We normally don't celebrate empty. Empty is not so good. Empty tummy. Empty head. Empty wallet. Empty tank.

Empty is a void. Nothing where there should be something. But there is not.

Easter, however, is a celebration of emptiness. A celebration of what is not.

What is not tells us what is.

Think about the first disciple's Easter Sunday morning surprise. One of the best things in life is a good surprise, right? Note: a good surprise; bad surprises tend to bring grief & worry instead of joy. A good surprise is a surprise because you don't expect it.

The disciples did not expect an empty tomb. They weren't looking for the living. They were looking for a body. A dead body. They were without hope. Expecting death. Yet. Surprise! "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you..." Luke 24:5-6.

Jesus is no longer dead. He lives today.

He lives to give life to you.

We celebrate an empty tomb.

Mourning into celebration. Darkness into light. Sadness into joy. Despair into hope. Defeat into hope. This is what Easter is about.

Do you need a change? Give Jesus your life. You'll be transformed: Empty into full.

We celebrate new life.

I shared something like this with my congregation yesterday & wanted to share a grin with you...

It might be Easter if the sunrise meant a little more to you today than on any other day.
It might be Easter if you stayed up late or woke up early to iron some special clothes.
It might be Easter if you are, by choice or against your will & better judgment, wearing some shade of pastel today. That you had to iron of course.
It might be Easter if you considered how to start in on that tasty chocolate bunny: Ears or tail? Or maybe feet, so he can't run away!
It might be Easter if you were somehow in some way more considerate of your personal relationship with Jesus this week.
It might be Easter if you have some sort of artificial grass growing from your living room carpet right now.
It might be Easter if you have a ham in the oven & you're worried that it'll be dried out if the preacher goes long.
It might be Easter if you are wondering where you hid that last plastic egg. Was it under that bush or back there by the fence?
It might be Easter if its 10am & you have a sugar-buzz from all the candy you consumed before coming to church.
It might be Easter if you cried when we sang "Because He Lives" just a few moments ago.
It might be Easter if you are smiling beacuse you know Jesus loves you & even an army of bunnies with baskets & sweets can't get in the way of that truth.

Christ is risen.

He is risen indeed.