Easter 2022

Happy Sunday, and happy Easter! Today I would like to thank my friends here at Arlington Cemetery in Sandy Springs for allowing me to film in their beautiful grotto. Thank you for watching. Easter is the most special day. We have those in our lives, but nothing like Easter.

I want to share with you a few special days from my life. May the 14th, 1983, was a day my life changed. Soon to be 39 years, my dear bride Jeannie and I were married at the First Baptist Church of Starkville, Mississippi. Another day that is very special to me is July the 14th, 1985. Our son Tyler was born. He's such a blessing to me and to so many others. I remember that day like it was yesterday.

May the 21st, 1988, is another special day for me. Our daughter Ellen was born. Girls are a rare treat in my family. I'm one of five children, four boys and a girl, and all my siblings have boys. I was so thankful for a daughter. I still am. Ellen is such a great, great daughter.

There are more days that are special to me, and all of us perhaps have days in common that we remember that have changed our lives. A generation ago remembers December the 7th, 1941, Pearl Harbor. FDR said that it was a date that will live in infamy. 9/11, 2001, changed the world, didn't it? Of all the important days in history, Easter Sunday is the day that has changed everything.

Luke tells us this in the first five verses of chapter 24: "On the first day of the week, had early dawn, taking the spices that they had prepared, they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 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. He is risen.'" He is risen! Wherever you are, say that with me: He is risen!

Earlier I mentioned that Genie and I were married on May the 14th, 1983. After the ceremony, I was married, legally married. I was a husband, and because of that, there were some changes to be made. I was married; therefore, I needed to act in a certain way. It was a "therefore" kind of a day.

I remember our first big fight Jeannie and I had. We were newlyweds. We went to a wedding not too long after ours. At the reception, I saw an old friend that I had not seen in a while, and I ran over to her, and I left my wife standing alone at the reception. For some reason, my bride didn't appreciate that. I was wrong, very wrong. I know it now. What I forgot was the "therefore." I was married; therefore, I needed to act in a certain way.

The other two dates that I mentioned, so biblical in my life, in 1985 and in 1988, I needed to remember the "therefore." I was a father; therefore, I needed to act in a certain way. When we forget the "therefore," life gets bad. Marriages fall apart. Relationships with kids are strained. "Therefore" is an important concept.

Now, for today: Christ is risen. Christ is risen; therefore, as a believer, my life should change. Every day we need to live in the light of the resurrection. Today I want us to look at a fascinating byproduct of that first Easter. We find something very odd in Matthew chapter 27, verses 52 and 53.

Matthew tells us, "The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many." This is so fascinating to me. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, some tombs were opened. Some graveyards changed. Some dead believers came back to life, and they went to Jerusalem.

If you need a good plot for a movie, this would be one. Can you imagine the knock at the door? Running into a dead friend at the market? We don't know how long they were allowed to walk this earth again. Only Matthew mentions this. This is all we know.

One thing we should notice: not all the tombs are empty. Not everyone came back to life. This fact that somebody's remained in the tombs would cause a few comfort zones to be challenged. This would lead to a big question by the people in Jerusalem that saw the dead walking around and wondered, "Why is it that some were raised and some were not? What about my neighbor? What about my loved one?"

You know, don't you? Matthew told us that only saints came back to life. Today we would use the word "believer." What is happening here is a victory lap, if you will, of God's power over the grave. Jesus is risen; therefore, even death is not final. The greatest news that the world has ever heard came from an empty tomb in a graveyard.

That first Easter was so big and powerful that other graves just had to open. God is showing off here, and I love it when God shows off. I love it when I see dead saints walking, and I have seen dead saints walking. Ephesians two, verses one through six, put it into perspective.

It says, "Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil, the commander of the powers of the unseen world. He is a spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else.

"But God is so rich in mercy, and he loves us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. It's only by God's grace that you've been saved. For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus."

If you are a believer, this is talking about you. Once you were considered dead because of your sin, but because of your belief in Christ, you are forever changed. I love seeing that change. I have seen the "therefore" of Easter transcends so many.

I've seen the evil become holy. I've seen the selfish become givers. I've seen the indifferent become passionate. I've seen doomed marriages flourish. I've seen personalities totally change. I've seen the alcoholic set free. I've seen people once that would not darken the doors of a church become bright lights inside the church.

Jesus is risen this day. Easter has turned this world upside down. He is risen; therefore, we should be totally different. We should walk totally different walks than we once did.

Pray with me. Father God, thank you for the change in lives, the change that is possible because you overcame death and rose from the dead that first Easter. Help us to rise up, to change, to be different, to live "therefore" lives in light of the resurrection. Bless each one as we seek to be bright lights to this world that so very much needs the news, the great news of Jesus Christ being risen. In his powerful name I pray, amen.

God bless you. Happy Easter. You.