Easter has always been special to me. Easter has always been a time of happiness and hope for me. I can remember some of the Easters of my childhood. I remember there always being cherry blossoms in the church on Easter. I remember singing the great Easter hymns. I remember going to one of my Aunt's houses for Easter potluck: there was always lots to eat and lots of cousins to play with. These memories are nice, but these are not the things that give Easter hope and meaning for me today. Those things are gone. I have hope because I remember the words of the angels, "Luke 24:5 Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 `The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'�h Friends and relatives and parties will pass away, but the Word of the Lord remains forever.

This morning we have the hope and joy of the resurrection. But on the morning of the first Easter, the women who went to the tomb of Jesus had given up hope. They had had great hopes in Jesus. They had hopes for the Kingdom of God, of peace, of love for all people. They had hopes that Jesus would bring social and economic justice so that the poor and powerless would not be oppressed. But then Jesus was arrested, crucified and buried. Now it was the third day and their hopes were gone. They thought that Jesus had not changed anything, that the world was the same as always.

And so when they arrived at the tomb they were surprised. Something did not make sense. They did not find the body. They were perplexed. Had something changed in the world? But whether the body of Jesus was there or not, they knew Jesus was dead and so all his promises were dead, too, they thought. But then at the tomb, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. In the presence of the angels the women were terrified and fell to the ground in fear. Something in the world indeed had changed, the presence of God was in the angels speaking to them. The angels said that the promises of Jesus were not broken. The angels said to remember what Jesus had predicted, "that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again." Then the women remembered that Jesus had predicted that he would rise again. When they remembered the promise their hope returned. Then they went and told everything to the disciples. At first the disciples did not understand or believe. Their hopes had been shattered by Jesus' death, and so they could not understand anything else. But Peter went to the tomb and was amazed at what he saw. The way the linen cloths were lying by themselves showed that the body was not stolen, but rather that Jesus had risen! He was indeed alive! Peter and the disciples finally believed when they remembered the promise of Jesus. The promises were true! There was salvation!

Our hopes and dreams can be shattered sometimes. We remember the promises made by our parents, our friends, our fellow workers, and when those promises are broken, our hopes are broken. If we remember those promises, we will only be saddened. But when we remember the promises of God in Jesus Christ, then we will have hope that will never be shattered. In the midst of this world there is the promise of Jesus for love, peace, and a new way of doing things. It is the promise of a death and resurrection. It is the promise that Jesus kept.

On Easter, like the angels said, we remember that promise of Jesus, and so our celebration is full of hope, and this Easter hope brings joy, and this joy brings prayers and hymns of praise.

Amen.

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