[0]

Colossians 3:1-4 [1] Matthew 28:1-10 [2]

A story from Max Lucado: Maria lived with her daughter Christina in a small, but neat house in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of a village in Brazil. When Christina had been an infant, her father had died- Maria had never remarried; she had devoted her life to raising her daughter, working as a maid for some wealthy families in the village.

Christina had turned sixteen, and was strikingly beautiful, with an effervescent personality-a laugh that filled a room and made everyone-especially the boys in her community want to be with her. She was also very independent, had no desire to be tied down. In fact, what she wanted most-what she dreamed about was to go to the city and be a part of all the excitement there...

Maria was horrified by the thought. She was quick to remind her daughter of how cruel the streets could be: "No one knows you there. Jobs are scarce and life is harsh. And besides, if you went there, what would you do for a living?" Maria knew exactly what Christina would have to do for a living...

That's why her heart broke when she awoke one morning and found her daughter's bed empty. Maria knew right away where her daughter had gone. She also knew immediately what she had to do herself: she grabbed some clothes, gathered her money and ran out of the house...

Now we are gathered this spring morning (no really...OK- late winter morning)with billions of Christians around the world-in churches large and small, in schools or theaters, in prisons and hospitals, to give God thanks and praise that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead-he is alive for all time. We hear those wonderful words of the angel in front of the empty tomb: "Do not be afraid; I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised..." and we know the power of God: it's so much more than the cycle of nature we see each year, as wonderful as it might be-it is the power to raise the dead-to make alive that which was dead!

In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we see and we rejoice and worship the God who makes promises, and then keeps them!

In the cross and resurrection of Jesus, you and I have been promised that our sins, our past is forgiven! Are there things in your life that you wished you hadn't done-that keep eating away at you-that cause you guilt and shame? Guilt and shame are great cripplers. They can ruin your life, but Jesus offers to take them away. Jesus promises to forgive the acts that caused them... In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he writes, "Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures."

This past Good Friday, we gathered in a quiet and dark service of shadows to mark Jesus' death on the cross. And as part of the service, all who were present were invited to write those things which separate us from God and each other on a piece of paper, and secure that paper to the cross by forcing it through nails that were there. What had been clean, small squares of paper, carried the hurts, the sorrows, the anguish we had caused God and each other, and then were further defaced by being pierced through-ripped and torn to attach it to the cross.

If we could see those papers in the light of Easter, they would be blank-fresh and clean once again, as Paul writes in Colossians 2:14 [3]: "our sins are erased, nailed to the cross with Christ!"

We cannot change our past-what we have done-how we have hurt each other and God, but our past can be forgiven. You are offered a brand new start-right now. You no longer have to live in the guilt, pain and sorrow of what you have done or not done, of what has happened to you! There is nothing you have done-or not done-which cannot be forgiven. In fact, in Christ's resurrection, everything is already forgiven... Jesus is waiting for you to discover that-to know it-to live in it!

In the cross and resurrection of Jesus, we have the promise of Jesus-of God become human-in our daily lives.

I think back to the words of the angel to the women at the tomb: "Do not be afraid..." You and I live in frightening times- and we have such little control over what happens...You can't control what happens between countries-or the stock market, or gas prices, all of which have a direct influence on your life. You can't make other people do or think what you want them to (Any parents like to vouch for that fact today? You cannot make people love you, as some of us have learned painfully. And you cannot keep your parents, or your loved ones-or you-from dying...

And when you try to manage the unmanageable, the result is inevitably discord, discontinuity, stress in your life and the lives of the people around you. But the Bible teaches us that God wants to be present in your life-to help you with the issues you face every day. God knows you and wants you to know him-and when you do, you can see how it all fits, and you can see how God wants you to live!

In Matthew's Gospel, we read this promise: "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest..." And in John, Jesus said, "My peace I leave with you. Set your troubled hearts and banish your fears..." Turn your life-turn the control over to God through a relationship with the Living Jesus!

Jesus did not say "Come to religion and find rest..." He did not say "My rules, my rituals I leave with you..." He offers rest, he offers peace, he offers himself! So at Bethlehem, we work on relationships: growing in relationship with Jesus Christ and with each other, and we claim the promise of the presence of Christ in our lives. We work on sharing that relationship by our involvement in the community through acts of service in Christ's Name, whether it be building a house with Habitat for Humanity, or working with the residents of Journey Homes-permanent, supportive housing for people who would otherwise be homeless-offering their children a real chance at success in life, or the Wellness Connection-an outreach to Somali immigrants, teaching them to navigate the American healthcare program, to name just a few...

Hear me clearly-I say this over and over: The promise is not and has never been an easy, pain-free life. There will be struggles, trials and pain. But you will see the Risen Jesus at work in ways that you could never have expected, and you will have his presence with you through everything!

And finally, in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have the promise of eternal life in the fullness of the presence of God, and with all who have gone before us!

Jesus makes these promises in John's Gospel, "I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, you may be also..." "I am the resurrection and the life! Those who believe in me even though they die will live- everyone who lives and believes in me will never die!

Actuaries tell us the mortality rate for human beings is 100%. When a doctor, or a relative tells me someone is terminal, I always think "We're ALL terminal-the only question is when..." But in the relationship I have with Jesus, I know that he will be with me when it is time for me to die-whether it's sooner or later-as he has been through my life, and welcome me into the very presence of God! And we can hold fast to that promise, because Jesus Christ is alive: He has conquered death forever!

We have promises made-and promises kept. Promises we can live with and promises we can die with!

Maria had promised herself that there was nothing she wouldn't do to save her daughter... Before she boarded the bus to Rio de Janeiro, she stopped at the drugstore to get one last thing-pictures. She sat in the photograph booth, closed the curtain and spent all she could on pictures of herself. With her purse full of small black and white photos, she was ready to go...

Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money-and she also knew that her daughter was far too proud and stubborn to give up. When pride meets hunger-when people are vulnerable, they will do things that were before unimaginable... Sadly, Maria began her search.

Bars, hotels, night clubs-any place with a reputation for prostitution, Maria visited. At each place, she left one of those pictures-taped on a bathroom window, tacked on a hotel bulletin board, fastened to a corner phone booth. And on the back of each photo, she wrote a note...

It wasn't too long before both Maria's money and pictures ran out, and she had to return home alone. She wept all the way back on the long bus ride back to her village.

Several weeks later, young Christina came down the stairs of a cheap hotel. She was exhausted, physically and mentally, her lovely eyes no longer sparkled with youth and enthusiasm, but spoke fear and pain. Her contagious laughter was gone. Her dream had become a nightmare. Countless times she wished she could trade those hotel beds for the one she had left at home in the room she shared with her mother. Yet her home village was, in too many ways, too far away...

As Christina reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes fixed on a familiar face: on the mirror in the lobby was a small picture of her mother... Her eyes filled with tears and her throat tightened as she walked across the room and removed the picture. Written on the back, in her mother's writing, were these words: "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn't matter. Please come home..." And she did...

Those are Jesus' words to each and every one of us this morning. Each time you see someone serving another, and each time you see a cross- on a building, as jewelry, you are seeing a picture of who Jesus is-of what he has done-the very son of God, crucified and raised from the dead, and he is inviting you to come home...

Come home, says Jesus, join in a relationship with me-not rules, not doctrine, not religion, but a relationship that is eternal-a relationship with God!

Come home, says Jesus, leave your past behind; walk with me at your side throughout your life...

Come home, says Jesus, and know my presence in your death and beyond...

Jesus says this to you because he is alive! Because he loves you-he always has and he always will! Come forward-receive him in the bread and wine!

Walk with us in this life changing adventure with our Savior Jesus at our head. For Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen!