Romans 6:3-11                                                Psalm 114                                            Luke 24:1-12

            Alleluia. Christ is risen, the Lord is risen indeed!  Alleluia.  Since Ash Wednesday, we’ve refrained from saying Alleluia – well some of us have any way, in all but two services in Lent at least one person has said – Alleluia!  Now we can all say it, we should all say, and we should say it with Great Joy!  Alleluia, Christ is risen, the Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!

            On this night we celebrate Christ’s resurrection – on this night we celebrate the forgiveness of ALL our sins.  No sin is too great that God will not – has not, forgiven us.  And with that forgiveness comes the promise of a greater life – the promise of the transformation talked about in Ezekiel:

Thus says the Lord God: I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness’s, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

God has, through Christ, cleansed us of all our sins – given us a new start on life. The passage in Ezekiel continues:

A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Note that the prophet Ezekiel knew that a heart transplant was needed to usher in the kingdom of God.  If we allow him, Christ will remove from us our hearts that have been hardened by sin – our own sin and the sins of others – Christ will remove them and give us each, a new heart filled with the spirit of truth and love – a heart that knows the love of God. 

            It is the sin of the entire human race that has hidden God’s love from us – that has prevented us from seeing his love.  Our hope of life, therefore, comes from the love of God in the person of Jesus Christ who has revealed to us the power of God’s love. 

            In tonight’s Gospel reading from Luke, we learn that the women gather at the tomb to anoint the body of their beloved teacher with spices.  But what they find is an empty tomb and two angels who appear to them saying,

Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen.  Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.

Shock turns into amazement as they remember what Jesus said, and amazement into joy.  The women return to the apostles – who were no doubt, sitting around not knowing what to do – probably in fear for their own lives – Peter is consumed by guilt for having denied knowing Christ.  The women report the good news to the apostles and Peter rushes to see the empty tomb. 

            Peter, perhaps desperate for redemption, desperate to have his hope restored, runs to the tomb and finds it empty.  He finds hope at the empty tomb.  The report by the women as to what the angels have said must have started his mind racing – thinking of all that Jesus had said, perhaps even wondering what else Jesus had said that he did not understand at the time.

We know what happens next.  Peter and all the disciples, women and men, are transformed.  The promise of a new heart and new spirit is fulfilled.  The disciples proclaim the Good News of the resurrection – the promise of new life in Christ for you and for me. 

We know the story of Christ today because the disciples proclaimed the Good News.  Others came to believe, and the members of the new church, we know from the book of Acts, devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  They became the Body of Christ to others – and to each other.  They cared for the sick, the poor, and the elderly.  They taught their children that through Christ we may all receive a new heart and the spirit of truth and love.  So here we are 2000 years later still proclaiming the Good News:  Alleluia Christ is risen!  The Lord is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

Let us pray.

            Almighty and every living God, we give you thanks for the life available to each of us.  Give us a new heart, a new spirit, that the light of Christ might shine forth from us and bring others to you that they might share in the joy of your eternal kingdom.  For your love, we give thee thanks. We pray to you in the name of your only and eternal Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.