April 11, 2004; The Sunday of the Resurrection: Easter Sunday Readings: Acts 10:34-43; Colossians 3:1-4; Luke 24:1-10; Psalm 50:1-6.   The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith Resurrection: More Than A Concept Easter Sunday. The Sunday of the Resurrection. Resurrection is a powerful theme that captures the imaginations of writers and poets, philosophers and musicians. The idea being that the forces of evil and death are limited. Spirit and love prevail. Good wins out. When things seem to be at their darkest moment—the life force will not be denied. Some of the our favorite books and movies are based on this idea of resurrection. As wonderful as an idea or a life philosophy based on the concept of resurrection can be, a life grounded in the experience of resurrection is a life transformed—and not just one life transformed. For as St. Paul’s tells us, when anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. The women went to the tomb to care for Jesus in his death. They knew what to expect when they got there. He would be lying there lifeless; his journey over. Their life with him ended. Such was the way of the world. They knew what to expect; they were not looking for anything else. When they arrive, they find that his body is gone. In that moment of confusion, they begin to experience the resurrection. Jesus is not dead, but is risen. He continues to live. Go and tell the others. The women leave. They tell the others who are in mourning. This is where the story really starts to get interesting. The other disciples could have explained away the reaction of the women at the tomb. They were distraught and they were hoping against hope for a miracle of some sort. In the blinding pain of their sadness, they see something or sense something. They go and tell the others. This is where the story should have ended. This is where the burning desire for new life should have been crushed by reality. Jesus is dead. We were wrong about him. As the book of Ecclesiastes tells us, there is nothing new under the sun. "What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; (1:9)" That is where the story should have ended. Yet here we are. Amazing isn’t it when think about it. An idea or a philosophy of resurrection would not have brought me here today. There is no reason based on logic that we should be here, that I should know you and that you should know me. Today we celebrate the fact that Jesus continued to live. He rose again and through the Holy Spirit led his people to form a new community of love. Against all odds a small group of ordinary men and women formed a movement that changed the world. Even with all the trails and tribulations of church life in this age in and in all the ages past, the community continues and finds itself renewed again and again. We are seeing the power of the risen Christ to guide this church. We are experiencing the resurrection. Week by week we come and worship together. We are strengthened by the sacrament of Christ’s body and blood to be his people in the world. As wonderful as the concept of resurrection is, the actual experience of the Risen Lord is what sustains us, guides us, transforms us and brings us together. The men in dazzling clothes said to the women: "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." As the women came to know, we too come to experience, that the resurrection is not a story or a statement about the past, but an announcement of a new and continuing reality: Christ is risen! Amen.