When the famous agnostic Robert Ingersoll died, on the funeral bulletin was printed this solemn instruction: “There will be no singing.”  We don’t usually feel like singing in the face of death, do we?  Maybe crying, running, or hiding.  But not singing.  Death steals our reason to sing.  Jesus was dead and the disciples weren’t singing.  They were hiding and crying.  Jesus was dead.  The big stone had been rolled in front of his tomb and sealed.  There was nothing to sing about.  Death steals our reason to sing.  But I’ve heard some pretty good singing this morning...

Because stones have never stood in God’s way.  Years ago in Europe, there was a Hanoverian countess who was known for her disbelief in God and her conviction that no one could call life from a tomb.  Before her death, she left specific instructions that her tomb was to be sealed with a slab of granite.  She asked that blocks of stone be placed around her tomb and fastened to the granite slab by heavy iron clamps.  This inscription was placed on the granite rock:  “This burial place, purchased to all eternity, must never be opened.”

All that any man could do to seal the tomb was done.  The countess had insured that her tomb would serve as a mockery to the belief in the resurrection.  A small birch tree, however, had other plans.  Its root found its way between the slabs and grew deep into the ground.  Over the years, it forced its way until the iron clamps popped loose and the granite lid was raised.  The stone cover, now cracked open, is resting against the trunk of the birch, the boastful epitaph permanently silenced by the work of a determined tree… or a powerful God. 1

Friends, the same thing happened with the stone sealing Jesus’ tomb.  Except it had nothing to do with a birch tree.  But it did have everything to do with our powerful God!  He is risen!  (Indeed!)  Jesus, once and for all, shattered the power of death!  Look What Love Has Done!  Love rolled away that stone.  Love burst open the grave.  Love shattered the finality of death.  Love removed our debt to God.  Love took away our guilt and shame.  Love comforted us in the midst of sadness and hurt.  Love gave us a reason to rejoice.  A reason to sing.

Jesus died to pay the debt we owed God because of our sin.  He was separated from God instead of us.  Now, if Jesus were still dead, we would have to assume that He was still paying the price for sin – death.  But when He burst out of that tomb, it emphatically declared that our sins are forgiven!  No more shame!  Death no longer controls us!  Christ connected us to Him – so when He died, our sins died with Him.  When He rose again, a whole new life arose in us!  Look at what Love has done!

In a dugout full of wounded men in the World War I, two men were talking.  One of them, who knew he had only moments to live, said to the other, “Listen, Dominic, you’ve led a bad life.  Everywhere you are wanted by the police.  But there are no convictions against me.  My name is clear.  So here, take my wallet, take my papers, my identity, my good name, my life, and quickly hand me your papers that I may carry all your crimes away with me in death.”  Friends, this is what Love, the sinless, risen Son of God, has done for us!

He removed our debts.  He took away our shame.  He gave us a new start.  He gave us his good name.  His perfect life.  His perfect record.  And when He died, our sins died with Him.  Friends, your record is clean.  (read text)  The guilt you feel over not keeping that promise… has been removed!  You don’t need to feel shame anymore!  The guilt you feel for staring too long at that image that was emailed to you… for listening too long to your gossiping friend… for not helping out when you could have, for saying that harsh word, for losing your temper with your loved one…has been removed!  The risen Jesus has removed your shame!

Can you see what Love has done?  Not only do you no longer need to feel shame for your sins, you no longer need to fear the fair punishment for your sins – death!  You’re set free!

There was a missionary in Brazil who discovered a tribe of Indians in a remote part of the jungle.  They lived near a large river.  The tribe was friendly and in need of medical attention.  A contagious disease was ravaging the population and people were dying daily.  An infirmary was located in another part of the jungle and the missionary determined that the only hope for the tribe was to go to the hospital for treatment and inoculations.  In order to reach the hospital, however, the Indians would have to cross a river – a feat they were unwilling to perform.  The river, they believed, was inhabited by evil spirits.  To enter the water meant certain death.

The missionary began trying to overcome the superstition of the tribe.  He explained how he had crossed the river, arriving unharmed.  No luck.  He led the people to the bank and placed his hand in the water.  The people still wouldn’t believe him.  He walked out into the river and splashed water on his face.  The people watched closely, yet were still hesitant.  Finally, he dove into the water and swam beneath the surface until he emerged on the other side.  Having proven that the power of the river was a farce, the missionary punched a triumphant fist into the air.  He had entered the water and escaped!  The Indians broke into cheers and followed him across.

Jesus saw people enslaved by their fear of a cheap power.  He explained that the river of death was nothing to fear.  The people wouldn’t believe Him.  He called a boy back to life.  The followers were still unconvinced.  He whispered life into the dead body of a girl.  The people were still cynical.  He let a dead man spend four days in a grave and then called him out.  Was that enough?  Apparently not.  It was necessary for Him to enter the river, and submerge Himself in the “water of death” before people would believe that death had been conquered.  But after He did, after He came out on the other side of death’s river, it was time to sing!  Time to celebrate! 2

Can you see what Love has done?  It removed my debts.  It took away my shame.  It opened heaven to me.  And it makes me want to sing!  Easter changes everything!  It fills my life with a new hope.  This is what Love IS DOING to you and me…right now!

A young soldier lost his legs in battle.  Something died within him when he found out he would never walk again.  He lay in his hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, refusing to talk with anyone.  One day, another hospital inmate strolled in and sat down next to his bed.  He pulled out a harmonica and began playing softly.  He got no reaction from the bedridden soldier.  But he came back the next day and the next, doing the same thing.  Finally he asked, “Does my playing annoy you?”  “No, I guess I like it.” So he came in every day, and they began talking a bit more.

One day, the harmonica player played an upbeat tune and began tap dancing, but didn’t get so much as a smile.  “Hey!  Why don’t you smile once and let the world know you’re alive!” he said with a friendly smile.  But the legless soldier said, “I might as well be dead with the fix I’m in.”  “OK,” his happy friend answered, “so you’re dead.  But you aren’t as dead as a fellow who was crucified 2000 years ago, and He came out all right!”  “Oh, that’s easy for you to say,” replied the patient, “but if you were in my fix, you’d sing a different tune!”  With this, the harmonica player pulled up his trouser legs and showed the bedridden soldier his two artificial limbs.  He had once lain where that young soldier now lay.  He had learned to live life abundantly – even without his legs.  He drew that life from the Jesus’ Resurrection.  The young soldier’s “resurrection” began at that moment!  This is what Love is doing to us – right now!

“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  Because Jesus is alive, we have a whole new life to live.  A whole new reason to live.  A whole new way to live.  That’s what Love, what the risen Jesus is doing in us right now.  That Love that burst open the tomb is alive in us when we stop and help that person who needs it instead of passing them by.  When we give part of our precious time to make a difference in a child’s life.  In our spouse’s life.  In a stranger’s life.  When we spend time with God in his Word, in prayer, in worship.  When we share this good news about Jesus with others.  When we don’t let the difficulties in our life – our handicaps, our weaknesses, our frustrations, overcome us – because  we know that Jesus lives and so will we!  This resurrection attitude is what Love is doing to us!

One there’s one more thing it will do.  There is something we must all understand.  (start placing pink stickers on props in the front of church: house, car, boat, desk, clothes, money, etc.)  Each of these pink stickers has a single word on it.  TEMPORARY.  The things I am putting them on are all temporary.  They will disintegrate and blow away like dust when this world ends.  If you are living for these things, then you are living a life of temporary pleasure, temporary satisfaction, and temporary fulfillment.  Temporary.  Temporary.  Temporary…

There is only one thing in this room that is not temporary.  There is only one thing you can take with you into the next world.  (call volunteer up and place gold sticker on their lapel)  Your soul.  No earthly commodity is going to make it from this world into the next.  Not land, not homes, not bank accounts, not titles, not achievements.  Only souls.  When this world ends, every human being is going to be resurrected for an eternity – apart from God’s love if you want no part of it.  Or with God in perfect harmony forever in heaven.  With his resurrection, Jesus Christ opened the door for us to spend that eternity WITH God.  So when you get to the end of your life, and stand before God, what do you want your life to have been about? These things, or this Saviour?  Our living Saviour, the only One to ever walk through death and come out alive, promises to walk us through death and into eternal life!  That’s What Love WILL DO for Us!

Can’t You See What Love Has Done?  Because the tomb is empty, my joy is full!  Death couldn’t hold Him.  Lies couldn’t cover it up.  He got up.  Love got up!  In the hopelessness and finality of a cemetery, He got up.  On Easter morning, Love got up.  Jesus was as dead as anybody I’ve ever seen.  But He got up.  Look what Love has done!

Love removed our debts.  Because He lives, I am free from sin.  Love took away our shame.  Because He lives, I can live with my past.  Love comforted us in the midst of hurt and pain.  Because He lives, I can deal with life’s difficulties and sorrows.  Love’s tomb is empty!  And that changes everything!  Because He lives, I can face tomorrow!  Love’s tomb is empty!  Because He lives, my worst fears are gone.  Because He lives, I know who holds the future in his hands!  And life is worth living just because He lives!

Look what Love has done!  This joy that I have – the world didn’t give me.  And the world can’t take it away.  If you hear that I died tonight, I have a request.  When you bury me, put up a sign that says: “Temporary Residence.”  Because I’m coming back up!  You can count on it!  Can you see what Love has done?   Amen.