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Easter Sunday
March 23, 2008
A young boy and his grandfather were flying a kite on a hill. The kite soared into the sky higher and higher. Then suddenly a low cloud hid it from their sight. After a few minutes the grandfather said to the boy, "Bobby, maybe some thief up in that cloud stole your kite!" The boy shook his head firmly in disagreement. "But Bobby," said his grandfather, "how can you be so sure that kite's still at the end of your string?" The young boy replied, "Because I can feel something you can’t feel. I can feel the kite tug at my string."
That story illustrates why many people who weren't privileged to see Jesus after his resurrection were sure, nonetheless, that he had risen from the dead. They were sure for the same reason the young boy was sure that no one had stolen his kite. They felt the tug of Jesus in their lives. In other words, they experienced the power of the Risen Jesus at work in their hearts.
Before Easter Sunday many people were filled with doubt. They had seen Jesus die a terrible death on Good Friday. They had seen Jesus nailed to a cross and had watched their dreams die before their eyes. But then came Easter Sunday morning. News spread throughout Jerusalem that the rock that sealed the tomb had been rolled away and the tomb was empty.
The Jewish authorities told the guards at the tomb to say that someone had stolen the body while they dozed during the night. At first people wondered about the guards’ story. Was it really true? Did someone steal the body of Jesus?
But as time passed, the people became sure beyond doubt that the body had not been stolen. Jesus had, indeed, risen! And the reason the people were sure is the same reason that the little boy was sure that no one had stolen his kite. They felt the tug of Jesus in their lives. They felt the power of Jesus at work in their hearts.
Transformed by this power, the people went forth to tell the good news to all the world. No amount of persecution could stop them. Eventually, some of them were crucified, like their master. Others were ripped apart by wild beasts in the Roman Coliseum. Still others were burned alive at the stake. But their belief in Jesus never wavered. The lives of these early Christians changed the course of history.
Today, over 2,000 years later, modern Christians still feel the tug of Jesus. They still feel the power of Jesus at work in their hearts.
An example is a missionary named Noreen Towers. For years she had been working among the poor. In spite of all her efforts, she saw absolutely no progress. She says: "I became despondent. I finally reached the breaking point one night. I was beaten. When I went to bed, I didn't know how I could continue." The next morning, shortly after she awoke, something strange happened to Noreen. It was as though Jesus himself said to her, "Can you not trust my plan for you?"
She writes: "Then I realized that I did not have to see the plan; I only had to trust him. I arose from my bed a different person. My encounter with the living Christ changed me from a broken, defeated person into a person with unshakable hope and faith." Today, the woman's work among the poor is bearing remarkable fruit!
Noreen Tower's experience is what Easter is all about. It's the good news that Jesus is risen and in our midst; that Jesus has a plan for each one of us. And nothing can interfere with that plan if we don’t let it...not pain, not sorrow, not rejection, not sin, not even death!
Easter holds out an invitation to each one of us in this church this morning. It invites us to let Jesus do for us what he did for Noreen Towers.
It invites us to let Jesus help us trust again after we have lost our ability to trust; to let Jesus help us love again after we have lost our ability to love; to let Jesus help us hope again after we have lost our ability to hope. Easter invites us to let Jesus help us pick up the broken pieces of our lives and start over again after we have given up.
That's what Easter is all about. It’s the good news that Jesus has triumphed over sin and evil; and so will we, if we but open our hearts to his Easter power; that Jesus is ready to work miracles for us, if we but open our hearts to his Easter power; that every Good Friday in our lives can be turned into an Easter Sunday, if we but open our hearts to his Easter power.
We don't have to wait until we die to share in the risen life of Jesus. We can begin right now, in this Mass, at this Easter celebration. It’s the good news that nothing can defeat us anymore...not pain, not sorrow, not rejection, not even death!
This is the good news that we celebrate this glorious Easter morning! Feel the tug of Jesus in your life! Experience the power of Jesus at work in your heart!