As I think back on the past year, there are things that were just too much. 

Our government said GM and Chrysler were too big to fail. Possibly so. Madoff cheated people out of too much money. There has been too many sex scandals. We need to learn more about being faithful. We may have just come upon a new one for the first time: too much health care or maybe too much government. How about this one: too much politics. 

I found out that in 2009 I ate too much. I gained about 10 pounds. I paid too much taxes. If I am going to give money away, I would like to choose where it goes. When it comes to God, I have a tendency to talk too much. God would like me to listen a little more. 

Well, I would like to proclaim to you, that Easter is too much. You might think I am talking about all of the church services in the past week. No that is not it. Easter is too much. Let me explain. Let’s go to our Easter story.

Mary couldn’t sleep that Sabbath night. As soon as sun comes up, it turns into the first day of the week – Sunday. Mary can only walk ½ mile on a Sabbath. She is cutting it close if she was walking further than ½ mile, which she would have been if she is walking from Bethany. It is almost day break. She is in a hurry and wants to be to her destination by the early morning. The darkness of the night also tells us something more. It tells us that Mary cannot see everything. Her vision is not quite clear. She doesn’t see the full story or picture. We know that is true. She gets to the grave site, which was the grave of a local wealthy person, Joseph of Arimethea. But when she gets there, she is startled – the round stone shaped like a huge truck tire and anywhere from about 3 to 6 feet would have been the door – it was rolled back. Someone has already gotten into the grave. She feared the worst. Someone has tampered with the grave. John didn’t give us much detail. Did she look in at the grave? We don’t know. It appears that she may have decided to get the men folk because there might be trouble so she ran to get John and Peter who probably were still staying at the cave at the Garden of Gethsemane. I don’t know whether no one else was interested or because it was a foot race between John and Peter, but they are the only two mentioned. They wanted to know what had happened to the grave. Peter ran to the tomb first and looked in. No Jesus. The tomb is empty. He saw two piles of linen clothes. John catches up and goes inside. John didn’t know what exactly had happened, but the scriptures record “he believed.” He didn’t understand it, but he knew somehow, Jesus had done a wonderful work. He had seen too many miracles to not think that somehow a miracle had happened here. But, that being said. Peter and John didn’t hang around long. They decided to go back to the place they were staying for this Passover week – probably the cave at the Garden of Gethsemane unless Mary and Martha had invited them to stay with them at Bethany. Now we have to suppose Mary had walked back. She might have met John and Peter along the way as they were going back. They might have asked here where was she going? She remarked, I have just got to see one more time. Who had taken Jesus? What has happened? I would like to have some answers she must have thought. She made it back to the gravesite, and burst into tears. It was bad enough for Jesus to have faced the cruel death that he did, but to steal the body.  You have to remember, that at this point even the disciples are not believers. They don’t remember what Jesus saying about the 3 days he would rebuild the temple or if they did – they didn’t realize he was talking about his body. Mary in her tears finally gets some answers. There are two angels and they ask her, “why are you weeping?” She begins to explain to them how it appears that someone has stolen Jesus’ body. Did they know where his body was? Then there is another question but not from the angels. It was behind her. The angels were in the tomb. This voice came from outside the tomb. This voice also asked her the same question, “why are you weeping?” She just assumed it was the care take of the garden. This was probably an olive tree orchard. The word garden means “cultivated area.” It really doesn’t mean our English garden concept like you mind find when you go the Elizabethan gardens at Manteo. It was the first day of the week. Passover is over. The Sabbath is over. People are now going back to work. It was a natural assumption, but that voice sounded so familiar. So Jesus just shouted out her name – Mary! Then she could see clearly. She could see through her tears. The darkness of night had gone away. It was Jesus. She hugged him tight, and he told her don’t hug so tight for I am not staying. I haven’t even gone back home to see my daddy – God the Father. So Mary left to go tell the disciples, “I have seen Jesus my Lord. He is in plain view.”

Define: The God of Too Much

What lesson do we learn from this Easter story? God is the God of too much. We often try to worship a god of our own making called the god of too little. I ask for you to recall the feeding of the 4,000 and the feeding of the 5,000. What was the disciple’s response when Jesus said we got to feed this people. It would take a ½ year’s wages to feed them. We have too little. What did Jesus say, God is the God of too much. Feeding 5,000 people that is too much right. Not to Jesus. What we find is often we are looking for the god of too little when the God we worship – he is too much. 

Mary was looking for the god of too little. Who is this god? This is a god who gets crucified and dies. This is a religious movement that dies. This is a god that might pull off small miracles, but the big ones – no way. This is a god that fits into the human imagination. This is a god that I can control. Now when we apply that to us today, the god of too little cannot see God at work, cannot imagine a god of possibilities, and even when we feel god working and we start visioning what this god can do, we ourselves put human limits on this god and say that is too much. No the problem is we are thinking too little. 

Did not Jesus say that we as disciples of Christ as God’s church would do greater things than what he did when he fed the 5,000? Jesus himself said think too much. Easier said than done, right. Well lets look at Mary. 

1. Mary’s journey began in darkness.

Mary could not see or imagine the God of possibilities. Her head was stuck in the sand when it came to the tomb. She could see no other possibility than someone stealing Jesus’ body. She didn’t bother to look into the empty tomb at first or she did so hurriedly that she noted nothing unusual. 

We need to see the God of possibilities. We should open our eyes and see that God is working. Now Mary when she came back, she obviously didn’t think it was that unusual to talk to angels. The gospels talk about these angels as in dazzling white. They were awe striking. 

Can we see the God of possibilities in our own life. Let’s remember what we are celebrating today, we are celebrating Easter – the resurrection of Jesus who died on the cross yet in 3 days he was alive with a new body.  Talk about imagining the possibilities. That which was dead can live. There is nothing that God’s grace cannot touch. He is the God of second chances. He is the God of possibilities. He is the God of abundant living. We are the ones who put limits on what God can do. Instead of visioning how God can use us – yes you and me in ministry together, we will complain of what we what we don’t have. Remember Moses, I don’t have a good voice. God said I am using you anyway. 

How about as a church, can we see the God of possibilities? Can we see this place as the center of much mission work? Can we see this place as a key place of discipleship where people go out to live a life for God. Not just here in Bear Creek, but in Bennett, Silk Hope, Siler City, Pittsboro, Gulf, and Sanford. God is using this place. God is blessing this place. When we see the numbers going up in church, we ought to be saying glory hallelujauh, God has brought more workers to the working fields. God is giving us much so we can do much. Any God that can raise the dead back to life, can do much more than we can ever imagine. 

Unbelief – Mary wasn’t expecting a resurrection and even though she was standing right in the midst of one, she didn’t recognize it. 

Perseverance – Mary gives us a picture of perseverance. She wouldn’t let go. She hung around. She went back. She looked again. She talked to strangers, and when she did see Jesus she gave him a big ol bear hug and Jesus had to tell her don’t hug so tight for I am not staying here. That is the job of the Holy Spirit. 

Prayers – Mary poured her heart out to God. I believe that God led her to be able to see God working. God made it so she recognized Jesus’ voice. God answered her prayer and she got to see Jesus. 

Letting Go – Mary had latched onto Jesus when she did finally see him, but she was thinking of the earthly Jesus. She wasn’t thinking of the Jesus who had victoriously conquered death. She was thinking of a Jesus who would sit at the right hand of the Father who would rule and judge the world. She was holding onto an earthly Jesus. Jesus had to tell her to let go. God had even greater things yet to do. 

Easter is really a time when we are asked can we imagine the possibilities of a God who resurrects the dead? 

This God can take a like that is in a wreck and made it wonderful and God inspiring life again. 

This God can take a bunch of Christian misfits – kind of the like the disciples – and change the world. That’s the God of too much. That is why Easter is too much. It means God can do more than we ever imagined. God can transform lives, change lives, give second chances. 

So what do you see this morning in the empty tomb? A bunch of wadded up clothes or a God who has arisen from the dead. I am telling you this morning – Jesus has risen from dead. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!. Amen.