INTRODUCTION:

There's an old story about a Sunday School teacher who had just finished telling her third graders about how Jesus was crucified and placed in a tomb. And how they sealed the tomb with a huge stone. When she finished with that portion of the story, she wanted to share the excitement of the resurrection, and the surprise of Easter morning. So, she asked: "And what do you think Jesus' first words were when He came bursting out of that tomb alive?"

A hand shot up in the back of the classroom. The arm of a little girl was swinging wildly back and forth. She could hardly contain herself as she shouted excitedly "I know, I know!"

"Good" said the teacher, "Tell us."

And at that the little girl crouched down and then jumped up into the air extending her arms high and shouting: "TA-DA!"

Although it's not recorded in Scripture anywhere, I think that little was right. Jesus may not have spoken those actual words, but that sure was their meaning. "TA-DA!"

That first Easter morning was the "The Dawn of Forever." The stone was rolled away, so we could see inside and see that the tomb was empty. The stone was rolled away. Both life and new life joined in harmony and shouted "TA-DA!". All of life was waiting in expectation for the Son to rise at sunrise.

Some have even said that the early morning breeze that we barely feel but causes the leaves and flowers to tremble isn't really caused by the wind. It's just opposite, the gentle breeze is really caused by the leaves and flowers of the whole world trembling in anticipation of the resurrection. The tomb was the first to know, the dirt and stones in the tomb began to pass the word. It traveled through the soil to the root systems of all the world's plants and they trembled in anticipation.

And when Jesus stepped forth from the empty tomb for the very first time, all of creation said: "TA-DA!" Because it was "The Dawn of Forever." The promise of life eternal and new life were fulfilled. The forever of life eternal began with the rising of the Son at sunrise.

And because of that, "The Dawn of Forever," Easter DEFINES US, INCLINES US AND REFINES US.

I. EASTER DEFINES US:

A. Have you ever thought about just how weird Easter really is and what it must look like to someone who has never heard or experienced "The Dawn of Forever."

Think about it. This is one of the few days that we all feel obligated to go to church. We get all dressed up in our best finery. We put on our best faces so they'll be recognized by the people we haven't seen in a long time.

We laugh and giggle in anticipation. We tug at our collars because of the extra pounds we've put on since the last time we wore a tie. Or we tug at clothes that haven't been broken in yet and we're still not comfortable wearing yet. And then we head to church.

We join together with others at the crack of dawn. And we shiver through a service waiting for the sun to rise. So we can celebrate. We get up and dress up and journey to a grave in a cemetery to celebrate. That's just weird, isn't it?

I know folks who have vowed to dance on someone's grave when they died but that's not what this day is all about. Oh, yeah we visit a graveyard. And we know that at midnight or four in the morning it's dark as thunder. But the minute that sun peeks over the edge of the horizon, even when it's buried behind storm clouds or rain clouds, we can still feel its rays and we know that something is different.

We know the world is somehow subtly changed. And we find that we've come not to mourn but to dance for joy because of that difference. We come because this day is "The Dawn of Forever."

And difference is the tomb is empty. The stone has been rolled away and the tomb is empty. Not because of vandals. Not because of some sick sorry so and so who stole the body. Not because of some black magic. But because the Son of God is so powerful that not even death could bind Him and hold Him. Not even the weight of the sin of the entire world could keep Him down.

The stone was rolled away. The Son of God stepped forth and it ushered in "The Dawn of Forever." And in so doing, it defined us. THE DAWN OF FOREVER, EASTER DEFINES US.

B. It's not Christmas and the birth of the baby. If had not been for Easter, that birth in Bethlehem would have just been another ordinary birth. And it's not Calvary or the Cross that defines us. If we only look at the Cross without the Easter event, then all we would have would be one more dead Jewish revolutionary. Oh a few of His words and teachings might have lived on, but they never would have had the same impact they do today.

THE DAWN OF FOREVER, EASTER IS THAT DEFINITIVE DAY IN THE LIFE OF EVERY CHRISTIAN. It defines who we are and what we believe.

In April 2002, the well-respected Oxford University philosophy professor Richard Swineburne defended the truth of the Resurrection at a high-profile gathering of philosophy professors at Yale University. Swineburne used Bayes Theorem, a broadly accepted mathematical probability theory and tool to defend the truth of Christ's resurrection.

In a New York Times interview, Swineburne said, "For someone dead for 36 hours to come to life again is, according to the laws of nature, extremely improbable. But if there is a God of the traditional kind, natural laws only operate because he makes them operate." Swineburne used the Bayes Theorem to assign values to things like the probability that God is real, Jesus' behavior during his lifetime, and the quality of witness testimony after his death. Then he plugged the numbers into a probability formula and added everything up.

The results? There's a 97 percent probability that the resurrection really happened. (1)

That's nice to know. It's one more tool in the tool kit of ministry. But the truth is that you and I don't really need that. The church doesn't really need that information. Because we have our own formula.

It's the Easter Formula: R+ET+F=LE. The Resurrection plus the Empty Tomb plus Faith equal Life Eternal. That the Easter Formula.

And the Easter Formula is the formula that DEFINES US. It's the formula that gave birth to the Church. There was only one more thing which that Faith needed and that was a power source. That Power Source came at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit filled the Disciples.

But it was EASTER THAT DEFINED US at "The Dawn of Forever."

II. EASTER INCLINES US:

A. AND IT'S EASTER THAT INCLINES US, AS WELL.

Easter inclines us toward God. You see before that first Easter, before the Resurrection, before the stone was rolled away and we discovered that the Tomb was empty, we were all on a steady decline. We were headed down. There was no up. Nobody could be good enough to even look up, let alone hope to go up. So most of us simply gave up and continued to decline lower and lower and lower.

Even though nobody really wanted to go down, that's where we were headed, in a hand basket.

But then Christ came and our spirits felt a stirring of hope. Our eyes and hearts and spirits were lifted up. Our hearts took a turn and we found our lives taking a new direction. And we found ourselves drawn and inclined toward God.

We looked into the Empty Tomb and suddenly our whole being was inclined toward God. Our spirits were inclined toward good works and good deeds. Our souls were inclined to seek God in prayer and meditation. Our spirits were inclined to Worship and sing songs of joy and hope. We were inclined too look up and come up and live up to God's expectations.

All simply because we are now inclined toward God.

B. The movie "The Christmas Story" tells the story of Ralphie, a young boy living in northern Indiana in the late 1940's. In one scene, Ralphie beats up a neighborhood bully, cursing a blue streak as he literally pummels his foe. Ralphie's mother catches him in the act and Ralphie expects the worst from his father that evening.

At dinner, his father asked about his day. Surprisingly, his mother responded, "Nothing much. Ralphie had a fight."

His father put down the paper and gazed at Ralphie. "A fight? What kind of fight?"

Mom replied, "Oh, you know how boys are. I gave him a talking to. Oh, I see the Bears are playing the Packers Sunday."

Distracted by the sports page, the father forgets about the fight. Ralphie beams a smile at his mother for overlooking his bad behavior. Ralphie says to himself, "I slowly realized that I was not about to be destroyed. From then on, things were different between me and my mother."

There was a world class wrestling match that took place on the Cross at Calvary. And because of that fight, because of the events of that first Easter, "The Dawn of Forever" things are now different between us and God. And that DEFINITELY INCLINES US TOWARD GOD.

III. EASTER REFINES US:

A. EASTER DEFINES US, IT INCLINES US AND IT REFINES US.

Father Andrew W. Greeley tells the story: Once upon a time a young man, who had been reported kill in action, came home from a prisoner of war camp. His family and his buddies and even his girl friend had mourned him as dead and then more or less got over their grief.

His sudden reappearance was disconcerting to say the least. They had all loved him, but they had in effect written him out of their lives. His girl friend was engaged to marry someone else. Moreover, he didn't seem like the boy who had gone off to war. He was thin and haggard and haunted.

However, he was now mature, self-possessed, and, astonishingly, happy. He hadn't smiled much as a kid and rarely joked. Now he was witty and ebullient all the time. A quiet kid had become an outgoing adult man. And he didn't fit into the patterns of relationships he had left behind.

Quite the contrary, his happiness and maturity were unsettling. He congratulated his former girl friend on her upcoming marriage and he shook hands cordially with the fiancé.

There's something wrong with him, everybody said. His family went to the priest. And the priest concurred, "There sure is something wrong with him," the priest said. "He has risen from the dead and now acts like a saint." (2)

EASTER DEFINES US, IT INCLINES US AND IT REFINES US. When we put our lives into the hands of Jesus, when we accept not only the truth and the joy of the Resurrection but let them live in our hearts and fill us with hope, we are REFINED.

The old ways, the old worldy ways get slowly stripped away. As we INCLINE more and more toward God. We get REFINED more and more.

And what are we REFINED into? That's easy: the image of God and the Likeness of Christ.

B. A close friend and colleague of mine happened to be one of the clergy on last Kairos prison ministry weekend event. For those of you who don't know what Kairos is, it's a four day Christian event put on in prisons by a group of lay people, clergy and some of the prisoners, themselves. Participation in the event is at the choosing of the warden and chaplain. And usually, the ones who are sent are the hardcore group.

During the weekend, During a series of talks, discussions and worship services, the prisoners are presented with the living Gospel of Jesus. They are told they are children of God worthy of the love God offers. They are told they are loved. And for many, it's the first time in years or the first time period that anyone has ever told them they are loved.

Lives are changed. John, told me one of those stories. The man was 38 and had already served 14 years of a life sentence. He will never see the outside of the prison. He's in for multiple murders. And it was obvious that he had a hard shell and a hard core. He'd lived a rough, hard life. He told everyone there that the only reason he came was for the food and the cookies.

One of the things the prisoners get is home cooked meals and tons of homemade cookies. Each of which have been prayed over by the makers.

This guy resisted the whole weekend. On Sunday morning, during one of the sharing times, John said he felt compelled to give this guy a hug. And he did. At first this guy didn't know what to do. Apparently he'd never been just hugged before. Or it had been so long that he didn't remember. But once he saw that it was just something John wanted to do, he hugged the stuffing out of John. And then he wouldn't hardly let go. It was like that hug opened the flood gate. From that moment on, that man was changed.

He even gave testimony that he had felt the arms of God around him when John hugged him. And then he gave testimony about what God had done in his life. He said this: "I feel light. I feel like all the weight is gone. I feel like I can stand up again."

EASTER DEFINES US, IT INCLINES US AND IT REFINES US.

CONCLUSION:

In December of last years, Reuters news organization reported that in Milan, Italy, a homeless man was hospitalized when he was found wandering around the city. The hospital staff was absolutely amazed when they found that his clothes were stuffed with money.

Although he had been living in shelters and on the streets for more than ten years, he had the equivalent of $30,000 in his possession. It was his life savings, but he could not face spending any of it. The man's identification papers had expired 13 years earlier. And without proper ID and a current address, the Bank of Italy had refused to exchange his defunct lira for the new euro currency. (3)

There are so many people whose lives are just like that. They are hanging on to all the old stuff of their lives. Old habits, old hurts, old wounds, old grudges. And as a result, they've locked themselves up in a tomb from which they can't escape. They are holding on to what they think is their only fortune.

When in truth, there is a treasure more valuable than anything we can think of or imagine. A treasure that is offered without any strings attached. All it really takes is a new identity and a little faith.

The identity comes from Christ Jesus. He has already claimed us, now all we have to do is claim Him. Once we accept Him as Lord and Savior, we become heirs to all the promises and hope and treasures of heaven.

Today we stand in "The Dawn of Forever." We can return to the darkness of the tomb. Or we can walk into the light of the Rising and Risen Son.

TODAY WE CAN LET EASTER DEFINE US, INCLINE US AND REFINE US, so that Jesus can turn to God and we can hear Him say, "TA-DA!"

1. Group magazine (July 2002)

2. Adapted slightly.

3. Reuters, 12/8/2002

4.

www.SermonWriter.com (Copyright, Richard Niell Donovan, 2000)

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