Easter Sunday

​I wonder what you are looking for… (think a moment)
Health, happiness, security, peace maybe – for yourself and for your loved ones
and for the world. Some may also be looking for approval, for encouragement,
for love, for a better job, a higher income, opportunities, fun… and so on.
And where are you looking for these things?

StF  348 He is Lord

Reading, Matthew 28 1 - 10

StF 305 Low in the grave he lay

Prayer
Living Lord,as we listen to today’s message of hope,
help us to put aside our doubts and fears.
Fill us with hope and joy
and give us a glimpse of the risen Jesus in our midst.
Amen
Message
The angel knew that the women were looking for Jesus.
When they were looking in the wrong place they didn’t find him.
While they were looking for the wrong thing they didn’t find it.
I wonder what you are looking for… (think a moment)
Health, happiness, security, peace maybe – for yourself and for your loved ones
and for the world. Some may also be looking for approval, for encouragement,
for love, for a better job, a higher income, opportunities, fun… and so on.
And where are you looking for these things?
Health – at the doctors surgery or the greengrocer’s shop…
Happiness – in keeping good relationships, or in eating chocolate..?
Security – in a good bank balance, or faith in a good God?
Peace – in a government defense strategy or in prayer…?
As you see we may look in different places for the things we are looking for…
and even the things we look for may sometimes not be what will bring us life.
So God sends us angels – an angel is literally God’s news-bringer – they aren’t
dead people gone to heaven – but bringers of a message that we need to hear.
For it’s very likely that in our lives we have had times when we have looked for
some of those things in the wrong places – and we can look back and see that
ultimately they didn’t satisfy and in some cases were destructive. When a child
doesn’t receive love in a way they understand from both parents, they can spend
their lives looking for that love in places that may not be safe for them or for
other people. And even the best human love still leaves a void – some call it a
God-shaped hole that seeds a yearning into everyone’s lives.
And so everyone’s life journey we could say is an Easter-egg hunt – and it is the
angels that we encounter on the way who speak God’s message to us that guides
us towards finding that empty tomb and the risen Jesus.
Angels challenge us – “He is not here!” They speak truth to us – “He has
risen…” And they remind us of what we had heard but forgotten or not
understood – “…just as he said”.
Maybe you can think back and remember someone who challenged you to see
a better thing to look for –just as the Marys heard that they should look for a
living Jesus, not his dead body. It could have been someone who told you about
Jesus, or introduced you to someone in whose company you found a greater
happiness than that you’d ever known through eating chocolate or worse!
And there are some people in life who speak truth to us – I’m not so much
thinking of the close friend who would tell you when your breath smells, or
your flies are undone – but rather the one who tells us gently that a certain way
we speak or act is hurtful to others, and teaches us a kinder way. These angels
are often not recognised as angels at the time, as the truth is often hard to hear,
but later we are so glad they spoke to us, when our new way of being has led to
opportunities we never dreamt of.
The angel spoke the truth to the Marys that Jesus had risen from the dead. And
they were afraid. Suddenly the whole natural order of the finality of death had
been overturned – all they had wanted was the body of their friend to anoint –
the possibility of Jesus being alive hadn’t crossed their minds. But later they
would see that the truth of Jesus being alive, spoken to them, changed
everything – a new life for the followers of Jesus began there and then.
And angels also remind us. – The Marys would have heard Jesus speak of his
death and rising again several times – but they hadn’t even remembered it when
they were faced with an empty grave. I’d say Keith my husband is an angel
when he reminds me of things I’ve forgotten – a meeting, or that I need to call
someone and so on! Angels can be the everyday people who are just there with
the right words at the right moment for us – and they can also be the ones who
remind us of wise things Jesus said - ‘do not judge’ – ‘you are the salt of the
earth’ – ‘let your light shine!’ ‘Love your enemies’ – ‘don’t store up treasure on
earth’, ‘ask, seek, knock – your father in heaven gives good gifts to those who
ask’. We didn’t mean to forget but we need each other to remind us.
You have been helped on the way by these angels – and you have been an angel
for someone else – with words of challenge, truth, or reminders of the wisdom
of Jesus.
So be an angel – or be like the Marys – who took notice of what the angel said
and afraid, yet filled with joy, ran to tell the good news to others, and on the
way met with Jesus.
I pray that you all find Jesus this Easter – what a morning!

StF 309 See what a morning

The lords prayer
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Your Kingdom come. Your will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.
​

StF 313 thine be the glory

​

words by Reverend Christine Fox