When the Pope visited Colorado he was anxious to get to an important meeting. The limousine assigned to pick him up did so and off they went. The Catholic chauffeur knew it was the "Holy Father" riding in the car and wouldn't consider going faster than 55 mph. However, the Pope, anxious to get to the meeting on time, told the driver to pull over, get in the back seat, and let him drive. The impatient pontiff put the pedal to the metal and quickly reached 85 mph on the Colorado interstate. Almost immediately a state trooper hiding off the side of the road turned on his siren and lights, and gave chase. Catching the speeding car, he ordered the driver to pull over. When he saw the driver, he couldn't believe it and immediately called his captain. He said, "I really got a big one today." The captain said, "You mean the District Attorney?" "No, sir, much bigger than that." "You have a Senator?" came the puzzled reply. "No, sir, you don't understand. This is the top of the line." "Who do you have? The President?" "No, sir, please understand me, this is really big." "Well, for heaven's sake, who have you pulled over?" "Well, Captain, I'm not sure, but the Pope is his chauffeur."
That's like Easter. Most people know it's really big, but they just don't know why. I understand how they could be confused. Have you ever thought the customs surrounding Easter are truly bizarre? First, there is the Easter Bunny, a big male rabbit that carries a nest of eggs. Yes, rabbits are extremely good at carrying out the mandate "be fruitful and multiply." And, yes, eggs are perfectly encapsulated symbols of new life to come. But rabbits don't lay eggs or make nests, especially male rabbits. It's enough to confuse adults. No wonder kids have a hard time understanding it.
One little boy said he knew that Jesus died when he went to hang the power lines. The teacher said, "What do you mean?" He handed her a picture. The teacher looked at the picture of Jesus carrying a cross, and to the boy it looked just like the utility poles in his yard. He assumed Jesus worked for the electric company. The teacher had earlier explained that the picture was of Jesus dying. He had combined the ideas, thinking Jesus died when He was hanging power lines. That's not bad theology because when He died and came back, He gave us resurrection power. He died hanging a power line from you to God.
I heard about a preacher who was trying to establish a good rapport with an inmate about to be executed in the electric chair. The day came and the pastor was anxious to say just the right words (preachers are notorious for saying the wrong things). He was so anxious he mentally rehearsed as they walked to the chair. He thought "good-bye" seemed trite and "see you later" seemed a little inappropriate. As the inmate started to leave, the pastor, not thinking, blurted, "More power to you!"
Easter is when God gave the power to us – the power to answer the grave question of life. Pardon my pun.
There was a man who had a trusty old pickup. He told the undertaker he wanted to be buried with his old pickup. The undertaker said, "Why would you want that?" The man said, "I've never seen a hole that this pickup couldn't get me out of." Well there's one hole your pickup won't get you out of. It's called the grave. You need more power than a pickup to have a good ending to the grave question.
When I started speaking to audiences, my dad, who had been preaching for over thirty years at the time, gave me some good advice. He said, "Charles, work on your beginning because it gets people's attention. You don't have to work too hard on the middle because whatever you say, they will forget anyway. And, Charles, don't ever forget this, make sure you always have a good ending, because that's what people will remember when they leave." That's Easter. It's the power to have a good ending.
A little girl told her mother she had written a letter to God. "Dear God, Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don't you keep the ones that you have now? Love, Alice." She didn't know God had answered her letter. Easter is when God decided to keep us for eternity.
So, Happy Easter, and more power to you.
