Prayer: God of resurrection power, may your new life rise in us today! In the name of the risen Christ, Amen.

Happy Easter, everyone! [response] OK. I invite you to raise your right hand and repeat after me: “I, [state your name], do solemnly swear, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me, God. Amen.

You’ve just been sworn in to be witnesses. And, what a day to be a witness! We have such good news to tell today! Christ is risen! [response—”He is risen indeed!”] Alleluia! Christ IS risen, and our hearts rejoice.

The women who were the first to hear the good news—their hearts, rejoiced, too. Once they heard the news, they went running with fear and great joy—a combination of feelings, and probably every feeling in between. They went to tell the good news that was told to them by the angel. “He’s not here,” the angel said, “for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” Then came their swearing in, so to speak. The angel said “go quickly and tell his disciples this: ‘He has been raised from the dead…” and “indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee…” and “there you will see him.” The women were essentially sworn in right there on the spot to be witnesses of the resurrected Jesus.

Peter has had the Holy Spirit descend upon him on the day of Pentecost, and he is sworn in right at that moment to be a witness for Jesus. He goes on to tell the story, to recall what great things God did through Jesus.

It’s a message that must be shared right then. No time to have the attitude, “Well, I get to sharing that message before too long.” No place for, “I have other things to do first.” Absolutely no interest in waiting around. Some truths are just too important to share immediately. Now is the time to tell the truth about Jesus.

Unlike Carlyle who had a very devoted wife. She sacrificed everything for his sake, but he never gave her a single expression of appreciation for which her heart yearned. She came to regard herself as the most miserable woman in London and eventually died filled with a hunger for words of affirmation from Carlyle. After her death, Carlyle, was reading her diary, and he realized the truth. A friend found him at her grave filled with intense remorse saying, ‘If I had only known!” (Dr. Charles F. Asked, Homemade, Vol. 11, No. 7, http://www.crosswalk.com/pastors/illustrations, retrieved March 21, 2008). Well, duh!

We know! We know what the word is that we have to share, don’t we? We know that we are Easter people! We are resurrection people! The word is that Christ is risen in our lives, in our hearts, in our homes, our families, our church.

The word is that Christ is risen is also for the places in our world where it seems that Christ’s risen presence is covered up to the point of oblivion. Our culture doesn’t let the risen Christ into our politics. Christ’s risen spirit isn’t let into our media. The powers that be don’t let his life-giving power into our legal system, our business and corporate worlds, our education institutions. Our culture fudges this way and that way with the message. It gets diluted and distilled. It is modified for the sake of safety and prudency.

Not unlike the actual courtroom exchange between an attorney representing an insurance agency and a farmer who is claiming a serious injury. The exchange went exactly like this:

Attorney: At the scene of the accident, did you tell the constable you had never felt better in your life?

Farmer: That’s right.

Attorney: Well, then, how is it that you are now claiming you were seriously injured when my client’s auto hit your wagon?

Farmer: When the constable arrived, he went over to my horse, which had a broken leg, and he shot him. Then he went over to Rover, my dog, who was all banged up, and shot him, too. When he asked me how I felt, I just thought under the circumstances, it was a wise choice of words to say I’ve never felt better in my life! (http://www.bored.com/jokes/016341.html, retrieved March 21, 2008).

Under our circumstances, there’s never a better time than right now to be witnesses of our risen Savior! Go quickly! Tell the world!

OK. This time, grab hold of a Bible in the pew rack in front of you with your left hand. We’re going to do this right. Raise your right hand, and repeat after me: “I, [state your name], do joyfully swear, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, about Jesus as risen from the grave, my Savior, Redeemer, and Friend, to all in my world, so help me God!”

You are now sworn in as witnesses. Thanks be to God! Amen.