April 16, 2006           Read: Mark 16:1-8

I’m grateful to Pastor David Holwick for the title of today’s sermon.  He in turn borrowed it from Rev. Peter Perry, so it seems that the title appeals to preachers.  It’s catchy and it’s a nice play on words, but it’s more than that.  It nicely captures the essence of Easter, which really is all about rolling stones and grateful dead.

            Let’s look first at the rolling stones.  Try to imagine what the disciples must have been thinking when they rolled the stone across Jesus’ tomb.  There must have been a great feeling of despair as the stone crunched shut over the doorway.  Surely they felt that everything they had ever worked for, had ever hoped for, was gone.  All that Jesus stood for, all that he taught, seemed to be for nothing now.  The forces of evil that opposed God’s great work in Jesus thought that they had killed it all, buried it forever.  They thought that they had won.

But God had another idea.  On Sunday morning, the stone was rolled away.  That’s impressive, but it certainly isn’t the miracle of Easter.  The miracle is about what rolling the stone away reveals.  For when the stone is gone, all that’s left is an empty tomb.  The rolling stone was only a little thing.  The Big Event happened inside the tomb, where Jesus was resurrected.  God won!  Hallelujah!

            That explains the reference to rolling stones, but what about the grateful dead?  Isn’t Easter all about resurrection and life?  Yes, but the resurrection doesn’t change the fact that we are all going to die.  Easter is about finding good news even in that bit of information.  On the far side of Easter, we are promised our own resurrection.  Jesus says in John 5:28-29:  "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out…."

            But you know what?  We don’t even have to wait that long.  In a sense, many of us are dead now right now.  The Bible says that apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ, we are dead in our sins (Romans 8:10).  We’re only really alive when we have experienced God's forgiveness.  So resurrection isn't limited to the distant future.  The minute we commit ourselves to Christ, we become truly alive.  Eternal life begins at that moment.  And that’s another thing we can be grateful about.

And so we experience Easter as God’s promise that the story isn’t over yet.  Because of the rolling stone, we come to this day as the grateful dead,  knowing that God can roll away our stones and raise us from our graves! 

Live the message!  Embrace it and be embraced by it!  Make Easter the central theme of your life!  Fill this world with the resounding cry: “Hallelujah! He is Risen!”  “He is Risen Indeed!” “Hallelujah!”