden (Read Genesis 3: 1- 24)
Notice the following:
A. The problem in verses 1 to 5. The temptation to become like God is presented to Eve and then to Adam. There is only one God and we are not Him. Evil rears its head in paradise.
B. The decision in verses 6 and 7. Eve took the bait and so did Adam. It was just too good to pass up. Wow, think about it Adam! We can become wise like God!
C. The result in verses 8 through 19. Five major battles are the result of this decision.
1. Battle #1 – A broken relationship with God. No longer do Adam and Eve enjoy the perfect relationship with God they once had. They did something wrong and their relationship with their creator is broken.
2. Battle #2 – The environmental balance is smashed. The Fall of Humanity has more than just spiritual implications. The Fall affected every part of creation. There was a perfect balance between humanity and the natural world that is ruined by Adam and Eve’s choice. Verses 14 and 15 point to this.
3. Battle #3 – Human relationships became strained. Adam and Eve’s own relationship forever change because of the choice they made. Conflict and unfulfilled desires became the norm. Marital tensions and family violence as we read in Genesis 4 become a way of life. The home is affected.
4. Battle #4 – Life becomes hard. The struggle to live and love and survive became a way of life. All needs had been met in Eden. There was not the stresses and strains of life that Adam and all of us since Adam have faced.
D. How is all of this mess solved? Banishment as we see in verses 23 and 24. And life is never the same for Adam and Eve and us.
7. Have you ever wondered what went through God’s mind as He watched the centerpiece of His creation walk away from Him? How did He feel? Angry? Grieved? Full of regret? Somewhere along the line He made up His mind that He was going to do something to get them back. He was not going to just sit by and let them go. He loved them too much. And that bring us to our second garden in Mark 16.
8. Garden #2 (Mark 16: 1 – 8) Now, there is no name for this garden in the gospel accounts. We do know that is was a new tomb and Jesus is hastily buried there because the Sabbath is about to start and all work must cease. There is an implied reference to it being some time of garden because in John’s account Mary mistakes Jesus for the gardener and so we could assume that this tomb was in the midst of a garden. Maybe a vineyard. Notice in this garden scene the following:
A. Two women, one the mother of Jesus who have come to finish the embalming process. The Sabbath is over and the embalming process was not finished.
B. They are wondering if they can finish the embalming because of the stone across the tomb’s entrance. They expect, even accept the fact that Jesus is dead. The thought of the Resurrection never crosses their minds.
C. So they are surprised to see the stone rolled away. What’s going on here? Was the body moved because of political reasons? Was it stolen?
D. Then they encounter an angel. His presence startles them and his announcement disturbs them. “He is not here! He has been raised from the dead!” Wonder what went through their mind? Shades of Lazarus? Confusion? Fright? “Go tell the disciples and Peter, Jesus will met you in Galilee just like He said He would.”
9. Do you notice the differences in these two garden accounts?
A. One is about verdict and exile. The other is about release and return.
B. One is about condemnation. The other is about reconciliation.
C. One is about the loss of relationship. The other is about the return of relationship.
D. One had Angels as guards of separation. The other had Angels who were announcers of redemption.
10. On the communion table today is a set of nesting globes that tell the creation story. We notice they are in pieces. They are not together. In Eden everything fell apart when sin, our very human tendency to be like God, took a hold of the human heart and soul. Creation was shattered. In this state, they remind us of life without God, forgiveness without Christ. (Put them back together).
11. In Revelation 21 we read these words, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, the home of God is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever.”
12. These globes have been imperfectly put back together to make a point. Even though the Resurrection of Jesus Christ has taken place and every one of us has the opportunity to make our relationship with God right again. The rest of creation is not yet there. We will still live in a fallen and painful world and, like the little boy, waiting for someone to answer the phone, we still have an ache that will not be fully satisfied until God finally brings it all to an end.
CONCLUSION:
But, because He lives, we can face tomorrow. We can live life in light of the empty tomb. He has risen! We can find peace and hope and joy in a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And my prayer for you today is that you will make the decision today to turn around and come home to a waiting God who longs to take you back and paid a terrible price to make it possible. Amen.
