Happy Easter, everyone! Christ is risen indeed. The trumpets are back, the lilies, our shining faces. It's as if the energy which poured fourth out of that old dark tomb is, indeed, present here among us today and we can hardly contain our joy!

And so it should be on this glorious day. For now we know the secret of the universe. We know that nothing will ever be the same. He lives! O grave, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? Our savior lives.

Of course, we're jumping ahead of the Gospel a bit here, aren't we? Did you catch Mark's rendition of what happened that first Easter morn? It was the morning of the third day, just after sunrise, when Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and Salome, three women from that group of disciples, who had been with him in Galilee, went to the tomb. They went to grieve, to express once again their love, by anointing his body with spices and expensive oil of myrrh.

But the stone had been rolled aside. And sitting within was a young man wearing a white robe, an angel, who said, "Fear nothing. Fear nothing. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is not here. Look, there's the place where he had been lying. He is not here. He has been lifted up. Go. Tell the disciples that he's going on before you." The women ran from the tomb and said nothing to anyone. The Gospel writer observes that they were afraid.

They were afraid. Rightly so. The events of the recent days had taken them at breakneck speed along the roller coaster ride of life and death. Jesus had been so alive, so present with them, so central to everything they thought about and did. And then he was taken from them and brutally killed. The Messiah was dead and now the very thing that crushed them down so low in grief that they could scarcely breathe was the only thing that seemed real to them. He was dead. His body lay in that tomb. It was the last place they could go to be near him, to experience the excruciating reality of this moment.

Can we not see ourselves in their story? We who also know death. We who also have walked that walk to the cemetery to honor and be close to the beloved one who has died. Trying to get our bearings, to reconnect with something real, even if it's the very thing we don't want to face-the utter absence of the one we had so loved?

This week saw two very public expressions of such grief and remembrance in our nation, in Oklahoma City and at Columbine High in Colorado. In both, people returned to the place of horror and death, sharing their grief, and being surprised by new life beginning to grow. At the site where the Murrah Federal Building once stood in Oklahoma City, a beautiful memorial has been built. A long reflecting pool sits quietly in front of a gently sloping hill where stone and bronze office chairs, each engraved with the name of one who died that horrible day, are arranged according to where people were believed to have been in the building that day. Nineteen of the chairs are small, one for each of the children who perished. As jets flew over in the Missing Man formation, church bells all throughout the city chimed out their eternal message of love and assurance.

And, towering over the site now is a tree called the Survivor Tree, an American elm that survived the full force of the blast and then rejuvenated itself. As a living symbol of the com-munity's unbroken spirit, the tree's buds and seeds each season are gathered and then planted in cities throughout the country. New life springs forth even from this place of such sorrow and loss.

The next day, our nation marked the one year anniversary of the killings at Columbine High. Again, through expressions of grief and loss, came messages of healing and recovery. A worship service was held, attended by over 6500 people. Many say that they have come to accept that there are not answers to what happened there that day last year, but that they know that now they must focus on being kind to one another, to everyone. Many are working for gun control and gun safety education. And many reported that their religious faith is the only thing getting them through the grief-the support of so many and the belief that even this unspeakable evil must not have the final word.

A similar smaller story barely made it into the news last week. Another story of healing and incredible love. Some of you may remember the racially-motivated killing last year in Bloomington, Indiana. On July 4, economics graduate student Won Jun Yoon was shot and killed on the sidewalk in front of the Korean United Methodist Church by a 21-year-old young man full of hate and fear. This week, Yoon's parents returned to Indiana University for the first time since going to retrieve the body of their first-born son. This time they went to dedicate a scholarship in his name and present it to its first recipient. Yoon's father said that after his son's death, the whole community had poured out their love in expressions of tolerance and respect. And that, although they still grieve, he said, they know that the death of their son made people stop and think about hatred and racial violence and about the power of healing.

Like all those who commemorated death this past week, and like those first women at the tomb so long ago, we still return to places of death, and over and over again are astonished to find not death, but life. Even when hearts are breaking, hope springs forth.

It's always startling when it happens, because when we're lost in grief, new life is about the last thing we can imagine. But there it is! Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified is not here. He has been lifted up. He goes on ahead of you. And the ones YOU grieve are not dead. God has raised them up. Follow them now, into new life beyond the grave.

It has been said that the Resurrection is designed to get our attention. And that it does! This is not a subtle story, dependent on refined intuition or careful word study of the text. Oh, no. This is in-your-face storytelling here. The very big stone is rolled aside. Instead of a body, there's an angel. Talking. To you. To all of us. "He's been raised up. Fear nothing!" Surely, only a story as strong as this could get our attention when we're lost in grief and fear.

But even so, getting our attention isn't enough. It's just the first step. God doesn't do this just to wow us with his sense of drama and leave us musing about what really happened. That's not the point.

The meaning and power of this story can only be found in what happens next. Can those women get past their fear? Can we? Can they begin to move on down that road following a Christ they cannot see and don't yet truly trust to be there? Can we?

You know, I saw a poster once that said it well: "He lives! Do you?" New life begins when God gets our attention. The Lord Jesus Christ, our Risen Savior, can transform our lives if we give him the chance, and, by being here today, you are giving him that chance. Today you stand on the brink of receiving the life-giving power that can make all the difference in your life from here on out.

It's possible for each and every one of us here today to find new life in Jesus Christ and follow him farther on down that road. It is possible for each of us to experience the power of the resurrection.

There's a custom in some of the small villages in Greece that incorporates this drama into the worship observance of Easter Day. In some villages, there are still two celebrations on Easter Sunday. The first is in the morning and probably not so different from ours here today. People gather in the church, which is all decorated with beautiful flowers. The light of Christ is rekindled. The Gospel is proclaimed. Alleluias are sung and thanksgiving for God's great acts in Jesus Christ is poured out.

Then, in the afternoon, after a great meal (and a nap, I'm sure!), the people again fill the church for the celebration of the second resurrection-the rebirth every Christian experiences because God has raised Christ Jesus from the dead. They again sing and shout for joy at what the resurrection means for their lives. Fear is banished. Grief is consoled. Sorrow is transformed. Then, they conclude the service by standing, embracing one another and exchanging the glad news: Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!

Brothers and sisters, experience the power of the second resurrection. Let your life be the final Alleluia of today's festivities. Let the power of this love cast all your fear aside. Scripture tells us that perfect love casts out fear. May Resurrection power set you free from the past, from failures, from sin in all its devious forms. Free from the grief that weighs down and the fear that binds. Free from any and all things which have separated us, which have caused alienation. Free from anything that has caused us to be harmful to others and to the earth. Free from those things which cause us and others to stumble and fall.

Experience today the second resurrection of new life within you. And then, may it so overflow into this world that every graveyard and every place of death will be transfigured this day into a place of beauty, joy and peace. Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!