Before speaking about the meaning of Easter, I would like to say a word about the fact of Jesus Resurrection. One of our neighboring pastors, Rev. Gary Jensen of Shorewood Lutheran has written a nice pamphlet on the Evidence for Jesus' Historical Resurrection. He addresses it to the seeker, to those who know Him and to the plain skeptical. With Pastor Jensen's permission I have made some extra copies. It answers a lot of the misunderstandings about who Jesus really is and the reliability of the Gospels. And it considers different objections from people who deny Jesus rose bodily from the dead.

For me it comes down to this: Jesus is a someone who I know to be good and trustworthy. He would not deceive or pick disciples who deliberately mislead others. I believe their testimony to be true. For sure they testify to something that is mind boggling, but I do not think they could have any other motive than that it actually happened.

Let me give a little example of testimony. About twenty years ago I used to be a scuba diver and sometimes I would dive alone. Once on a dive by myself I ran into something several times larger than me which swam up and looked me in the face mask. When I told my friends, most believed me--altho a few thought I was mistaken or even hallucinating. Well, my older brother and a friend agreed to go out again to the same spot. They did not think there would be anything there, but they got quiet when we entered the water. Sure enough, midway thru our dive a huge creature swam right in front of the three of us. It was not so frightening this time, but we did quickly go to shore. Now what we saw was of course part of the natural world, but whether you believe we saw anything at all would depend on what you think of the credibility of myself and my two friends. I can assure you that it really happened, even tho I cannot describe every detail. And my testimony is reinforced by my brother and friend.

Now I am not saying that what we saw has some great significance. But what the disciples saw that first Easter morning truly does. In fact, it makes all the difference in the world. If they are correct, it was the central event in human history--and in every human life. It was a singular event, but we have every reason to believe them because they were simple, honest men. They had no motive to deceive. In fact, they gave up everything because of Jesus and they maintained their testimony about Him even when they were tortured and put to death. For the rest I will refer you to Pastor Jensen's essay.

I don't want to tell everything on this Easter Sunday. It is in fact only the first day of season that lasts seven weeks. We have 50 days of Easter to explore together this mystery. This morning I would ask you to do just one thing. Look into the empty tomb. Jesus' tomb is still in Jerusalem and it is empty. But it is not necessary to go that far. Just picture the sepulcher of Jesus in your mind and imagine that first Easter morning when the women came to the tomb, found the stone rolled back and peered into it. They saw the cloth they themselves had used to wrap his body. They saw the covering for his head. But the body of the Lord they did not see. Just allow your mind to experience the sincere confusion the women felt. What does all this mean?

It is not necessary to have all the answers right now. The clues will come together. What matters is to take a step. In any great venture it is the first step that matters most. I remember a few years back when I first saw someone operating a computer. He could do such amazing things he seemed like a god to me. I didn't ask him to teach me all that he knew. What I asked him was, "Can you show me how to switch that thing on?" So it is in our faith. If we just take that first step, we will begin to make progress. There will be good days and bad days, set backs as well as advances. But the first step is the most important one. On Easter we take a small step together. It is the renewal of our baptism. For each one of us the renunciation of sins will mean something different. We each know those things that are holding us down, maybe fear itself. We ask the Lord to set us free so we can discover his plan, the profession of faith. And then we will be sprinkled with holy water. It has power because it recalls our baptism into the central event of all history--Christ's death and resurrection.

May you each have a happy and blessed Easter.

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