EASTER SERMON: The tomb is empty. There is no death.

By Rev. Stephen Baldwin

Every Sunday morning, Kentucky farmer Wendell Berry takes a walk on his property and writes a poem about it. It’s his way of making sense of the world. I’d like to share one he wrote on Easter several years ago:

The little stream sings

in the crease of the hill.

It is the water of life. It knows

nothing of death, nothing.

And this is the morning

of Christ’s resurrection.

The tomb is empty. There is no death. . . .

Those words echo in my heart on Easter. The tomb is empty. There is no death. Repeat after me. The tomb is empty. There is no death. 

On this day, we experience that as all heaven breaks loose, and an angel rolls away the stone. Mary, who was the last to leave his side Friday, is the first to visit his tomb on Sunday and learn what has happened. She’s so shaken, so amazed, so joyful…that she sprints back to the house where all the disciples are locked up! Their hearts racing as fast as their feet, they run back with her. When they arrive, the tomb is empty. There is no death. 

The angel’s announcement rings in my heart still today. Do not be afraid. There is nothing to fear. 

Death grabs all the headlines. Death drives most of our purchases. Death intoxicates us. But the angel says, “Do not be afraid. There is no more death.” 

Will bad things happen to us? Certainly they will. Will we sin against one another? We will. Will our time come to an end here on earth one day? It will. But the good news of Easter is that we aren’t captive to these things anymore. We aren’t captive to death, sin, or evil. 

I can’t help but think of what Jesus said in the scripture from just a few weeks ago. He said, looking at the temple in Jerusalem which the only church his people had ever known, “tear down this temple, and I will rebuild it in three days.”

They didn’t understand what he was talking about, and we wouldn’t have either. But I have to imagine those words were running through their minds by Easter. They tore down the temple; they broke Jesus’ body. But the tomb was empty. The stone could not contain him. Sin could not silence him. Death could not destroy him. He rebuilt it all in three days. Just like he said he would. 

And now, as Mary stands there in the tomb, trying to make sense of everything that is happening, a man asks her why she is weeping and who she is looking for? 

“Just tell me where he is,” she exclaims, surely beside herself. “Just tell me where you took his body, and I will go get him.”

“Mary.” 

“Teacher? That’s you?” 

The tomb is empty. There is no death. There is only new life. I don’t believe death is the end; I see it as the beginning. Jesus’s death was only the beginning of his life. Amen? His death was only the beginning of our life. Amen? Sometimes you have to endure death in order to find life, amen? 

Wendell Berry wrote another poem which isn’t explicitly about Easter, but it’s perfect for today. It’s called, “Practice Resurrection.” Here’s part of it:

So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.

Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands. 

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

From: The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry

My friends, the tomb is empty. There is no death. So practice resurrection this day and everyday forward. Amen.