John 20: 1-18

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means "Teacher"). 17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' " 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her. Today we celebrate the resurrection. It is the most joyous day for those who believe. But what is the resurrection? What does it mean? It means to come back to life from death. Are you here to worship Jesus who lived and died and then resurrected? Are you one who goes to church only on Easter and not the rest of the year? We cannot have a resurrection without death. Let us look at ourselves and see where we are in our faith. Someone had written this...You say I am the way but you do not follow me, you say I am the truth but you do not believe me... Are you living your life with Jesus as your master? We are to die, rid ourselves of the old self but have we. When I am tired things irritate me and my old self comes out. Then did I truly die. In order to participate in the resurrection of Christ not only must I die, but I also must live the new life. Instead of living a new life we try to use our cunning to pretend that we are holy. But pretending to live like this means that we have not died nor resurrected. How real is your faith? If Christ is really in you you will not sin. We say that the apostles were given the Holy Spirit and therefore could live the way thaey did. Then can you not also live like this? It is not because you lack the Holy Spirit, it is because Christ is not really in you. Is this not truth? I must participate in the resurrection so that I can worship in truth and with joy in my heart, but without having done so, after we are done with wordhip, the moment you leave your old self will come out. Your anger, jealousy, pride, selfishness. All the things I must rid of so that I can die. I must rid myself of everything to die. Ask a corpse a question you will never get a response. The fact that you are driven by your emotions when someone bothers you means you have not yet died. If you are in Christ you are a new creation. That means that there should be new actions and behaviors. Without new behaviors means you are not in Christ. You must be able to understand this. Because you have a title of an elder or pastor does that qualify you as a Christian? You do not have the resurrrected Christ, you only have the knowledge of Christ. Jesus came to show us how to live the life that is set for us in the Old Testament. In order to live this life we need to die with Him and resurrect with Him. We cannot live the same life of sin once we have been baptised into the faith. Have you died? What is really important is the hope I put into the resurrection that I will be able to live this new life with Him. Without it what use it it for me to praise and worship and sing the songs of the resurrrection when I am not participating in it? This life is lived now. You cannot live this life later thinking you wil do it before you die. You must out your faith into action and start doing the things that you are called to do. May you live the life that shows that you have been resurrected with Christ. The more you die, there are details that God will show you to further let go of the things that keep you from Him. May you be able to see these things and maek the change to live the life with union in Christ.