Page 1 of 7 Luke 24:1-12 1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5 The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again." 8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.
Page 2 of 7 Sermon Finding Your Hallelujah - Easter - 3-27-16 Grace and peace to you in the name of the One who has been resurrected from the dead by the power of God - Jesus Christ our Lord - Let us pray What we Know Not Teach us, What we Are Not Make Us, What we Have Not Give Us, for your Son s Sake...Amen. A little boy and his father were driving down a country road on a beautiful spring afternoon. Suddenly out of nowhere a bumble bee flew in the car window. Since the little boy was deathly allergic to bee stings, he became terrified. But the father quickly reached out, grabbed the bee, squeezed it in his hand, and then let it go. But as soon as he let it go, the young son became frantic once again as it buzzed by the little boy. His father saw his son s panic-stricken face. The father reached out his hand, but this time he pointed to the palm of his hand. There still stuck in his skin was the stinger of the bee. Do you see this? he said. You don t need to be afraid anymore. I ve taken the sting for you. So this is the message of Easter - that we do not need to be afraid anymore! The Resurrection of Jesus means that the sting of death has no power over us because God has promised life eternal in Jesus Christ. Yet that is often forgotten and fear takes over and makes life seem out of control especially the fear of death. In verses 5 and 6 of Luke s Gospel we hear: Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Christ faced death for us. And by his victory, we are given new life - abundant life. Christ has taken the sting! First Corinthians 15:22 asks: Where, oh death, is your sting? Christ has taken the stinger for us. He has risen! He has risen indeed! But as human beings we struggle with what this new life means for us. When the women first discovered the empty tomb they were afraid, and I am guessing confused at
Page 3 of 7 the same time. Yet their fear and confusion don t seem to get in the way of their hope or joy, and they hurried to tell others what they had experienced. I am not sure what I would have done if it were me in their places, I think I would have made sure I had the right tomb and once I verified that I would check to see if someone had tampered with things and stolen Jesus body. The whole conversation with the angels or the gentlemen in the empty tomb would have been perplexing to me. It would have been very confusing and irrational, even when reminded of the words of Jesus; The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again, This empty tomb doesn t make sense, the Resurrection doesn t make sense - but it is the empty tomb that gives hope and promise! We have been given new Life in Christ - but it seems that we are still live in the old life of fear and trepidation - the little boy didn t realize what happened when his father caught the bee in his hand, and when he saw it fly by him he became afraid again. He feared the power of the bee and was afraid. In Christ we have been given new life - the old has passed away behold the new has come - but we often struggle with all the difficulties of our past - all the pain that seems to haunt us and keeps us from living out the abundant life given to us at the empty tomb. Our sins are forgiven and we have been given new and abundant life. Abundant Life - what exactly does that mean? I was in the elevator going to work out at the gym when I heard a song that I heard before but never really listened to the words - but the words seem to jump out at me at this moment for some reason maybe it
Page 4 of 7 was the Echo of the elevator. I didn t get the whole song but looked it up on Sound Hound, the music app on my phone when I was able. This is how it goes: "Good To Be Alive (Hallelujah)" Melody and Lyrics by Andy Grammer Uh huh, Uh huh, Ooooooh, Uh huh, Alright, Alright, Uh huh I've been grinding so long, been trying this s for years And I got nothing to show, just climbing this rope right here And if there's a man upstairs, he kept bringing me rain But I've been sending up prayers and something's changed I think I finally found my hallelujah I've been waiting for this moment all my life Now all my dreams are coming true, ya I've been waiting for this moment And it's good to be alive right about now Hallelujah, let that bass line move ya, say yeah It's good to be alive right about now I was dead in the water, nobody wanted me (Uh huh) I was old news, I went cold as cold can be But I kept throwing on coal tryna make that fire burn (Uh huh) Sometimes you gotta get scars to get what you deserve (Uh huh) I kept moving on and now I'm moving up (Uh huh) D, I'm feeling blessed with all this love I think I finally found my hallelujah
Page 5 of 7 I've been waiting for this moment all my life Now all my dreams are coming true, ya I've been waiting for this moment And it's good to be alive right about now Hallelujah, let that bass line move ya, say yeah It's good to be alive right about now I almost can-, cannot handle it I could get u-, could get used to this I almost can-, cannot handle it I could get u-, could get used to this I think I finally found my (Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah) And it's good to be alive right about now Hallelujah, let that bass line move ya, say yeah It's good to be alive right about now Alrighty then - So this song, which is currently on the Pop Charts and being played on the radio and other streaming channels; is entitled: Good to be Alive by Andy
Page 6 of 7 Grammer; with the subtitle of Hallelujah. Wow so this song about finding one s Hallelujah is currently a popular song on the charts and on this Easter Sunday we are also called to find our Hallelujahs today, tomorrow and even the day after that! I would enjoy the opportunity to talk with Andy Grammer about this song and his motivation for writing it. But because that probably won t happen, I have consider these ideas as some of the reasons behind the lyrics: 1. Sometimes the daily routine of life can seem empty and lost and it s important to consider each moment as a blessing. 2. Sometimes self-esteem can get so low that one wonders what the purpose of life is all about. 3. Hard times can get in the way of living a good life. 4. There is Hope when I feel at the end of my Rope. It seems like Andy answers these thoughts in this song and he finds his Hallelujah No matter what happens in life God is the middle of it even if it seems like God is sending down rain, which for CA would be a good thing, let s say lemons we make lemonade or pain/suffering we find our Hallelujah! So, what makes it hard for you to find your Hallelujah in your world? Is it doubt, or pain, or are you afraid of the future or even the present? Does heartache and loneliness get in the way or emotional stress or depression? How are you looking for it? Where are you looking for your Hallelujahs? Do you have high expectations of God that get in the way of your faith and just make you angry that you couldn t even see an Hallelujah if it was standing right in front of you? Some of you may have heard about the practice of Mindfulness and some may not basically Mindfulness is a process of increased awareness of the Here and Now of one s feelings and emotions joys and sorrows. When one practices mindfulness one engages in
Page 7 of 7 life in every aspect of it self others and God. Often we don t like dealing with things that are unpleasant and we avoid those thoughts or feelings and hope they will go away or say I m over it. Mindfulness helps one to experience and move through the thoughts and feelings and process the things we don t want to so we can engage in the New Life of Easter we are given each day. Finding your Hallelujah is engaging in the abundant life of Christ given to you by the Grace of God. The Tomb is Empty, but sometimes we want to keep it occupied and not let go of all the things that keep us bound and captive because of Fear fear that the bee will come and sting us. God has freed us from the sting of death by the Resurrection of Jesus the Tomb is Empty so we might go and find and make our Hallelujahs by the Grace of God!