Empty or Full

Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?  Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?  Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.  Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?

Raised from the tomb.  Yes, I said raised.  That is what the celebration of Easter is all about.  It is about resurrection, the act of Jesus being raised from the dead.  It is a little hard to wrap our minds around.  For those first witnesses at the tomb it was unexpected and difficult to believe.  Jesus’ resurrection broke the rules.  He should have still been in the tomb.  He should have still been dead.  But he wasn’t dead.  He was alive.  Living proof that a new reality had been created by the King of kings.  Proof that life would be eternal and that death doesn’t have the final word.  Proof that the empty tomb was actually full of life.  Proof that empty actually meant full.  If that isn’t hard to believe I don’t know what is.

Jeremy, a terminally ill student, was 12 years old and still in the second grade.  He couldn’t learn, made unusual noises, and often drooled. Most kids found him a source of humor.  To his teacher, Jeremy was a difficult student. Miss Miller, the teacher, gave an assignment before Easter that required all of the students to take an empty plastic egg and bring it back the next day with something in the egg that represented new life.  The teacher planned to call Jeremy’s parents that night and explain the assignment so that Jeremy would do what she asked, but several emergencies prevented her from calling.  The next day when she opened the nineteen eggs with the children, the first one had a flower in it, and Miss Miller affirmed the fact that a flower represented new life.  The second egg contained a butterfly, which everyone agreed signified new life.  A third egg was a stretch, but the teacher found a way to explain how a moss-covered rock demonstrated new life as well.  To the surprise of the teacher, the fourth egg was empty.  She quickly guessed it was Jeremy’s egg and laid it down without comment.  Jeremy piped up, “Miss Miller, aren’t you going to talk about my egg?”  Flustered, she said, “Jeremy, your egg is empty.”  He looked softly into her eyes and replied, “Yes, but Jesus’ tomb was empty, too!”  Time stopped.  When she could speak again she asked him, “Do you know why the tomb was empty?”  “Oh yes!” Jeremy exclaimed.  “Jesus was killed and put in there.  Then his Father raised him up!”  Miss Miller later spent the recess period crying with a softened heart.  Three months later, when Jeremy died, his understanding of new life was represented by nineteen plastic eggs on his casket–all of which were empty.

Jeremy saw new life in the empty tomb, which is why he brought an empty egg to school.  Imagine opening that empty egg.  What would you have seen?  Would you have seen an empty egg?  Or would you have seen an egg filled with new life? 

Now imagine yourself as the first person to arrive at the tomb where Jesus had been laid.  Imagine looking into that tomb.  What would you have seen?  Would you have seen an empty tomb?  Or would you have seen a tomb filled with new life? 

Fast-forward two thousand some years, to today.  On this Easter, we come to the tomb.  The tomb is empty.  Or is it actually full?  I suppose that is really a matter of personal perspective, but I would like to suggest that it is both empty and full.  Through the resurrection, we each are given an egg of new life today.  That egg is empty and at the same time it is full.

It is empty of death and full of life.

It is empty of darkness and full of light.

It is empty of sorrow and full of joy.

It is empty of sadness and full of happiness.

It is empty of despair and full of hope.

It is empty of failure and full of triumph.

It is empty of defeat and full of victory.

It is empty of cries of crucifixion and full of shouts of alleluia.

It is empty and in its emptiness it is full.

Empty and full for who?  The resurrection message was for all the disciples.  The resurrection message was for everyone.  Today we are the disciples hearing the good news of the resurrection.  Today the resurrection message is still for everyone.  The egg is empty and full for you and for me.  The egg is empty and full for everyone.  The message that we are sent to share is that Jesus did not stay dead.  Sure it is not an easy message to share, because to the unbeliever, the doubter, or the skeptic it seems crazy to believe that Jesus conquered death and the grave for all of us. 

Yet, to us, as people of faith, it is good news.  It is good news, because through faith we are given hope to believe in the resurrection.  It is faith that allows us to live into the mystery, not knowing why or how this all happened, but trusting the Easter story.  God raised Jesus from the dead after three days.  The tomb was empty.  Jesus was not there.  Jesus has been raised.  In the emptiness of the tomb there was fullness of new life.  That tomb was our tomb.  That resurrection was our resurrection.  It is faith that helps us to understand that through Christ’s death we have died and that through Christ’s resurrection we have been given new life.  So this day and always be like this egg.  Be empty and full all at the same time.

            Alleluia.  Christ is Risen.  Alleluia.  Alleluia.