"Simply Amazing" - Mark 16:1-8 - April 16, 2006

When he was about eight years, Bobby Thurber, living in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was determined on Easter morning to catch the Easter Bunny. He lived in a cramped one-bedroom apartment on the third floor with his mother and sister. Every Easter the Easter bunny left their Easter baskets on the back stairs.

This particular year, Bobby had a plan. He was armed with a carrot and a water pistol, filled with grape juice. He sat in the hallway and waited. The carrot was a peace offering. The loaded water pistol was not really a weapon but his way of drinking grape juice while he passed the time. He didn’t want to harm the Easter bunny, just corner him for a moment. He wanted to ask the Easter bunny why some of his friends got live bunnies and colored chicks, while all he ever got was lifeless chocolate ones.

Bobby was nervous. He didn’t know the exact penalty for a face-to-face encounter. Would the Easter bunny turn and run? Perhaps the Easter bunny would get mad and bite him. Maybe he might catch rabies. He was just a young boy with a vivid imagination. Despite occasional squirts of grape juice, he eventually fell asleep. While he slept he dreamed he had an encounter with the Easter bunny. The Easter bunny spoke without moving his mouth and told Bobby that he was too poor to receive live Easter gifts because he was too poor to feed them and unable to afford veterinary care.

Bobby was awakened by his mother. She demanded to know what he was doing in the hallway so early in the morning. He confessed his crazy scheme and his mother ushered him inside. He looked over at the kitchen table where there were two large Easter baskets. His mother explained that the Easter bunny was no fool. He left the baskets in the front hallway. They were magnificent, filled with toys and candy to last a week. It would be years later before Bobby realized the sacrifice his mother had to make to provide for her children and what the true meaning of Easter was.

Now that Bobby has grown up he remembers how his mother constantly struggled to make ends meet. How she provided for her two children with small sacrifices. She tried desperately to shield them from feeling impoverished. She taught them to hold on to their beliefs. She also taught, by example, that faith does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. What Bobby learned was that sometimes you’ve got to believe in what you can’t see. (from Chicken Soup for the Single Parent’s Soul)

And so it is with the story of Easter, a story that is simply amazing and filled with good news. When the women arrived that morning to anoint Jesus’ body they encounter a young, mysterious person. He wasn’t the Easter bunny, but he was a representative of God. He said, "Jesus is not here, he has been raised from the dead." Jesus was alive. The love of God could not be destroyed. God’s love is invincible and eternal. Simply amazing.

Here at St. Paul’s we are experiencing growth in our congregation. New folks are finding their way to "The Church on the Hill." According to church growth experts, the number one reason a church grows is that the people live as though Jesus is alive.

You would think that the women would have been excited when they heard the good news. Instead they were afraid. Although they were told to tell the disciples the good news, they fled and said nothing to no one. When confronted with good news we have two choices; either to accept it or reject it. The women were so dumfounded by the experience they chose to run. Whether or not they eventually shared the good news we simply don’t know.

There is still good news. In spite of the women’s failure to live up to the task of delivering the message, the message still got through. It had to, or we wouldn’t be reading it on this Easter Sunday.

This is a story filled with good news. On their way to the tomb the women were worried about removing the stone. Worry is a common, human problem. We worry about paying the bills. We worry about our families. We worry about our health, the people we care about. We worry about our careers or reaching our goals. We worry about little things too, like what to wear, or whether or not the house is clean enough. We are naturally born worriers.

And yet, when the woman arrived at the tomb the stone was already rolled away. All their worrying was for not. God had removed the obstacle that dominated their conversation on their journey.

The women went to the tomb because they needed to grieve. They wanted to express their respect for Jesus. Imagine how shocked they were to learn he was not there. The young man assured them by saying, "Do not be alarmed." It reminds me of the same message the shepherds heard when Jesus was born, "Do not be afraid."

This is not only the good news of Easter, it is the good news of the whole gospel story; "God is with us." No matter what we face, no matter how difficult our burdens, God is with us in our moments of despair. What did Jesus constantly tell his disciples? Do not give up, endure, press on, for God will be with you wherever you go.

I haven’t seen the new movie, Ice Age, but I am reminded of the story of Richard Byrd. He spent the winter of 1934 at a weather station in Antarctica. The temperature ranged from -58-76 degrees. He was suffering from frostbite and carbon monoxide poisoning. In his book, Alone, he said, "I had hardly the strength to move. I clung to the sleeping bag, which was the only source of comfort and warmth left. My chances of being rescued were slim and I was so weak I was unable to take care of myself. Buy I kept saying to myself, "You must have faith, you must have faith. You must go on, trusting in God." With faith as his only means of enduring his crisis Byrd managed to stay alive. At the end of each day he could say, "I am still alive." Fortunately Byrd was finally rescued. He had survived his ordeal because of his faith and his ability to press on.

The young man also told the women that Jesus would go ahead of them to Galilee and there they would see him. This is perhaps the greatest news of the story. God is always one step ahead of us. God is there for us in the future. Life has many risks and life sends us to places we don’t always want to go. Nevertheless, God is with us.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio