Bill Bryson has written a fascinating book called… The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America. In the book, he tells of traveling to Hannibal, Missouri to visit the boyhood home of the noted author Mark Twain. He described the house as a “trim, white-washed house with green shutters… set incongruously in the middle of downtown.” It costs two dollars to visit Mark Twain’s home and to walk around the site.

Bill Bryson said he found the home to be a disappointment. He expressed his disillusionment like this:

“It purported to be a faithful reproduction of the original interiors, but there were wires and water sprinklers clumsily evident in every room. I also very much doubt that young Samuel Clemens’ bedroom had Armstrong vinyl on the floor or that his sister’s bedroom had a plywood partition in it.”

He said that the house, which is owned by the city of Hannibal, attracts some 135,000 visitors each year. But Bryson was disappointed that he was not able to actually go inside the house. “You look through the windows,” he says. “At each window there is a recorded message telling about each room.”

As he proceeded from window to window, he met another tourist who seemed to know a lot about the house. Bryson asked him: “What do you think of it?” The friendly stranger replied:

“Oh, I think it’s great. I always come here when I’m in Hannibal… two or three times a year. Sometimes I go out of my way to come here."

Bill Bryson was fascinated, “Really?” he replied. “O yes,” the man said. “I must have been here twenty or thirty times by now. This is a real shrine you know.”

As the two of them continued walking and touring together, Bill Bryson said to the man:

“You must be a real fan and follower of Mark Twain. Would you say the house is just like Mark Twain described it in his books?”

“O, I don’t know,” said the tourist… “wouldn’t have the foggiest notion. I’ve never read any of his books!” (Thanks to Rod Wilmoth for this illustration 1-17-93)

Visiting his shrine, but ignoring his books. Sadly, that may be a pretty good description of how many people deal with Jesus Christ. They visit his shrines, but fail to accept Him and follow Him and fail to apply His teachings to their daily lives.

Pastor Jim Moore, of St Lukes UMC in Houston, had a similar experience at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem some years ago. It’s a great story. He tells it like this: I was there with a Holy Land Tour Group. We came one morning to the Garden Tomb, the place where the resurrection happened. I can’t find the words to express the thrill of that experience, the exhilaration of being in that sacred place.

We walked around that beautiful garden. We went inside that empty tomb. We touched that massive stone which had been rolled away from the door of the grave. We stood together in that holy place and celebrated together Holy Communion. We prayed there for loved ones. And, we sang the hymn “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” It was an incredible moment, a powerfully spiritual moment for me.

After that, people in the group began taking pictures. I noticed a man sitting on a bench nearby. He had been watching us. I walked over and sat down beside him.

“I just love this place,” he said. “It’s so serene and quiet here. I come here two or three times a week to enjoy this.”

“You must be a devoted Christian,” I said to him.

“Oh no!” he protested. “I’m not a Christian at all. I just think it’s real pretty here.”

This is always the temptation we face at Easter, isn’t it?

· To visit the shrine

· To enjoy the beauty and yet,

· To not really experience the Risen Lord personally.

It is important to notice in the scripture lesson for today (in the John 20 passage) that Easter did not become real for Mary until it became personal, until Easter called her by name.

When the Risen Christ called her by name… when He said, “Mary,” when it became a personal experience for her… then it became real, genuine, powerful, authentic, life-changing… and at that moment, Mary was resurrected, too! She got new life, too!

Remember the story with me.

· On the Thursday night before Easter, Jesus was arrested on trumped-up charges.

· He was brutally beaten, rushed through a fixed trial which was held strangely in the middle of the night… and was declared guilty.

· The next day, Good Friday, Jesus was crucified.

· And, He was buried in a borrowed grave…

· And then on Easter Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb.

The stone which had been covering the opening to the grave had been rolled away. She looked inside. She was startled to see that his body was gone. She thought someone had broken into the grave and stolen the body.

She was crushed, heart-broken, devastated… “They crucified Him… and now they have taken His body away. How could they be so cruel?” she cried.

But then, she heard a noise behind her. She turned and saw the silhouette of a man. She thought it was the gardener… until He called her by name.

“Mary,” He said tenderly. She recognized that voice… and at that moment she ran head-long into Easter. She realized the truth. It was Christ.

· His body had not been stolen after all.

· He had risen.

· He had conquered death.

· He had defeated evil.

· He had come back to life.

· He had resurrected.

She had come to the tomb that Easter morning looking for a dead body and found instead a Risen Lord. And with that discovery. Mary was resurrected, too! No more weeping and wailing, no more heavy sighing, no more tears of sorrow. He sent her running and shouting the good news: “I have seen the Lord! I have seen the Lord! He is Risen!!”

On that Easter morning long ago, the key moment came when the Risen Lord called Mary by name. On this Easter morning, the Risen Lord is still speaking and He is calling your name and mine. Can you hear Him? He is calling us by name… and telling us that He has conquered death and that He wants to share with each one of us personally… the joy, the encouragement and the forgiveness of Easter.

Let’s take a look at these one at a time.

I. FIRST, THE RISEN LORD WANTS TO SHARE WITH US THE JOY OF EASTER.

Mary Magdalene came to the tomb filled with despair, but Easter changed all that and gave to her an amazing, indescribable joy.

His name was Philip. He was eight years old and he attended the third grade Sunday School class at his church. Philip was a special little boy. He was deeply loved by his family, but sometimes society didn’t quite know how to respond to Philip because, you see, he was a Downs Syndrome child.

The other children in the Third grade Sunday School class didn’t accept him or include him very much. It wasn’t that they were mean or cruel. It was just that they were only eight years old and they didn’t understand why Philip was different… and they didn’t realize how special he was.

However, one Easter Sunday morning, a wonderful thing happened. The teacher came up with a creative plan. She told the children the story of Easter and then she gave each of them one of those plastic eggs that open up and then she said to them:

“Take your egg, go outside and find something that reminds you of ‘new life and Easter.’ Put it in your egg and bring it back and put it in our Easter basket. Then we will open them for all to see and share.”

The children were delighted and they rushed outside. Soon they were all back. The teacher then opened the first egg.

· A little girl in the class had put a flower in her egg to show how only God could make a beautiful blossom like that come to life.

· Another little girl had put a butterfly in her egg. She said she remembered that the butterfly was one of the church’s main symbols for Easter.

· A little boy had put a rock in his egg. He explained: “I knew the girls would pick flowers and blossoms and stuff, so I found a rock to remind us how the stone was rolled away from the opening of the tomb.

The teacher was pleased. This was going quite well. But, when she opened the fourth egg, it was empty! This upset the students. “Unfair! No fun! Somebody cheated! Somebody didn’t do it right” they complained in frustration.

“It’s mine,” said Philip.

“O Philip,” they said. “You never do anything right!”

“I did so do it right!” Philip said.

“It’s empty because the tomb was empty! It’s supposed to be empty because Christ arose!”

Suddenly, there was a stunned silence in the room… and then the miracle of Easter happened again. The children began cheering for Philip. They ran to him and they hugged him and patted him on the back.

“Way to go, Philip,” they said. “You did great!” “You did best of all!”

And Philip beamed with joy… the joy of Easter! From that moment on, Philip was accepted and respected and included and loved. That Easter Sunday morning, those children celebrated not only the resurrection of Christ, but also the resurrection of young Philip. This is the good news of Easter, the joy of Easter… That Christ came back to life and He chooses to share His victory with you and me… and all the Philips of the world.

II. SECOND, THE RISEN LORD WANTS TOSHARE WITH US THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF EASTER.

Bishop Kenneth Goodson loved to tell the story about a famous painting of the crucifixion that was placed on display in a downtown store window in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, during Holy Week one year. He said the depiction of the blood dripping from the crown of thorns was so real you wanted to reach out and wipe it away.

Early one morning a businessman stopped to look at the painting. He was joined by a newspaper boy making his early morning rounds. After a few moments of silence, the man turned to walk away, shaking his head, tears misting his eyes and muttering to himself: “What a pity and what a shame!”

The newspaper boy heard him. And as the man started across the street, the boy shouted after him: “Hey, Mister! Didn’t you know? Haven’t you heard? He ain’t dead anymore. He’s alive! He’s alive!”

Sometimes the “Good Fridays” of the world do indeed make us shake our heads and mutter: “What a pity. What a shame.” But then along comes Easter to remind us that…

· There is no grave deep enough,

· No seal imposing enough,

· No stone heavy enough,

· No evil strong enough to keep Christ in the grave.

He will win!

Goodness will win!

Truth will win!

Love will win!

God will ultimately win!

And, through faith in Him, the victory can be ours as well.

If that doesn’t encourage you, I don’t know what will. That’s the joy of Easter and that’s the encouragement of Easter.

III. THIRD AND FINALLY, THE RISEN LORD WANTS TO SHARE WITH US THE FORGIVENESS OF EASTER.

On Good Friday, Jesus died on the cross for our sins and then on Easter morning He arose to assure us that we are forgiven.

Let me tell you a true story that happened some time ago: A young boy’s father died in a car wreck when he was twelve years old. He read it in the newspaper before anyone got word to him to tell him about it. When he saw that picture of the family car smashed-up on the front page of the newspaper… and read that his dad had died in that accident, he was thrust immediately and painfully into the shocked numbness of deep grief.

Strangely, one of his very first feelings were those of guilt. He had remembered how some months before at a family picnic he was showing off with a baseball. At one point he got careless and threw wildly; it hit his dad in the hand and broke his thumb. The young boy felt horrible. He said to himself, “What a terrible son I am! I have caused my dad great pain.”

It seemed that was all he could remember after his fathers death—the pain he caused his dad. Finally, the young boy went to see his pastor and told him about the deep feelings of guilt and about breaking his dad’s thumb.

The young boy… well, let me tell you in the boy’s own words, he said: I’ll never forget how my pastor handled that. He was so great. He came around the desk with tears in his eyes. He sat down across from me and said:

“Now, Jim,” that was the boy’s name, “you listen to me. If your dad could come back to life for five minutes and be right here with us… and if he knew you were worried about that, what would he say to you?”

Jim said: “He would tell me to quit worrying about that.”

“Well, all right,” the minister said, “then you quit worrying about that right now. Do you understand me?”

“Yes sir,” he said… and he did.

That minister was saying: “You are forgiven. Accept the forgiveness… and make a new start with your life.” The young boy did make a new start. And today, many years later, he is the pastor of the 9,000 member church St Luke’s in Houston. The young Boy? James W. Moore.

That’s Easter. The Risen Lord comes back to life… and assures the disciples that they are forgiven.

· Peter had denied his Lord three times.

· Thomas had doubted.

· All the disciples had forsaken Him.

But, Christ came back, forgave them, resurrected them. He came back to share with them… He comes today, this morning, to share with you the joy, the encouragement and the forgiveness of Easter.