April 20, 2025, Easter Sunday
Luke 24:1-12
Introduction
“He is not here, but has risen.” That’s it. That’s all I got. That’s the Easter story. There’s really nothing more to be said about this day than that so I guess we should just cut this service short and go have some sort of amazing Easter Eggstravaganza. Because to say much more than “He is not here, but has risen.” borders on saying more than we really know or can know. And trust me, as one who has been in ministry for his entire adult life, I have been challenged repeatedly by people who want, and expect me, to convince them and show them some kind of definitive proof to this proclamation, “He is not here, but has risen.”
But the truth is… I can’t. I don’t know exactly how it happened. I have no proof or explanations. All I have is a message. Yes, it’s a message of life, a message of hope, a message of new possibilities, a message of Good News, but when you boil it all down, all I’ve got for this “How do you know” debate, is “He is not here, but has risen.” And believe you me… the doubters love that this is all I got.
And that’s how it’s been for two thousand years, hasn’t it? We have exactly the same thing the women in today’s Gospel got—no proof, nothing overtly convincing, just a message “He is not here, but has risen.” Nothing more, nothing less. And that message has never changed. It’s the same today as it was on that first Easter Day. And it’s never enough for the doubters because not only does it lack evidence, it lacks any sense, right? Even for me, someone who has been in ministry for my entire adult life, it doesn’t make sense. I mean, when I hear it, it’s all fine and good, but when I think about it—really think about it—I can’t even figure it out. On Friday Jesus is killed, crucified. His body is enclosed in a tomb. Saturday all is quiet. But then come Sunday the tomb is empty, and the body is gone.
And that just doesn’t match my experience of life and what I know of death—and I’ll bet it doesn’t match yours either. And it didn’t match the Disciples experience either. Even the ones who had just spent the last three years with Jesus, those who were with him, day after day, listening to him teach, watching him heal the sick and infirmed, watching him feed the hungry, watching him cleanse the outcast—not even they could grasp the message of the two men in dazzling clothes who say, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”
Could the reason they couldn’t grasp it be because they, like all the doubters, and they like us sometimes, are only able to see what’s right before us, unable to see the future resurrection promises?
Move 1
Did you know the Gospel writer Luke was a physician? It’s true. Which makes sense because this word he uses that translates to idle tale, and nonsense (λῆρος), is a medical term physicians used to describe the delirious babbling of a very ill person.
So when Luke tells us the women bring the news of Jesus’ resurrection to the Disciples saying their “words seemed to them an idle tale” he is intentionally using the language of his education because their message, this “idle tale” sounds to the Disciples like the delirious babbling of a very ill person.
That’s what the Disciples think of the women’s message. They thought it was nonsense. And to be honest, the Disciples calling this the babbling of an ill person, ironically makes some sense to me. Afterall, those are the kind of messages we are used to hearing these days, aren’t they? Messages that make no sense, messages that are the babblings of very ill, very sick people, idle tells we don’t want to believe.
When I experience death, sorrow, and losses in my life, the Good News of Easter sounds like an idle tale. Every time I read another story of violence, another mass shooting, another terrorist attack, scams and scandals— the Easter message, “He is not here, but has risen” doesn’t make any sense. When the unthinkable atrocities of the world become the norm, the Easter message sounds a lot like an idle tale.
You understand what I am talking about. There is so much about our world and life’s varied circumstances that cause disbelief and leads us to conclude the Easter story is an idle tale. Just a few days ago, at Florida State University, a gunman killed two people and injured six others. The doubters… those who love to come at me and demand proof, demand an explanation… it’s really hard to only have “He is not here, but has risen.” But that’s exactly why I come here today. And that’s why Easter Sunday is the biggest church attendance day of the year. It’s why you come here today. We want and need to hear the story one more time and be reminded, “He is not here, but has risen.” We want to be told that despite life’s varied experiences, despite what we think we know of death, despite what we see in the world, this story, this nonsensical, idle tale… is true. We want and need to hear the Church proclaim, “Alleluia! He is not here, but has risen.”
Move 2
Of course, hearing “Alleluia! He is not here, but has risen” is all fine and good, but I have to ask… Do you really believe it? Do we really believe today’s Gospel is true? What makes this story true? Because I don’t think it’s true because the women “found the stone rolled away from the tomb.” I don’t think it’s true because “they did not find the body.” And I don’t think it’s true because “two men in dazzling clothes” said, “He is not here, but has risen.”
So if you’ve come here today simply to hear “Alleluia! He is not here, but has risen” so you can go about life as usual, believing and trusting the story is true because the preacher said so, then I have two words for you: “Stop it.” It is not enough to just believe this story. And because it is not enough to just believe this story, I don’t want anyone leaving here today, having heard “He is not here, but has risen” thinking they’re good to go for a while. “Stop it.”
We are here today to hear “He is not here, but has risen,” because we are expected to leave here today living this story. This story has meaning and is true only to the extent it is lived and experienced in our lives.
What good is it to us if the stone has been rolled away from Jesus’ tomb but not ours? What good is to us if Jesus is free of his grave clothes but we are not? What good is it to us if Jesus is raised from the dead but we are not?
Today is not the nice, neat wrap up of a tough Holy Week for Jesus. Easter does not suddenly turn back time, or undo the past. And Easter is not what makes Good Friday good. Easter is what keeps Good Friday from becoming the last Friday, and not just for Jesus but for you and me too.
Easter makes possible a future. Easter declares our lives to be more and larger than what has happened to us or what we have done. That is why Peter “went home, amazed at what had happened.” He wasn’t just amazed at what had happened to Jesus. He was amazed at what had happened to him. Peter experienced resurrection—and because he did, something was within him was now alive. He was not only a witness to the resurrection, he was resurrected. And he didn’t just go home, he went home to himself, aware that God has a future for him.
Move 3
Who among us today doesn’t want to be amazed like that? Don’t you want to come home to yourself? I do. I want to be true to myself and make a difference, for the better, in my life and yours. I want to choose depth over abundance, meaning over contentment, growth over comfort, vulnerability over security, humility over arrogance, wisdom over knowledge, compassion over indifference, love over fear, and forgiveness over paybacks. We know these choices enlarge and give life to us as well as others. That’s what it looks like for the stone to be rolled away and the grave clothes to be laid aside. That’s what “He is not here, but has risen” really means.
So what would it take for you to leave here today amazed at what has happened to you, amazed at what is happening to you? I’m not talking about amazement in the sense of something magical, out of this world, or a spectacular “eggstravaganza.” I’m talking about the kind of amazement that deepens your life and gives meaning; amazement that leaves you weeping with gratitude; amazement that surprises you with your own goodness and beauty; amazement that takes your breath away, leaving you nearly speechless where you can only say in a whisper “He is not here, but has risen”
Conclusion
“He is not here, but has risen.”
What does this mean in your life? I ask because I don’t know what it means for you. This is your Easter resurrection, and I can’t tell you. So let me ask you… What is your biggest, most beautiful dream for your own becoming—for your life? If you could write another story of your life, what would it be? If you could live without regret, without looking to the past and lamenting, “If only…” what would you be free from? What chains would be broken? What new life would await you?
If you could live without fear, without looking to the future and crying, What if that happens? What if that doesn’t happen?” what would you have the courage to do? Who might you become? How would your life be different?
For your Peter like resurrection, think about those questions, and challenge yourself to give an honest response. Do that and then fill in the blank of this sentence: “He is not here, but has risen. And because he is not here, because he has risen… God has a future for me, and it is ______________”
Whatever you fill in the blank with… it’s not an idle tale. Whatever you fill in the blank with… it’s not babbling nonsense. Whatever you fill in the blank with is your opportunity, no matter life’s varied circumstances, for resurrection. Whatever you fill in the blank with is your chance to show the doubters, the world, and more importantly, show yourself, that you are living proof to the message, “He is not here, but has risen.”
Happy Easter. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer: April 20, 2025 Easter Sunday
God of new life, we love hearing “Alleluia! He is not here, but has risen.” We love to shout, “He is risen! Risen indeed!” They are the messages of our faith that remind us, and say to others, Jesus who was dead, has conquered death, and because he has the promise of new and everlasting life has been granted.
That we know is Easter, Holy God. That is the power and hope we come to hear and receive on this the holiest of days in the life of the Church. For this is the day when we are told again that despite all of life’s varied circumstances, despite the doubters, and even despite what causes us to have doubts, we can believe “He is not here, but has risen.
So on this day of resurrection, we give you thanks that in a culture where the power of death gets all the headlines your Holy Spirit summons us to be people shaped by your power to work resurrection. And so we bring who all that we are, and our hope for all we can become, into your presence, longing to experience resurrection, just as Peter and the women who came to the tomb did.
We want and need your Good News to send us forth with the assurance that because of your power we have a future—a future where your grace and your love abounds in us and through us. A future where we fully embrace being your children who choose resurrection everyday so that we can live fully as you have called us to live—as those who embody, not idle tales, but the truth that you have conquered death, and your promise of everlasting life is fulfilled.
Loving God, on this holy Easter morning, bless us once again by opening our minds, our hearts, our spirits, our ears for hearing, and our mouths for sharing, your Easter Good News, “He is not here, but has risen.
And now, on this day of resurrection Holy God, we ask you to hear the prayers we want and need to lift to you in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the blessed name of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray saying, “Our…”