Any preacher loves it when a person takes a sermon to heart ... and with all their heart, believes it. Most times a preacher does not receive feedback that this has happened. We cast our words like some sort of modern day Johnny Appleseed and hope against hope that some bear fruit. But once in awhile there is immediate feedback that yes, somebody heard. Somebody truly believed the message! Such a phenomenon occurred a week ago Friday. I preached a stirring funeral sermon - I mean it was stirring in the sense that I shared the faith of the Church that Bob, who shared in the death of Jesus through Baptism, will one day share his Resurrection. On the last day, the trumpet will sound and the dead will stir. They will rise again. After the service we all gathered in the narthex around Bob's coffin. It was time for the presentation of the American flag to Bob's family. Before anything could be said though, Bob's grandson Andy said, "Open the box. Open the box." And while people were shushing Andy I'm thinking, "Gosh, Andy believed the promise of the Church! He believed that his grandfather would be alive again." And you know what - he's right. Preach it again Andy!

Believe me, even though I say this with tongue-in-cheek, I'm not making light of that poignant moment. And while little Andy probably did not know what was "in the box," I like to think others who were there also felt the tug of faith that assures us that because Christ is risen ... there is reason to believe that one day we shall live with him for all eternity. Let me emphasize: because he is Risen ... there is reason. Because he is Risen there is reason to believe, that we shall live also! Woody Allen once said, "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality by not dying." That's not going to happen, of course. The old earth-to-earth, ashes-to-ashes, dust-to-dust thing. Each one of us is born to die. But because Christ is Risen ... there is reason to believe. Because he stirred in his tomb and came back from the dead, it shall be true for us all: beyond death is immortality.

On that first Easter morning ... shortly before dawn, those two sad ladies, making their way to the tomb, were not running on empty. They were walking on empty. They were trudging on empty. This was an untimely death - the death of Jesus. In a way it was a sudden death. A few days early folks were waving palm branches in his face and throwing garments in his path. He was thirty-three, in the pink of health, but that was a few days earlier and sometimes life turns on a dime. Because on Friday Jesus was diagnosed with the "Big C," the Cross. It was not a sudden death. Three hours on a cross is anything but a sudden death. And now, three days later, two sad Mary's are making their way to the tomb. According to Mark's Gospel, the conversation on the way to the cemetery had to do with the stone in front of the tomb and who in God's name was going to move it. Or as Andy might say, "Who is going to open the box"?

So two sad women trudge to that tomb ... and discover the tomb was as unsealed; the rock had been rolled; the box had been opened. There was the angel sitting there, "Do not be alarmed!" Too late for those three ladies - their hearts were beating so rapidly and erratically, if they had access, all three would have popped nitro tablets under their tongues. The tomb was empty. Well, not quite. The tomb was filled to the overflowing with promise and hope. God had done an amazing thing for all humanity. all humanity? Yes, for truly God shows no partiality!

I know that's why I'm here this morning, and most likely the reason you also gather early in the morning on the first day of the week: to hear once more the Good News that God has the last word ... even over death. Along comes Easter, to remind us that there is no grave deep enough, no seal imposing enough, no stone heavy enough, no evil strong enough, no box sealed enough to keep Christ in the grave. And certainly that brings us comfort and great joy. Along comes Easter!

I clearly recall an Easter almost forty-five years ago, and how my excitement to share this good news almost got me into deep trouble. Perhaps I've shared the story before. I was a sergeant in the Air Force and I worked for the Base Chaplains. My job was to set up the altar, make sure the chapel was cleaned, the trash removed, the bulletins typed and folded, and everything in readiness for the worship. Forty some years later, my job description remains the same!

The main chapel at McGuire Air Force Base was large, beautiful and served both Protestants and Roman Catholics. The only altering between the worship services was to go from crucifix to empty cross on the wall behind the altar. To make the change, you simply pull on a rope behind the left curtain and the crucifix would slide behind one curtain and the empty cross would emerge from the other. When I was setting up for Easter Mass, I noticed that the sermon notes for the priest were on the pulpit and I saw at one point he would say, "Christ is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!" Pretty original stuff! I planned to hide behind the curtain and when the priest made that beautiful declaration of faith I would pull furiously on the rope and the crucifix would be replaced by an empty cross. Then I thought about my sergeants stripes being replaced by an empty sleeve ... and a rare case of common sense overcame me! In a way, I regret not doing it. Why should common sense get in the way of proclaiming the greatest victory the world has ever seen: victory over the sting of the grave!

Each one of us has a personal date with destiny. An "earth-to-earth, dust-to-dust" date with destiny. Life turns on a dime ... and our lives will too. But upon that dime is written these words, "In God we trust." And why not? Easter is God's proof positive that there is more to this life ... than this life. On Good Friday, death pushed the envelope. On Easter, the envelope was unsealed. The box was empty. And to borrow the sermon notes of a Roman Catholic chaplain more than four decades ago, "Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!"