(processional trumpet music) (choral music) (fast-paced organ music) ♪ Christ the Lord is risen today ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Sons of men and angels say ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Raise your joys and triumphs high ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Sing ye heavens and earth reply ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Lives again our glorious king ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Where O death is now thy sting ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Once he died our souls to save ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Where's thy victory boasting grave ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Love's redeeming work is done ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Fought the fight the battle won ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Death in vain forbids Him rise ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Christ hath opened paradise ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Soar we now where Christ has led ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Following our exalted head ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Made like Him like Him we rise ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Ours the cross the grave the skies ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ (trumpet music) ♪ Thine be the glory ♪ ♪ Risen, conquering son ♪ ♪ Endless is the victory ♪ ♪ Thou o'er death hast won ♪ ♪ Angels in bright raiment ♪ ♪ Rolled the stone away ♪ ♪ Kept the folded grave-clothes ♪ ♪ Where thy body lay ♪ ♪ Thine be the glory ♪ ♪ Risen, conquering son ♪ ♪ Endless is the victory ♪ ♪ Thou o'er death hast won ♪ ♪ Lo, Jesus meets me ♪ ♪ Risen from the tomb ♪ ♪ Lovingly he greets me ♪ ♪ Scatters fear and gloom ♪ ♪ Let the Church with gladness ♪ ♪ Hymns of triumph sing ♪ ♪ For her Lord now liveth ♪ ♪ Death hath lost its sting ♪ ♪ Thine be the glory ♪ ♪ Risen, conquering son ♪ ♪ Endless is the victory ♪ ♪ Thou o'er death hast won ♪ ♪ No more we doubt thee ♪ ♪ Glorious prince of life ♪ ♪ Life is naught without thee ♪ ♪ Aid us in our strife ♪ ♪ Make us more than conquerors ♪ ♪ Through thy deathless love ♪ ♪ Bring us safe through Jordan ♪ ♪ To thy home above ♪ ♪ Thine be the glory ♪ ♪ Risen, conquering son ♪ ♪ Endless is the victory ♪ ♪ Thou o'er death hast won ♪ (lively symphonic music) 

- Hallelujah Christ the Lord is risen. 

Congregation: The Lord is risen indeed, hallelujah. 

- And a voice from the throne said, "Behold I make all things new." 

Congregation: Hallelujah. The Lord God of high makes the best choices for us all, may your honor Him in prayer, amen. 

- Almighty God who threw your only begotten son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life. Grant that we who celebrate with joy the day of the lord's resurrection maybe be raised from the death of sin by your life giving spirit. Through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the holy spirit. One God now and forever, amen. 

- Let us pray. 

Together: Oh living God bring us forth from death to life so that as the scriptures are read and your word is proclaimed, we might be brought to assure a living faith in your lordship, amen. The first lesson is from the book of Exodus. When Pharaoh drew near the people of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold the Egyptians were marching after them, and they were in great fear, And the people of Israel cried out to the lord and they said to Moses, "Is it because there "are no graves in Egypt that you have "taken us away to die in the wilderness? "What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? "Is not this what we said to you in Egypt? "Let us alone and serve the Egyptians. "For it would've been better for us "to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm and see the salvation "of the lord which he will work for you today. "For the Egyptians whom you see today "you shall never see again. "The Lord will fight for you and "you have only to be still." Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground. The waters being a wall to them on the right and to the left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them in the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And in the morning watch the Lord and the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down upon the host of the Egyptians in discomfited them. Clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said "Let us flee from before Israel, "for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians." Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dancing. And Miriam sang to them, "Sing to the Lord "for he is triumphed gloriously. "The horse and his rider, he is throw into the sea." This ends the reading of the first lesson. (soft piano organ music) ("We Shall Be Changed") 

- The gospel for this Easter from John. Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter, the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away my Lord out of the tomb, "and I do not know where they have laid him." Peter then came out with the other disciple, and went toward the tomb. They both ran but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there but he did not go in. For as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. And then the disciples went back to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, "and I do not know where they have laid him." Saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? "Whom do you seek?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, "tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew "Rabboni!" Which means teacher. Early in his ministry critics came to Jesus and said, "Why do your disciples eat and drink? "The disciples of John fast." Now do you think it's interesting that one of the earliest charges against Jesus was your people have too much fun? We can tell the disciples of John The Baptist are religious, they look miserable, yours eat and drink. Could the same be said of Jesus' people today? I know as a preacher I have never gotten into trouble for being too serious in a sermon. Humor has been my downfall, it's just not appropriate for church they say at the backdoor. People seem more troubled that their minster should be funny than that their minister should be wrong. I know that I helped edit a theology magazine, and the most difficult articles for us to get are articles which attempt some kind of humor. Oh we get lots of articles on Central America, and capital punishment and the arms race, death, poverty, hunger. But maybe you're saying after all of that that's really what religion is supposed to be about, those things. And maybe that's why it's so difficult for people, particularly sincere devout religious people to laugh. After all with the world and the state it's in, you'd have to be incredibly insensitive to laugh. "Woman why are you weeping?", asked the angel out at the cemetery on the first Easter morning. "Why are you weeping?" Let me answer for her. Why are we weeping? If you live very long in this life you know that there is plenty to weep about. And maybe that's why it's always Monday, Thursday, or Good Friday at church. I mean we watch the 6:30 news, we read the morning newspaper, we have seen enough death, and defeat, and betrayal in our own time to understand it in Jesus's time. We know the good get it in the end, we have seen the crosses raised over the battlefields, and the ghettos, and the concentration camps so we believe in the cross over Golgotha. Feel good? Come to church we'll cure you of it because church is for mourning, and laments, and the singing of dirges. Sunday is for getting together and talking about the terrible things they did to Jesus. Worship is cataloging the terrible things they still do to the poor, and the hungry, and the oppressed. The doleful injustice. Speaking of injustice, have you ever thought about how many of our popular comedians come from the ranks of people who have really known what it is to be on the receiving end of injustice? I'm thinking of the Woody Allens, the Richard Pryors, the Eddie Murphys. Now why do they laugh? In an odd sense they laugh because it hurts. They laugh because sometimes laughter is much more productive than weeping. And then what makes us laugh? A pompous banker struts down the sidewalk, everyone differentially bowing to him as he passes. He slips on a banana peel, we laugh. Whenever the expected ordinary everyday rational is flipped on it's head, and we laugh. (Congregation laughs) I think this may be a... I don't know a peculiarly southern characteristic. I was traveling out in eastern North Carolina a while back and I stopped to fill up my car at a little wayside grocery store. There was some men sitting around there talking. I walked in, one of them said, "Where are you from?" And I said, 'Durham.' "So where do you work?" I said, 'Duke University.' And he said, "Oh." He said, "Yeah, Bubba knows you." I said, 'Bubba?' 
(Congregation laughing) He said, "Yeah, Bubba knows you." I said, 'I'm sorry, I don't know any Bubba.' He said, "Well he knows you." 
(Congregation laughs) He said, "He knows everybody." I said, 'I am sorry but I don't know anyone by that name.' They said, "Well he knows everybody." They said, "We were sitting down here "a couple of months ago. "Bubba was telling us he knew Terry Sanford. "We said, 'You don't know Terry.' "He said, 'I know Terry Sanford.' "He said, 'Give me the phone.' "We brought in the phone in there, "he called up to Washington got Mr. Sanford "on the phone, they talked. "He asked how was Margaret Rose and everything. "They talked a while, he put down the phone. "He said, 'See there, I told you I knew him.' "And we said, 'Well North Carolinas a small state. "'People know each other.' "He said, 'Well I know people outside of "'North Carolina, I know Ronald Reagan.' "I said, 'You don't know Ronald Reagan.' "And he said, 'Give me the phone.' (Congregation laughing) "He called up to the White House. "He said to the operator up there and said, "'Tell President Reagan this is Bubba calling.'" He said, "Next thing we know he was on phone. "He said, 'Yeah, how are you doing?' "He said, 'How is Nancy and all? "'And I saw your son on TV the other night.' "Then they talked, we were astounded. "We say, 'Well you don't know everybody.' "He says, 'I know everybody.' "Said, 'I know people that aren't even in this country.' "Said, 'I know the Pope in Rome.'" They said, "That is ridiculous. "You don't know the Pope in Rome." He said, "I will prove it." He said, "We took up a little collection "right there at the store. "And they sent me and Bubba over to Rome. "We got over to Rome, we took a taxi out to Vatican City. "They sent me out there to check it out." And said, "Bubba walked in there, he looked around, "and went to those ones, people dressed so funny." I said, 'Swiss Guards?' He said, "Yeah, one of them, they talked for a minute. "Next thing I know he went inside the Vatican. "He came back out, Bubba walked right in with him." I said, 'That's unbelievable.' He said, "Well wait." He said, "We waited a while, I stood around "outside in front of Saint Peters. "This big crowd gathered, more people, more people." Said, "Before long the Pope came out on the "balcony to speak and everybody was yelling, "and screaming, and there standing next "to the Pope was Bubba up there waving at everybody." (Congregation laughing) I said, 'That is amazing.' He said, "Just a minute." He said, "I was standing up there looking. "I couldn't believe it." Said, "There was a little Italian guy over there, "was selling postcards, and souvenirs, "and trinkets, and things. "I saw him looking up there on the balcony. "And he said, 'Hey mister, who is that "'man up there in that white suit next to Bubba?'" (Congregation laughing) Now we laugh whenever anything is dislodged that is expected that is predictable. Paul says the cross is the ultimate scandal, the ultimate stumbling block. Folly to some, a great joke. You get this in the Bible when old Abraham and Sarah were very old, the Lord told them that even though they'd never had children they were gonna have their first child. Would be the father of a great nation. And the Bible says that Abraham fell down on his face and laughed. Sarah gave out a toothless laugh as well. But nine months later this octogenarian gave birth to a son and she called his name Isaac, which means in Hebrew, laughter. She laughed all the way from the geriatric ward to the maternity ward. (Congregation laughing) They laughed. They laughed at the surprising way of God to insert himself into history just when we think we got it all figured out, and tied down, and we know the way it works. Evidently God likes nothing better than to pull some joke on us. Oh we think we know how the world works. We have everything figured out, and tied down, and then something mysterious intrudes. The thing is flipped on it's head, knocked out of kilter, and we laugh. What do you do when things are out of kilter in your life? What do you do when you have saved and worked for retirement, and the month after you retire your doctor tells you that you have cancer? What do you do when you dream about that special person you're going to spend the rest of your life with... You get this Dear John, this Dear Jane letter telling you that your dreams are not to be? What do you do in a nation founded on freedom, spending billions every year for the weapons of war and exporting these to other places? Bedding down with tyrannical regimes, what do yo do? You can cry, and tears are okay as far as they go. But sometimes we laugh because laughter is more redemptive than weeping. We laugh because to take it all too seriously would be to take it with a seriousness that would be deadly. I've seen this at funerals. The night before the funeral I'd go over to the house with the family, we're talking. Somebody remembers something Uncle Oscar did up in Chicago when he was up there. Somebody else tells another story. And lo and behold these people are laughing. And I as a minister say, 'Now just a minute. 'Lets have a little respect here.' (Congregation laughing) And they say, "Well preacher you didn't know "Uncle Oscar that well, he wouldn't loved this." (Congregation laughing) Laughter liberates. Is that why laughter is always the enemy of tyrants and demagogues of the left or the right? Perhaps you've heard the story, the student he needed to improve his grade point ratio, his coach told him to take this course called Ornithology. He signed up for this course, Ornithology. He got in there and to his surprise it was about birds and they studied the whole semester about birds, migratory habits of the appearance of birds. He came finally to the final exam, he stayed up all night studying for the exam. He walked in the class, the professor handed out the exam, it was a sheet of paper. Nothing on the sheet of paper but pictures of bird's feet and legs, and had up at the top, "Identify these birds." (Congregation laughing) He was disgusted. He stormed up to the desk, he threw the exam at the professor. And he said, "This is the dumbest, "stupidest exam I have ever seen in my life." Professor said, "You impudent. "I'm gonna report you to the Dean. "What is your name?" The student stepped back from the desk and he hiked up his pants to his knees, and he said, "You're so smart, you tell me." (Congregation laughing) Now... Do you understand why... Do you understand why that joke appeared in a text book on better teaching? (Congregation laughing) Laughter deflates and liberates. And I'll tell you you get the same kind of humor in Jesus. Jesus told a story about a rich man, a winner of the Chamber of Commerce's award last year. He had these barns and he filled 'em so full he had to build bigger barns, and he got another award. And he settled down when all of this barns were full, and he said, "Soul take ease. "You've got it made." And the Angel Of Death tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hello fool." We laugh at the odd way that God sees things differently from the way we see them. That God is not stumped by the things that get us. We laugh and I'll tell you laughter is close to faith, the very source of hope. You already know how Norman Cousins helped himself through a difficult illness by watching old Marx Brothers' movies in his hospital room. He found out that laughter is healing because health is related to hope, and hope springs from humor. Wherein is our hope... Our ultimate hope? Luke tells a story. It was on Easter evening, two disciples trudged their weary way from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They were looking down at their feet, they were depressed, they were downcast. As they walked suddenly they became aware that a third person walked beside them. He said, "Friends why are you looking so down?" They said, "Are you the only person in "Jerusalem who hadn't read the papers? "You don't know the things that went on this past week?" The stranger says, "What things?" They said, "The things concerning "Jesus of Nazareth, a mighty prophet. "And we had hoped that he would be the "one to redeem Israel but the authorities "turned against us, and the Chief Priest "sold out to the government. "And the people were fickle, and it "was a good campaign while it lasted, "but we didn't get him elected. "We're stuck with all of these bumper stickers "and campaign buttons, Jesus for Messiah. "It's over. 
(Congregation laughing) "More over some women came back hysterical "saying that he was gone but, you know, what do they know?" The stranger said, "Oh you, how dull can you be?" That evening when they got to Emmaus the stranger sat down at table with them, and he took bread and he broke the bread. And their eyes were open. And they ran all the way back to Jerusalem, and when they got to Jerusalem they told them, the women were right. He's loose, this thing isn't over, it's just begun. He's loose, God's done it again. And you could hear them laughing when the word got to them, they were laughing in Jerusalem, and Judea, and Sumeria, and all over the world. People who had never had anything in life but tears, laughed. Unseemly impudent laughter at this great cosmic joke God had put over on old Satan on Easter morning. Great death, almighty death sitting on his great thrown looked around and said, "Somebody laugh, I hear laughing. "What's so funny?" Still whenever disciples gather on this day to tell this story of the great joke God put over on death, you can hear them laughing. You can hear them laughing in church, at funerals, in cancer wards, in South African jails you can hear them laughing impudently at what God does in the world. Wasn't long after Easter and some of Jesus's people were gathered in Jerusalem on Pentecost. And somebody passed around the loaf of bread, somebody else passed around the wine, they got to tell stories and laughing. "Wouldn't you have loved to see the "face of Caesar when he got the news.", they said. "Wouldn't you have given anything to "hear what Kaiser had said when he heard about it?" And they laughed, they laughed, it turned raucous. People out in the street heard the commotion. And they said, "Those disciple doing the "same thing they did when Jesus was with them, "they're drunk." 
(Congregation laughing) Peter comes out and with a straight face he says, "We're not drunk it's only 10 a.m.." They were drunk but not with wine, they were drunk with dizzying possibility now that God's power is loose in the world for good. (Congregation laughing) Everything now is up for grabs, the future is wide open cut loose. As Peter told the crowd that day in Jerusalem, "This Jesus you crucified." Because that's the way the world always tries to handle people like him. But God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death. Oh Satan, oh death, oh defeat. Who's laughing now? (high-pitched organ music) ♪ The strife is o'er, the battle done ♪ ♪ The victory of life is won ♪ ♪ The song of triumph has begun ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ The powers of death have done their worst ♪ ♪ But Christ their legions has dispersed ♪ ♪ Let shouts of holy joy outburst ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ The three sad days are quickly sped ♪ ♪ He rises glorious from the dead ♪ ♪ All glory to our risen head ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ ♪ Lord, by the stripes which wounded thee ♪ ♪ From death's dread sting thy servants free ♪ ♪ That we may live and sing to thee ♪ ♪ Alleluia ♪ 

- The Lord be with you. 

Congregation: Also with you. 

- Let us pray. God of birth, God of joy, God of life, thou hast revealed the power of thy saving love. And once again we proclaim with joy I know that my redeemer liveth. Enlivened by the truth which the empty tomb has laid bare, we lift our prayers unto thee. Fervently praying that the promise of new life, even as we are surrounded by it's beauty this Easter morning may be made manifest throughout the world. Let us pray for all who are forlorn, forsaken, or stricken with grief. Like Mary Magdalene, may they be restored in their laughter and comforted in their sorrow through an encounter with thee. Let us pray for the hungry, and the homeless, the sick, and the dying. Like the Disciples in their time of need, may they be empowered to find hope in the midst of despair. Let us pray for those who are victims of poverty, oppression, violence, or prejudice. Even as Christ was unjustly accused, may they find the strength to persevere in the face of justice. Let us pray for those who are attentive to the needs of others, yet go unnoticed in this busy word. Like the women at the tomb, may they be rewarded for their unassuming acts of love. Let us pray for those--