It appeared that the empire and its sinister authorities had won—as usual—and death sat on the everlasting throne of doom, grinning in victory. Thus, Mary, wracked with sorrow, goes to the tomb, walking through the dark world of death, with no hope—only duty. She is going to do what was customary in the world of death: honor the body of Jesus. And be filled with grief. So deep is she into accepting and suffering under the dominion of death, at first she cannot even see the risen Jesus, thought he was the gardener who perhaps had stolen Jesus’ body, just another insult inflicted by the intimidating, death-dealing empire!

How blind we can be to Life even when Life is standing right in front of us! But something happens. For her it was Jesus quietly speaking her name, "Mary". And then she knew! This is Jesus, alive! Words cannot possibly capture all that happened to her in that instant. But this much has to be true: In a world of death, she was now seeing Life. And nothing would ever be quite the same for her again.

The power and meaning of Easter Life can be told in many ways, and has been. Many are the stories of God getting hold of people and turning them around, showing them the glories of the Good News of Christ’s astonishing life in their lives. Here is one such story, a variation on Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son. A strong-willed young woman, Alison, had a lot of conflict with her family and finally left home one day in the company of a young man, heading for Montana. By the time they got to Missoula, he left her and went on his way. Having nothing, and in her misplace pride, refusing to go home, she was reduced to prostitution and life on the streets. Winter came and during that fierce season she became so sick she could no longer make any money. She had to rummage around in dumpsters and garbage cans, looking for scraps of food. One day, eating a bit of cold hamburger she’d found, she remembered the way her father sometimes threw scraps of meat to the family dog. She said to herself, "Even our dog at home eats better than I do here."

She decided to make her humiliated way back home. She wrote her parents a letter saying, "I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I’m coming home on the bus Saturday afternoon, at 2 p.m. If there is no one there to meet me, I will understand and will simply get back on the bus and head on down the road." After a long trip the bus finally pulled into the hometown bus depot and she anxiously looked out the window to spot her parents. She couldn’t see them. She couldn’t see them because there were over 200 people jammed around that bus depot. There was a huge banner stretched across the bus station saying, "Welcome home, Alison!" Her heart began to pound with hopeful anticipation as to what this might mean. Then her eyes teared up, as at last she spotted her parents, dashed off the bus, and pushed her way through the crowd to reach them. Before even saying "Hi" she began the speech she’d planned over the long bus ride, "Mom, Dad, it’s all my fault and I…" But her father would not let her finish the speech. He said, "We can talk about all that later, but now it’s time to get home. We’ve planned a party for you and all these folks are invited." And they hugged and new life began. [Thanks to Philip Yancey for this story.]

Is Easter real? Can there be real Life, I mean, vibrant, joyous, everything forgiven, wonderful Life in a world so filled with disappointment, death and doom and despair over ever living up to expectations? There can. And there is. And it is found in the Church of the Risen One which speaks of it, offers it, and lives it. For the existence of the Church itself, in spite of its obvious troubles and failings, is in fact the presence of the Risen Christ in this world of sorrows. Every Christian congregation therefore ought to see itself as an outpost of Life in the midst the dominion of death.

Just as there’d be no Church without Easter, so the world would not know the Easter Life without the Church. All the Alisons of the world need churches that celebrate, teach, and live the Good News of Life. For as Easter people what we are about is what Alison’s Dad was about, what Christ is about, what God is about:

Not death, but life
Not rules, but mercy
Not judgment, but compassion
Not anger, but forgiveness
Not violence, but peace
Not hatred, but love
Not trickery, but justice
Not walls, but welcome

If anyone here is wracked with sorrow, or longing for forgiveness, or sick and tired of being sick and tired of this old world of death, then here is your last bus stop, here is your home.

In this time, this place, this Easter, Christ greets us, speaks our name, and welcomes us as friends, no, as his family. This time, this Easter, is an invitation to the kind of life that’s so far beyond the old ways of death and shame and blame that if we see it, like Mary did, nothing can ever be quite the same for us again. For Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. He is our saving Lord; he is joy for all ages! And he is here today. And that’s the main thing.

We can always talk about all that other stuff later. Amen