When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! (Revelation 1:17-18a)

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On that first Easter morning long ago the women who went to the tomb were confronted, so the story goes, by an angel, who had profound words of wisdom to share with them: “why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen!” All over the world on Easter Sunday morning the church gathers to be reminded in the early morning hours as if the rest of the day means nothing without this assurance; “He is risen!” So He is. So we gather. As an Easter people, I want you to share these words with me as an expression of our hope and our faith: “He is risen!” (“He is risen!”) Let us pray:

O God, in the early morning light we stumbled out of our homes and into the cool, crisp air with a purpose: to encounter once again the risen Jesus Who calls us to faith, Who calls us to You, and Who calls us to be here. May our lives be renewed by this act of faithful worship in which we share. Amen.

The angel's message was clear. You aren't going to find real life if you start by looking in all the wrong places! If you want to find life and be inspired by it where are you going to go? To a cemetery, or are you going to be out among the people being amazed at the diversity we see around us. We often miss out on life: as people, as Christians, as children of God. We miss out on it because, indeed, we look for it in all the wrong places. We often speak of the abundant life Jesus holds out to us, but perhaps we misunderstand. We look for that life in all the wrong places. We think we're going to find it if only we have stronger faith, or by going to church or by reading the Bible or by watching religious television shows and we miss the point – life comes not from a set of beliefs or a building or a book or a TV show. Life comes from Jesus: Jesus one on one; Jesus in our lives; Jesus in our face; Jesus in our heart; Jesus in the morning; Jesus at night. Life comes from Jesus, because Jesus is “the Living One [who is] alive forever and ever.” There's the source of the abundant life Jesus spoke of during His ministry. We are alive because He is alive. Abundant life comes from Jesus because life comes from life.

Life is a wondrous thing if it's lived as it should be. Life is full of excitement and surprises and wonder. Life is a gift from God and it should be loved that way. The women were challenged with the words “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen!” If you're here this morning looking for Jesus – I can tell you to stop looking because you've seen him already. You've seen Him in the faces of everyone you've encountered. You've seen Him wherever you've seen love and compassion. You've seen Him in yourselves if you can only come to terms with the overwhelmingly marvelous truth that Jesus lives in you this very moment.

Today is Easter. Today is about life. Today is about finding life in all the right places. Today is about finding life in Jesus - “the First and the Last. I am the Living One [Who is] alive for ever and ever!