Do you remember those sickly-sweet marshmallow candy eggs? I don’t know if you can still buy them, but I hope to never see another one again. As a child my home church hid these candy eggs for all the children to hunt on the Saturday before Easter. I never cared for the eggs but I have many fond memories of those egg hunts. The adults would hide the eggs all around the ample church grounds including the cemetery and then we would busy ourselves collecting them. As far as I knew, no one gave much thought to the fact of searching for eggs among the tombs. The graveyard was as much a part the Easter experience as the crowed sanctuary would be the following day.

Children finding joy and pleasant surprises among the symbols of the dead are not that far removed from the first Easter morning. The disciples and the women came to the tomb expecting a dead man but were surprised with joy and life. They spent the rest of their life trying to comprehend it all.

Two thousand years later we are still trying to understand. We still have the dead among us and still are surprised when new life and new hope enters in: the alcoholic finds sobriety; the unfaithful spouse finds restoration; the terminated employee is given affirmation. The stories are endless and they all point us to the “hope in the graveyard.” This Sunday we will dwell among the crowds. Most of us “think” we know what to expect. But maybe God has something for our lives that reaches beyond our expectation, beyond our imagination.

May God “Easter” us this Sunday with newness for our church, our community, and our lives. Resurrection Day is not a historical event. It is God’s event for our lives everyday.

Grace, peace and love,

Greg