Empty Tomb – Full Life! Colossians 3:1–4

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

He is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)

Easter Sunday is always a full day, just as Holy Week, is always a full week.

This morning we’re going to talk about how the empty tomb gives us a full life.

What makes your life… full? What fills your life to its fullest and best?

Lots of activities? A diversity of experiences? Travels and adventures? Lots of awards and achievements? Straight A’s in school? Trophies in sports? Promotions at work? A significant pay raise? Having lots of friends? Being popular? Being respected? Being honored? Getting your name in the newspaper? Gaining knowledge? More education? Earning an advanced degree? Getting a new car? Having a bigger home? Having more toys, or getting the latest “must have’” toy? The latest technology? Having more stuff? Buying more shoes?

I’m reminded of the commercial where a lady is in a room full of shoes that she’s bought online, and her husband walks in and sees all the shoes and says “What?” and she says, “Sorry”, then after he walks out she says, “I’m not sorry.”.

What are the things that fill your life; that make it complete?

All these earthly things may fill your life to some degree, but they can go only so far in full-filling your life. These things may give you a moment of fulfillment, but it doesn’t last very long. That’s why we’re always on to buying or experiencing the next thing. It takes higher things to fill our lives in a way that lasts.

Our Epistle tells us where those higher things are found: If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Our lives can get so tied up in these lateral things that we can lose sight of the higher things, the blessings we need most: like faith, hope and love; the peace that passes understanding; the forgiveness of our sins, the resurrection of our body; and the joy that never ends!

Because Jesus rose and ascended to the right hand of God, he can dispense the gifts there at his disposal. The empty tomb makes it possible for our lives to be filled with the higher, heavenly blessings.

But before Jesus could empty his tomb, he had to fill it. He filled it by taking the punishment for all our sins, a punishment so severe that it took his very life away from him. His lifeless body, emptied of its soul, was taken down off the cross, and carried to tomb. There his hollow, empty body rested, and waited. Then came Sunday, and his body was filled with life again.

Very early that morning, our Gospel today tells us, some of the women gathered their things together, and headed out to the tomb, to anoint Jesus’ body, in one last act of devotion. For three days everything had been status quo at the tomb, quiet and uneventful. That was about to change.

The ground started to move; then it shook violently. A mighty angel had come down from heaven to shake open the tomb. The angel rolled the massive stone away, and then, Matthew says, he sat on it. No fear whatsoever, even though by Pilate’s decree, opening that tomb meant death.

It was the soldiers who were afraid; when they saw the mighty angel, they fell down like they were dead.

When the women saw the young man dressed like lightning, in golden white, they too, were afraid. But he put them at peace. “Do not be afraid, he said, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said he would. Come, see the place where he lay.” They went inside, and saw that the tomb was indeed empty, except for the burial cloths, which Jesus had carefully folded, and left there for them to see, so they would know that he wasn’t quickly carried off by grave robbers, but had risen.

Jesus sat up in his tomb, carefully unwrapped the cloths that had been wrapped around him, put them where the women would see them, and then, he miraculously left the tomb.   

The women were the first to see the angel, the first to see the empty tomb, and later that morning, the first to see Jesus alive.

Peter and John also saw that the tomb was empty that morning. But they and the other disciples would have to wait until that night to see Jesus alive. That evening Jesus appeared to them in the room where they were hiding. He breathed his Spirit on them, and changed their lives forever!

Because they found the tomb empty, their lives became full. Just the night before their lives had felt so empty and broken. But now, they were like exploding inside over all that had happened.

That’s what Easter can do in your life, too. It can fill you full of higher, heavenly things, more powerful things.

It can fill you with so much faith that you that the fear in your life turns to confidence in Christ. What is there for us to fear now that the enemy has been defeated, and even death has been destroyed?

This Easter faith can give you so much hope, that you just can’t wait until the day of your resurrection, when you will see Jesus, like the women did, and be just as amazed.

Easter can fill your heart with so much inner strength; so much courage that you just have to stand up for Jesus, who stood up and walked out of the tomb for you.

Easter can give you so much joy, that you just have to sing. Something like: Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!; Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!; Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!; Suffer to redeem our loss, Alleluia!

And with so much joy in our hearts, we just have to shout, “He is risen!” (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)

The resurrection of Christ can fill you with so much love, that you just have to do good in this world; you can’t resist doing those spontaneous deeds of kindness.

Easter can fill you with so much grace, that you can’t hold on to that grudge any longer; your heart has to forgive, because Jesus went through so much to forgive you.

When he walked out of the tomb, he left your sins buried there. Each of us has a mountain of sin that needs to be buried. Jesus buried them all in his tomb.

When he walked out he sealed them up, never to be brought up again and used against us. Since Jesus sealed up our sins in his tomb, let us not drag them out, and revel in them.

Instead, let us empty our lives of those empty things, those petty, selfish things, so that the Holy Spirit might fill our lives with better things, the things that are a blessing to us, and to others.

Now back to those earthly things we talked about, what role do they play in our lives, in light of the empty tomb?

It’s important to know that those things aren’t in and of themselves bad. They become bad when we make them a substitute for the higher things.

Earthly things will never be able to give us what heavenly things can; so it’s a mistake, and it’s a sin, to substitute them for heavenly things, or make them of greater value, or higher importance than spiritual things. 

But when we keep these earthly things in proper perspective, and use them in the right way, a way that honors God and helps others, then they’re a wonderful blessing to us.

But they’ll never have the kind of lasting impact, and the deep fulfillment that the heavenly things have.

So, as Colossians says, set your mind on things above, where Christ is seated, at the right hand of God.  A life that’s focused on, and blessed with, the higher things of the gospel, is a life that’s full and complete, no matter how many earthly things a person does or doesn’t have.

It’s the empty tomb that gives a full life. When you have Christ in your life, you have it all, and you have it forever, and you have it with joy, because … He is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)

May God fill your life with higher things, and may the greater gift of His peace, which passes understanding, guard your heart and mind, in Christ Jesus, our risen Lord. Amen.