I saw the sunrise. This morning the temperature was a pleasant 64 degrees with just a touch of crispness in the air. The sun peeked over the mountains against the backdrop of white fluffy clouds placed carefully on a pastel blue sky sitting atop muted pink and yellow layers just above the mountains. It was beautiful.
Today is Easter and I love to attend a sunrise service. As a trumpet player, I have been called upon to play “Up From the Grave He Arose” at dozens of Easter Sunrise services over the years. There is something special about the sense of anticipation you feel when you hear a trumpet blow at dawn on Easter. It’s sacred.
The service this morning was held at Fountain Park, a picturesque location with rolling grassy hills, a smattering of well-placed trees, ducks strolling on the lawn, and a huge water feature – the Fountain. The fountain typically rises up to 550 feet for 15 minutes at the top of the hour. This morning, the fountain stayed on during the entire service as if raising its hands in praise to the Lord. It was an incredible sight to see!
Cars lined the streets surrounding the park. Hundreds of them. I casually read the license plates of the cars as I walked past them on my way to the amphitheater. Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska, Wisconsin, California, Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and many other states were represented. All of these people had gathered in a little town in the Arizona desert to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. Wow!
I love Philip Yancey’s book The Jesus I Never Knew. Yancey talks about the truth of the resurrection of Jesus and concludes that Easter changes everything.
In many respects I would find an unresurrected Jesus easier to accept. Easter makes Him dangerous. Because of Easter I have to listen to His extravagant claims and can no longer pick and choose from His sayings. Moreover, Easter means He must be loose out there somewhere. Like the disciples, I never know where Jesus might turn up, how He might speak to me, what He might ask of me. As Frederick Buechner says, Easter means “we can never nail Him down, not even if the nails we use are real and the thing we nail Him to is a cross.”
On the cross, Jesus proved His love for us and obedience to God the Father when He wrote “I love you” in blood with His life. He humbled himself and walked among us. Some believed. Some did not. The empty tomb proves He still lives. Because he chose to hang on those three nails and two pieces of wood we have redemption if we believe. Ultimately, the cross says it all about His love. The empty tomb says it all about the future. He is risen. He is risen indeed.
I drove home refreshed and encouraged. What a great way to start the day. I saw the Son Rise.
Simple Faith 