But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. Luke 24:1-12
When you hear the word Easter, a variety of words, images, sounds, and smells come to mind. Perhaps, it is sticky, gooey, yellow Peeps. Or hollow, chocolate bunnies, that taste a little bland. Maybe, it is a ham dinner with your loved ones, or the cry, “Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!” in a packed Easter service. It can be an almost-blooming Easter lily in a plastic pot with colored tinfoil wrapped around it. All of these things remind me of Easter, as well as this story.
In Northern Illinois, there is a pastor with the nickname “Cheerleader Charlie.” I’ll get to how he got that nickname in a moment. Charlie had been working and managing the craft store Michaels for years. One spring, some ladies from LWML came to him with an interesting request. They asked if they could have the left-over Easter lilies once Easter was over. Charlie thought to himself, “Sure, that helps me out a ton. These are difficult to get rid of once Easter is over.” So he told the ladies, “Yes; come on Monday, and I will have them ready.” When Easter Monday came, he was greeted by the ladies once again. He helped to load the Easter lilies into their cars and finally asked, “What are you going to use these flowers for anyway?” One of the ladies said, “We are going to bring these lilies to shut-ins to help them celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.” With that, Charlie began to ask them more questions and was invited to church. He took them up on their offer, went, and later became an LCMS pastor. He was such an encouraging preacher that he got the nickname “Cheerleader Charlie.” Who would have thought that a simple Easter lily would have created such an opportunity!
As Jesus’ disciples, we cannot help but witness through our words and deeds, and we have the greatest message to share and tell: Jesus is risen from the dead! No matter how insignificant the good work or witness can seem, like bringing flowers to a shut-in, telling our children about Jesus, or living faithfully in our vocation, it can make a difference. Our good works and witness can point others to Christ and bring Him praise. We don’t share an idle tale, but the greatest truth of all: Christ is Risen!
Blessings on the Easter Season,
Pastor Nick Kooi
(Originally published in Emmaus Footprints, Vol. XXIII, Number 10, May 2022)