EASTER SUNRISE SERVICE
Preached by Gregory W. Lee
16 April 2006
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Mark 16:1-8
1. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.
2. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb
3. and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"
4. But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.
5. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.
7. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, `He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'"
8. Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
-- Why are you here? -- Why are you gathered here this morning at the foot of this empty cross? -- Jesus isn't up there any more -- today is not Good Friday -- He's not up there dying on the cross -- suffering for our sins -- pouring out His blood and His life in exchange for ours -- He's not there -- the cross is empty
-- you know I've often wondered why the modern church has put such an emphasis on the cross -- it always seems to me like it only tells half the story -- it reminds me of that hymn that we often sing at Easter, "Were you there" -- this hymn asks, "were you there when they crucified my Lord?" -- "were you there when they nailed Him to the tree" -- "were you there when they pierced Him in the side" -- "were you there when the sun refused to shine" -- and then it ends up with, "Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?" -- this is a song for Good Friday -- because this is a song that only tells part of the story
-- when you only look at the cross, you only get part of the picture -- all you know is that the cross is empty -- all you know for sure is that Jesus has died and been laid in a tomb -- if you focus only on the cross, you miss the point of Easter
-- so, let me ask you again -- why have we gathered here this morning at the foot of an empty cross? -- what meaning does an empty cross hold for us? -- are we merely copying the actions of the disciples? -- after the horrors of Good Friday -- after Jesus had died and His body was removed and laid in a tomb -- after the crowds had left and three empty crosses stood naked against the sky -- do you think the disciples gathered together at the foot of the three crosses and looked up at them, just like we're doing this morning?
-- the Bible doesn't tell us -- it is quiet about what happened to the disciples between the time they deserted Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and first thing Sunday morning -- we don't know for sure what they did on the days after Christ was killed on the cross -- we don't know for sure where they were on that first Easter morning -- we know they were together, but beyond that we simply don't know
-- they might have been huddled together in the upper room, hiding in fear for the knock from the temple guards that might send them to the cross as well -- or, they might have been doing just as we are doing, standing at the foot of the cross and contemplating what Jesus' death would mean to them
-- has it ever occurred to you that on that first Easter morning, all the disciples had left was an empty cross and thoughts of what might have been? -- the only hymn they knew at this point was, "Were you there?" -- but, like I said, the empty cross is only part of the story
-- when Mel Gibson made his movie "The Passion of Christ," he was heavily criticized for only showing the final twelve hours of Jesus' life -- from the Garden of Gethsemane to His death on the cross -- all of his advisors argued with him about the movie -- they said, "You can't stop there -- that doesn't tell the whole story -- the cross is just part of the story -- we need to show it all" -- finally, he consented and filmed the rest of the story
-- the rest of the story is the empty tomb -- as we know, early on Easter morning, Mary Magdelene and the other women went to the tomb where Jesus had been laid and they found that the stone had been rolled away -- the entrance was open and the tomb was empty
-- an empty tomb to go with an empty cross -- they had gathered there at the tomb for a reason -- they had gathered there to anoint the body of Jesus with aromatic spices to finalize His funeral -- they had gathered there because that was where Jesus was -- perhaps they had also gathered there on that first Easter morning to contemplate what they would do, now that Jesus had died and was buried in this borrowed tomb
-- so you can imagine their surprise when they got there and found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty with no body in sight -- but, unlike those gathered at the cross, the women who gathered at the tomb received an answer in response to their contemplation -- an angel was there at the tomb, and he greeted them with astonishing news -- "Why are you looking for the living among the dead? -- Jesus is not here -- He has risen, just as He had said."
-- and rushing away from the tomb to seek out the eleven remaining disciples, they ran headlong into Jesus Himself -- they met the risen Lord and they were filled with inexpressible happiness and joy because Jesus was alive again
-- an empty tomb and an empty cross -- one, a place of questions -- the other, a place of answers -- one, a place of sadness and "what-might-have-beens" -- the other, a place of joy and happiness and hope
-- so, let me ask you one final time, "Why are we gathered here this morning at the foot of an empty cross? -- why are still pondering Good Friday when the good news of Easter is upon us? -- why aren't we rejoicing with Mary Magdalene and the other women at the site of an empty tomb?"
-- why do we focus so much on the cross and so little on the empty tomb? -- the cross is important -- for it was the site where Jesus suffered and died for our sins -- but the empty tomb is also important -- for it is the place where our faith became sight -- where the promise of eternal life with God became real for us -- where we learned that Christ had indeed conquered sin and death and won for us eternal salvation and righteousness through His death and resurrection
-- did you know that the early Christians did not focus on the cross like we do today? -- when Peter and Paul and the other apostles preached, they didn't focus on the cross -- instead, they focused on the empty tomb -- on the resurrection of Christ from the dead -- for that was the source of their joy and happiness and hope
-- I think we need to become more balanced in our Christian lives today -- there is a place in our lives for Good Friday -- for the ugliness and the brutality and the horror of the passion and the cross -- for the penalty that had to be paid for our sins -- but there should also be a place in our lives for the empty tomb -- for the joy and the happiness and the hope that comes with the rising of the Son on that first Easter morning
-- the church has spent far too much time focusing on the gloom of Good Friday and not enough time reflecting the joy of Easter
-- Chonda Pierce, the Christian comedian, talked about joy on one of her albums -- she said that she goes to a lot of worship services -- and it never ceases to amaze her how most Christians can stand and sing, "the joy of the Lord is our strength" with such sour looks on their faces -- be honest -- when is the last time you have looked around on a Sunday morning and seen the joy of the Lord expressed in the face of the person next to you as they sung that morning's hymns?
-- we have somehow forgotten just how joyful and how wonderful the good news of Christ's resurrection really is -- when the angel appeared to the shepherds on Christmas Day, he told the shepherds that he brought good news of great joy -- I think it's time that we learned to express this joy again
-- before we close this sunrise service, I want to invite you to turn with me to Psalm 118 and look at a passage there that I think reflects a clear balance between the empty cross and the empty tomb
-- look with me now at Psalm 118:19
19. Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20. This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.
21. I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
-- these verses help answer the question of the empty cross -- they explain why Christ suffered and died on the cross -- the Bible tells us that we are all sinners and that we are separated from the righteousness and the glory of God because of our sin -- there was no way for us to become holy and righteous in the eyes of God -- there was nothing that we could do -- there was nothing that we could say -- there was no way for us to be reconciled with God
-- but, by offering Himself on the cross as the perfect atonement for our sins -- by dying on the cross and receiving our punishment for our sins, the Psalmist tells us that Christ opened up for us the gates of righteousness -- the path into the presence of the Lord God Almighty
-- when Jesus died on the cross, the temple veil between the holy place and the holy of holies was torn, opening up the gate of righteousness and giving us the right to enter into the very presence of God -- as the blood of Christ covered us, His righteousness was imparted to us -- His holiness was imparted to us -- and we were made righteous and holy in His Name -- it was through the cross that we received salvation and reconciliation with God
-- the empty cross reminds us that Christ is the only gate through which we may enter --in John 10:7, Jesus said He was the gate through which the sheep will enter the pen -- in John 14:6, Jesus said that He was the Way and that no one comes to the Father except through Him --as it says in Acts 4:12, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
-- the empty cross reminds us of the price that Jesus paid to redeem us and reconcile us to God
-- verse 22
22. The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
23. the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
-- the cross divided the world into two types of people -- those who follow Christ and those who don't follow Christ -- Christ is for us the rock of our salvation -- the capstone -- the crowning achievement -- the culmination of all history -- the empty cross reminds us that our foundation is built on the sacrificial death of Christ and that without it, we are doomed to die in our sins
-- but not everyone has accepted the good news of the empty cross -- not everyone has accepted the free gift of grace we have in Christ's death on the cross -- verse 22 tells us that some rejected Him -- some cast the stone aside -- and they went on trying to build their life without Jesus as their foundation
-- these are the people who have built their lives on sinking sand -- who may build grand mansions out of their lives -- but no matter what they have built, it will all come crashing down in the end because they have not built on the foundation of the empty cross
-- those who received salvation through the finished work of Christ on the cross have a strong foundation, and whatever they build will last throughout eternity
-- verse 24
24. This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
-- this is the verse that we get our familiar praise song, "This is the Day" from -- did you know that this song is not just referring to any old day, but to the day of salvation -- the day of reconciliation -- the day of the Lord
-- the Psalmist tells us here that when we remember the day of our salvation -- the day that we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior -- that we should rejoice and be glad in it -- for it was on that day that we passed from death to life -- from sinners to the saved
-- this verse bridges the gap between the message of the cross and the good news of the empty tomb -- if we only had the cross, we might never know for sure that our salvation was secure -- we might never know for sure that the gate had been opened to us -- but because of the empty tomb -- because of the presence of the risen Lord -- we can rejoice in the good news of Christ
1 Peter 1: 8-9 says, "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
-- the rest of this passage expresses the joy of the Psalmist at the salvation of the Lord -- look at verse 25
25. O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success.
26. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
27. The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.
28. You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
-- in the Old Testament, the Israelites celebrated God's great deeds through worship -- there was lots of noise -- lots of singing -- and lots of dancing -- their hearts overflowed with joy and happiness at what God had done for them, and this naturally flowed into heart-felt worship
-- in verse 27, the Psalmist invites us to join in the festivities -- to enter into the presence of the Lord God Almighty through the gate of righteousness -- and to express our joy and happiness at what He has done for us
-- for too long, the church has been parked in front of an empty cross on Good Friday -- it is time for us to visit the empty tomb -- to experience the miracle of the resurrection -- to experience the presence of the risen Lord -- and to rejoice in the promise of salvation and eternal life through Christ
-- will you join me today in putting aside the gloom of Good Friday and reflecting the joy of Easter?
-- let us pray
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