This Changes Everything

Happy Sunday and happy Easter. I have numbers on my phone on my contact list of people I love that have passed away. Are there some of numbers that you have kept to folks like that? I just can't delete them.

I can't delete their texts. And maybe on occasion I'll listen to a voicemail if they are saved just to hear their voice. Words are powerful. Over 30 years ago I was in the Tupelo hospital in North Mississippi recovering from back surgery.

I was hooked to the pain pump and I was playing it like castinets. I'm allergic to pain. My bride soon of 43 years was a trooper. She took our son and daughter to her parents so they were taken care of and she stayed with me the whole time.

She slept in one of those uncomfortable chairs by my bedside. I was so thankful for Jeanie's watch care that I said to her, "Darling, you can have anything you want." Now, please remember that I was on painkillers when I said that. The words, "You can have anything you want," resonated with her.

And at that moment, we were on two different planets. I thought she could go downstairs to the gift shop. My thoughts were on a budget. hers were not.

I learned that day that I should keep my mouth shut when on morphine. I also learned that she has better taste than I do. Words are powerful. On Good Fridays, my heart is in Indiana.

I pastored a church there in southeast corner of the state for 15 years. And every Good Friday we held a service where we would reenact the crucifixion. We began at Pilate's court and it was decorated and it was fascinating and fabulous. And then we would proceed to the cross and finally take Jesus down from the cross and place him in a tomb.

It was done very well. We had well over a hundred people in costume. There were Roman soldiers. There was a chariot.

There were horses. The two thieves on the cross were next to Jesus. It was special. We named it the sound of the nails.

And I can still hear that sound. Through our lives, sounds can carry just as much weight as words. Upon hearing a sound, we can be transported back in time to another place. Sounds trigger your brain to activate neural pathways.

Let me share a few sounds with you and let's see if they cause you to recall another time and another place. This first sounds take sound takes place in the first Saturday of May in Louisville, Kentucky. You've heard this before. The next sound many of you hear in churches played by organs.

This next sound is from a movie and it scared people to death when they heard this sound. You don't want to hear that sound at the beach, do you? Have you ever thought about the sounds of Easter on Good Friday? The sound of the nails on Saturday, the sound of despair, the sound of silence on Sunday morning, the stone rolling away from the tomb, Jesus taking that first breath.

Can you imagine what heaven sounded like that morning when Jesus rose from the dead? Let me read how my friend Luke described that morning long ago. Luke said, "Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they here they means Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James and and some other women. Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared, but they found the tomb had rolled away from the tomb.

And then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. And then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but he is risen."

Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, saying, "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again." Scripture says they remembered his words and they then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the 11 and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. In verse 11 we read, "And their words seemed like idol tales and they did not believe them.

This section talks about the power of words. Listen again to verses 6 and 7. He is not here, but he is risen. Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee.

Remember his words that he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, saying, "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise again." In verse 8, the light came on in their minds. We're told, "And they remembered his words." Now, the exact opposite happens to the apostles.

Listen again to Luke's account in verses uh 9 to 11. Then they the women returned from the tomb and told all these things to the 11 and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with him who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idol tales, and they did not believe them.

They did not believe at that moment. In response to what the women said, their words seemed to them like idol tales. So what did the disciples do? Well, according to John chapter 20, they hid.

They were hiding behind locked doors. They were afraid. They had yet to believe that Jesus was indeed alive. So what happened?

Let me read what John said about that. Jesus came and stood in the midst of them and said to them, "Peace be to you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and he showed them his side. And then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Right in the midst of their pity party, Jesus showed up and the real party began. Now, I think John 20 is not translated very well. It says, "Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord." Is that not an understatement?

The disciples were glad. Now, you're glad when you get a good parking spot, or you're glad when the crispy cream hot sign is on, or you're glad when you get reservations at a restaurant you want to be at. You're glad in Atlanta when I285 is not a parking lot. Jesus was alive.

Can you imagine the sounds in that room when the disciples finally believed? The gasps, the hearts pounding, the applause, the laughter, the hollering. Actually, the word glad here means they rejoiced. The party was on.

The disciples were now transformed. And they went from hiding to an unstoppable force that took the message of the resurrection across the world. 2,000 years later, we gather. We gather for Easter to celebrate.

We gather to listen to his voice letting us know that death is not final and that there is victory over the grave for those in Christ. Just a few years ago, May of 2023, a small plane crashed in a very remote part of Colombia. Seven people were on that plane. It was in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.

It was presumed that all seven would be dead. The odds of survival were not good. It took two weeks, over two weeks, for the Colombian special forces to find the wreckage. It was amazing they found it.

And what they found shocked them. Three passengers were in the plane. They died on impact and four were missing. All children ranging in age from 13 years to an 11-month-old.

and the kids were nowhere to be found. The government stopped the rescue or stepped up the rescue effort. They thought about stopping, but it was kids and they sent 150 soldiers, 40 volunteers, and several rescue dogs. They found clues of hope in the search.

Footprints, used diapers, a baby bottle. The children had been raised near the jungle, so they knew which plants to eat and which to avoid. They had skills. But how long could they survive?

Days turned into weeks, and the rescuers began to wonder if the kids were intentionally hiding. After all, the rescuers concluded the children didn't know if it was good guys or bad guys who were looking for them. So, the Colombians came up with a plan. The rescuers placed speakers in the jungle and turned up the volume so it could be heard for over a mile.

They played a recording of the voice of the children's grandmother. The grandmother were telling them that the rescue team was there to help them, to bring them safely home. These were good guys, not bad guys, and they should come out. On day number 40, almost six weeks, all four children, weak, weary, and afraid, they were frowned.

And the loving voice of the grandmother was a powerful beacon for their rescue. I love the story. All of us are survivors of a crash of some sort. All of us need a loving voice to show us the way safely home.

This is the day when the voice calls to us, "I am risen. I am alive. I am preparing a place for you. Believe in me.

I am with you." I hope that today I hope that every day that you hear the voice of God letting you know that he is with you and that whatever you are going through, he will always be with you and he loves you so much that he died on a cross for you. Pray with me. Lord God, thank you for the sound of your voice.

We hear it as we read your word. We hear it when we see the people of God living the way they should. Father, we pray that this Easter and every day we would look to hear from you and follow your words. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. God bless. Happy Easter.