Here we are in the year 2003. It still fills me with a bit of awe that I witnessed the turn of the millennium. We are looking back this year and celebrating some amazing things that happened, things that seemed impossible in their day. There are three major celebrations. Perhaps you are aware of them:

We are celebrating a centennial: 100 years ago few people thought it possible that man could fly. No one except the two sons of Rev. Milton Wright who at 10:35 on the morning of Dec. 17, 1903 made their first successful flight of 175 feet in a airplane driven by a four cylinder combustion engine. Today we fly much more sophisticated crafts around the moons of Jupiter. It was very hard to believe 100 years ago but the evidence of that first flight is all around us today.

We are celebrating a bicentennial: 200 years ago the borders of the United States stretched from the Atlantic to the Mississippi river. Napoleon Bonaparte in France owned the rights to trade on the Mississippi, and held the right to impose a duty on every ship that sailed out of the mouth of the Mississippi in New Orleans. And Napoleon was threatening to close the rights to trade on the Mississippi to the Americans entirely. And then something amazing happened. A U.S. ambassador to France, Robert R. Livingston, concocted a plan to trump Napoleon, and he played that trump with a flourish. He made it known in the right circles that the United States was considering settling its difference with Great Britain and reconciling with her politically. It was a bit of political misinformation, something Napoleon did not want. He was already close to war with England. So when James Monroe, who would later become president, along with Livingston, approached Napoleon’s men with the idea of a land treaty, they agreed. And on May 2, 1803 (300 years ago this past Friday) the Louisiana Purchase was made for three cents an acre. The humor in it all is this: Livingston and Monroe were never commissioned to make such a purchase. Standing on the eastern banks of the Mississippi River 200 years ago it was hard to believe that the US would ever own the rights to the river and that 828,000 square mile area. But it doubled the size of the United States and the evidence of that great purchase is all around us today.

We are celebrating a tricentennial: 300 years ago on June 17, 1703 a young boy named John was born to Rev. Samuel and Suzanna Wesley in Epworth England. It was perhaps no surprise when the boy grew up to be a priest. What was a surprise is the kind of ministry he implemented. He formed a small religious study group, which put special emphasis on methodical study and devotion. They had communion often, fasted twice a week, and as they grew they added other things: social services, visiting prisoners, care for the poor, and they even ran a school. Onlookers called them Methodist and it wasn’t a polite term, it was said to mock them. When John left the group, it disintegrated. But the name stuck and the evidence of that early movement is all around us today. In almost every town in this country there is a Methodist Church.

There are events in life that amaze us, fill us with joy, and make us wonder whether it really is possible. It is hard to believe, even standing on this side of history, that these things were ever accomplished. They are impossible stories that positively happened.

2000 years ago, it was an impossible situation when 11 men gathered to discuss in private their next move. They were frightened and confused. Life seemed to be closing in on them and it was not possible for them to continue their three-year-old ministry. Here were the facts: They were betrayed by one of their own. The crowds had turned against them. Their leader had been executed. They had denied their relationship to him. And any further development of their leaders ideas would almost certainly mean their own deaths. Into this hopeless scene walks a man they never expected to see: their leader. They were so startled by this event that, to a man, they feared they were seeing a ghost. The resurrection amazed them, filled them with joy, and turned their lives around. It’s an impossible story that positively happened and the evidence of the resurrection is all around us today.

Let ask you: What amazes you about the resurrection of Jesus? What impossible aspects of it fill you with joy? What parts of it are just too good to be true. Let me share a couple of things that are amazing to me.

I

First, the reality of the resurrection amazes me. We are told by the scriptures that when Jesus walked into the room where the disciples had gathered and said, “Peace be with you” it startled them. They were frightened. It was a ghost. What else could it be? They were not the kind of men who were easily convinced. These were men of common sense, so they doubted. What else could they do? And this is one of the central reasons why the resurrection is a reality. This is a plain story. Simple. To the point. Realistic. Not contrived to try and prove what happened.

Look at some of the other realistic parts of the story. First they are startled and frightened. Then Jesus tries to calm them down. He invites them to touch him. You can put your hand through ghost but you can’t put your hand through flesh and blood. They examine the scars in his feet and hands. Secondly they still don’t believe. They are filled with too much amazement and joy. So he tries a different tact. “Do you have anything here to eat?” he asked. This raises a pertinent question: Would a ghost invite himself to diner? They give him a piece of broiled fish and he ate it in their presence. Now they are coming around. I guess because they couldn’t see the fish going down his throat they figured he must not be a ghost. Finally he sits down with them and begins to teach them why everything happened as it did. It was to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies.

The resurrection is a reality precisely because it is described so simply. 5th and 6th graders were asked to define, scientifically, some things in our world. When asked to define the law of gravity, a child wrote, "no fair jumping up without coming back down." Pretty good. Another said about thunderstorms, "You can listen to thunder and tell how close you came to getting hit. If you don't hear it, you got hit, so never mind."

A couple of them responded to questions about clouds. One of them said, "I'm not sure how clouds are formed, but clouds know how to do it, and that's the important thing." OK. One was asked to describe how rain happens, the 6th grader said, "Water vapor gets together in a cloud. When it is big enough to be called a drop, it does." Uh huh. One defined a monsoon as a French gentleman.

A couple more: One youngster said, "When planets run around and around in circles, we say they are orbiting. When people do it, we say they are crazy." True. One defined the spinal column as "a long bunch of bones. The head sits on the top, and you sit on the bottom."

There are many things that amaze us in this world. And I don’t know about you but I still like to be surprised, to see something happen that I didn’t think possible. And when something impossible happens, like the children, I have to resort to simple explanations. When the rain is big enough to be called a drop, it does! Amazing things need simple explanations. I suppose that’s one of the joys of being a Christian. The resurrection is an amazing thing but it has a simple explanation. This man Jesus: his life, his teachings, his death, his resurrection, and his promises continue to surprise me. I read his story again and again and I say to myself, “This isn’t possible!” How am I going to explain this? And that’s when Jesus sits down with his disciples and he gives a simple explanation. Take a look at verse 46. He tells them; Christ suffered, Christ died, we must repent and receive forgiveness, and one other thing, tell all the nations of the world what you have seen. That’s simple isn’t it? When the rain is big enough to be called a drop, it does! It’s that simple.

The resurrection is a reality. It’s an impossible thing that positively happened. The simplicity of it convinces me.

II

Secondly, the reason for the resurrection amazes me. Now what is the reason for the resurrection? The reason it happened was for the forgiveness of sins. That’s what Jesus says to his disciples in verse 47. It happened so you and me and everyone else we know might have a new start with our lives. It happened so we might have the chance to start over. 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?”

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

“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 a 9,000 member church: St Luke’ s in Houston. The young Boy? James W. Moore, the author of over 30 books on Christian living.

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. That’s the reason for the resurrection. It sounds impossible but it positively happened for that reason.

III

Third, the reach of the resurrection amazes me. This message of forgiveness is to be carried everywhere we go. Repentance and forgiveness of sins, said Jesus, will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Notice he said beginning at Jerusalem. It is not to be confined within the walls of any city, any home, or any church. We cannot expect the world to come to Jerusalem to hear the message. Jerusalem must go to the world. Jesus did not command the whole world to go to church. Jesus commanded his church to go to the whole world. When Jesus explained to the disciples the reason for the resurrection he immediately told them to reach the world with that message. And if they hadn’t done that it would have become another Jewish sect, just another movement within the walls of Jerusalem. We are not, in our love and devotion, to make the Gospel a relic.

Like the story of Luiqi Tarisio who, some years ago was found dead one morning with hardly any creature comforts in his home, except the presence of 246 exquisite violins. He had been collecting them all his life. They were all stored in the attic. The best violins were found in the bottom drawer of an old rickety bureau. The greatest of his collection, a Stradivarius, when it was finally played, had had 147 speechless years. In his very devotion to the violin, he had robbed the world of all that exquisite music. How many of Christ's people are like old Tarisio? In our very love of the church we fail to give the glad tidings to the world; in our zeal for the truth we forget to publish it. When shall we all learn that the Good News needs not just to be cherished, but needs to be told? Don't bury God's Good News of Easter at the bottom of a rickety old bureau. Let the people hear the great sound of the music: He is Risen!

It’s amazing isn’t it that the story of the resurrection is now in your hands. It’s yours to use, to reach out with, to pass on to your children and your neighbors. Don’t keep it. Don’t confine it to the walls of Jerusalem. The resurrection of Jesus is a message to the nations, an amazing, joyful, impossible story that positively happened. It’s a simple story; that’s what makes it so real. It is a story of forgiveness; that’s why we need to talk about it. It is a story for all nations; that’s how far we are to take it. Amen.