I Am Series: I Am the Resurrection and the Life

April 16, 2017 Easter Sunday      NOTES NOT EDITED

Empty is Everything!

Mark 16:1-8

SIS – God emptied the tomb so He could fill our lives.

When one of the best earthly friends of Jesus, Lazarus, died sadness filled the place, as it does with all deaths.  Even Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus.  Jesus would eventually give Lazarus back his life for a time.  Death is a major event for us but a minor hurdle for Jesus.  One of the most important statements Jesus made about His identity was to Martha, the sister of Lazarus.  As she wept for her brother Jesus comforted her with these words:

“I am the resurrection AND THE LIFE!” (John 11:25)

Martha understood the Lazarus would rise again in the “resurrection,” but what she failed to understand is that Jesus is also, “the Life!”  Not just life “AFTER” death but life “INSTEAD” of death!  Too many Christians put their hope in life after death and miss that there is a “Life here and now” for those that trust in the “Living Lord.”  Eternal life begins when we put our trust in the Lord at the moment of salvation.  Jesus is the “Resurrection,” so we can have “the Life.”

For most people, “full is a good thing.”  For children, a full Easter Basket on Easter morning is a good thing.  For a preacher, a full church on Easter (or any Sunday) is a good thing.  A home full of nice furniture, full closets, and 2.3 children full of good manners and respect is a good thing.  A full stomach—that’s a good thing.  A full bank account.  That’s a good thing.  A full tank of gas—that’s expensive, and a really good thing.  And. . . or for some, a full head of hair—that’s a good thing.

Full is good.  Empty is bad.  Seems the logic is simple enough.

But, the best gift ever given from the Best Gift-giver ever, is not something full—but something empty.

An empty tomb is the greatest gift God has ever given.

Let’s read Mark 16:1-8 to see the “Emptiness of Easter.”

The story of Easter is about the ironic proposition that fullness in life comes from emptiness.  The Easter Story is all about emptiness:  1) empty people;  2) empty promises; and 3) an empty tomb.

1.  The Empty People of Easter

Easter for me as a kid was sort of like Christmas in the spring time.  Instead of gifts under a tree, however, there was a wonderful Easter Basket filled with the kind of candy you can only find at Easter.

So, I greatly anticipated something wonderful when I awoke on Easter morning.  I looked forward to Easter with great anticipation and an sense of great joy.  On Easter morning when I saw my basket full of the best candy you could imagine, I was filled up with great joy.

But, not this was not the case for the women that first Easter.  They were the first to make the way to the tomb where Jesus had been hastily buried because of the approaching Sabbath.  Now, the women were going to anoint and prepare the body of Jesus in a proper, Jewish manner.  The were not filled with hope.  They were in fact empty.  They had no hope.

That makes me think of something I saw on FaceBook the other day.  The post said, “A generation ago we had Ronald Reagan, Johnny Cash, and Bob Hope to raise our spirits.  Now, we have Barack Obama, no cash, and not hope.”

Well, I’m not sure we should get our theology from political ads, but so many people today seem be “cashless and hopeless.”  Many people seem to be “empty” inside.  Many people are like these women.

They had a duty to perform—a religious duty--but they had no intention of finding any satisfaction in the task ahead.  I suspect that these women expected to come away from that tomb feeling even more empty and more discouraged than when they started out. 

So, many people live empty, purposeless lives just going through the motions of what is expected of them.  They are empty inside.  They are much like The Preacher in Ecclesiastes:

“Emptiness.  Emptiness.  All is emptiness.” (Eccl. 1:2)

In my reading I came across an interesting article entitled, “I See Empty People.”  The article was a scholarly work showing how evolutionary theory has contributed to the emptiness that people feel.  The article said in part, “[Evolutionists] have declared that we are just machines, and any belief in the supernatural is nothing more than a glitch in the machine.”  The article goes on to point out how technology has also contributed to the “emptiness of the human condition.”  According to the article, “The digital culture has created a blandness in the human experience because we’ve come to feel that our experiences are not anything special.”  We’ve no longer value “experiences” because life seldom can deliver on “experience” like the digital images on TV and the Big Screen.

The writer concludes that the evolutionary theory and digital age has turned humans into “lifeless automatons.”

Easter did not start out much better than where we are today.  The women were “empty, void, totally lacking in hope.”  Just like today.

Easter begins with emptiness—empty people.  People who for the most part completely missed the opportunity to love and follow Jesus and discover an eternal purpose for life.  Easter is about empty people.

2.  Easter exposes EMPTY PROMISES (vv 3 vs 7b)

The Easter story begins with the women looking for something.

Everybody is looking for something to fill the emptiness in life, As I said with Solomon, he looked to fill the emptiness with “wine, women, and stuff.”  Of course, that didn’t work for Solomon, and it doesn’t work for people today.

Some of the emptiest people I know have a life filled with “stuff.”

The women were looking to “fill” a need in their lives.  The death of Jesus left a huge void in the life of Mary, his mother, and the other women, just as it did the disciples.  There was an “empty hole” that longed to be filled, as we have said.

Where did the women look to try to fill the emptiness they were experiencing?  Think.  This is very important because it is one of the most significant ways that people try to fill the emptiness of life.

OK!  Give up?  I’ll tell you.  They were hoping that “religious duty” would fill the emptiness left by the death of Jesus.

Do you remember way back in December when we were reading the Christmas story?  Do you remember the gifts that the Wise Men brought to Jesus?  The brought “gold, frankincense, and myrh.  We said, back in December that the myrrh was a very expensive, tar-like substance that was used to prepare a body for burial.

That was 33 years before when Jesus was born.  Now, the women were coming to prepare the body of Jesus for burial by applying the “myrrh” and other spices.  I wonder if they got this “myrrh” from Mary, the Mother of Jesus?  Has this myrrh been setting on a shelf in Jesus’ home for over three decades?  We do not know, but we do know that the women were determined to fulfill their religious duty, even though a great obstacle was in their way.  Verse 3 tells us the women spoke among themselves saying:

“Who will roll away the stone . . . for us?” (v 3)

Life is full of obstacles.  Life is full of challenges.  I know we often say to ourselves, “Who will roll this challenge away for me?”  What promise do I have that I can overcome the difficulty in my life.  That’s what the women were asking.

Remember, Jesus died late Friday afternoon and at sundown the Sabbath would begin.  Jesus had to be hastily buried so not to defile the Sabbath.  Bodies were not buried on the Sabbath.

Now, it’s Sunday morning and the women are coming to do what their religious customs and common decency would demand.

I see a very important application in the actions of these women.  The only promise they seem to give them any sense of purpose or hope is in is continuing in the practices of their religion. 

Let me stop and say something about religion in light of these early female disciples of Jesus.  Their religion—like all religion—was as dead as they thought Jesus was.  Every religion on earth—except Christianity—worships, honors, or in some way venerates a “Dead Leader.”  I can’t think of any promise more empty than the empty promise that following some “dead” religion will bring eternal life.

Religion only amounts to an empty promise and leads to an anxious heart.  The women had no joy.  The women had no deep sense of hope that Sunday would be the most glorious day of their lives and would change their hearts for all eternity.  All they had was a fragile hope in the empty promise of religion.

Everybody is trusting in someone or something to fill the empty void in their lives—but all the worldly promises are empty.  Materialism is an empty promise.  You will never have enough stuff to be able to substitute for a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Some people are trusting in the empty promises of politicians.  Still others are trusting in the empty promises of religion.

In a few months, the “empty promises” will start to fly. Perhaps the emptiest promises of all are “political promises.”

A politician was sailing in a hot air balloon and realized he was lost. He lowered altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude."

She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be an Engineer."

"I am," replied the man. "How did you know?" "Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Politician."

"I am," replied the balloonist. "But how did you know?"  "Well," said the man, "You don't know where you are or where you're going,  you got to where you are by relying on nothing but hot air,  and, the most revealing fact is, you've made a promise that you have no idea how to keep.  and now you expect ME to solve your problem. You're in EXACTLY the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now, it's MY fault

Any promise but the promise of God is an empty promise and nothing more than a bunch of hot air.

But, God’s promises are sure and reliable backed up by the Perfect Character and Absolute Power of God, Himself.   God never breaks a promise.  The word says,

2 Peter 1:4  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

The word translated “promises” was used in an unusual way in the first century.  We think of a “promise” as merely something “spoken.”  In fact, Hebrew didn’t have a word for promise but just used to word, “spoke.”  But, a first century Jew used the word, epangelia, or promise, to refer to a “profession, or a task.”  Another ancient writer used the word to describe a “future meeting of two people” at a predetermined time. 

God’s promises are “sure and full of hope” because it is “God’s profession and task” to fulfill His spoken word.  If God says it—that settles it.  Notice what the angels said to the women in verse 7:

‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee;

you will see Him there just as He told you.’ ”

Now, think of what Jesus had said before to His disciples: Jn 14:1-3

“Your heart must not be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. ³ If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself.

Jesus promised to meet the disciples in Galilee—and He did.  Jesus promises to meet us in heaven—and He will.  The promises of God are not “empty promises” but more sure than the rising of the sun.

Someone once asked an evangelist (I can’t remember which one), “How much do you really trust the promises of God.”  Without a moment’s hesitation the evangelist said, “Enough to place all my hope for eternity in them.”

So many people are like the women on their way to the tomb.  The only hope they had was the “empty promise” of dutifully carrying out the practices of their religion.  Religion is just one form of an empty promise.  What people need is the “promise of eternal life” which one can only find in a relationship with the Living Lord.

The “emptiness” of the Easter Story begins with empty people chasing empty promises, but then they come face to face with an

3.  Empty Tomb (4-7)

Now here’s where I see the great irony of Easter:  it takes an Empty Tomb to live a Full life!  Let me say that again, “It takes an empty tomb to live a full life.”

Let me say it another way:  “God emptied the tomb so He could fill our lives!”

Nothing we could ever do will fill our lives with hope and great expectation of blessings in the future.  Only God can do that—and He does it with “Emptiness.”

So many people are filled up to gills, as Momma would say, with worldliness, but they are empty.  Yet, when a person empties himself or herself of the world, they are filled up to the gills, as Momma would say, with the Holy Spirit.  What a beautiful irony!

The true disciples of Jesus were going to pay their respect to a dead leader and discovered a Living Lord.

One writer talks about how “foundational” the empty tomb is to the Easter Story:  “The resurrection of Christ is not a myth or a rumor. It's a fact. The disciples recorded it and later willingly died for it. History says that more than 500 people were willing to attest to it. The Roman authorities never disproved or even attempted to argue with it. Likewise, in a male-centric world, why would the gospel writers, like Mark, dare make up a story about women being the first to find Jesus? They would be inviting scandal and scorn; unless, of course, it actually happened and eyewitnesses made them unable to say otherwise.”

There has been page upon page upon page written by skeptics to try to rationalize away the empty tomb.  This has been taking place for over 2000 years.  Yet, they keep writing and they keep trying to account for that empty tomb but nothing but a “resurrection” fits the facts of history.

But, when you peer into that empty tomb and your truly embrace the emptiness, you find the key to the whole Easter Story – the angel’s stated it clearly:  “He has been resurrected!” (v 6)

It is so essential to embrace the “emptiness” of the tomb.  It is a metaphor, or an illustration, of what it means to follow the Living Lord.

There is a “principle of emptiness” that one must understand if one is to fully comprehend what it means to be saved.

Paul exhorts us in Ephesians  5:15:  ¹⁵ Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— ¹⁶ making the most of the time,  ^y because the days are evil. ¹⁷ So don’t be foolish, but understand  what the Lord’s will  is. ¹⁸ And don’t get drunk  with wine,  which _⌊leads to_⌋ reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit.

So many Christians never experience being completely filled up with God’s Spirit because the worldliness in our lives does not leave room for the holiness of God.

Before something can be filled with something it has to be empty.  We need to empty ourselves of anything in our lives that would keep God from completely filling us with His Spirit.

Anything that fills our lives in the place of the Holy Spirit, is sin—it’s that simple.  God, the Holy Spirit, cannot fill a vessel with Himself that is already filled with something (anything) else.

That’s what Easter is all about: Emptiness!  But, not only in the way we are accustomed to thinking about the empty tomb.  Jesus came out of the tomb so He could enter our lives.

Without Jesus we are all hopelessly empty and anxiously chasing after empty promises.  What we need is to “empty our self, or ourself, and let God fill us with Himself.

We must not leave here today without embracing fully the EMPTINESS of Easter.  It is only when we embrace “emptiness” that we can experience “fullness.”  We need to see that people without a relationship with Jesus as the Living Lord are EMPTY PEOPLE.  Empty people put their trust in EMPTY PROMISES.  The only way to be completely fulfilled (filled up with blessing) is to embrace the EMPTY TOMB and completely surrender yourself as a vessel to be filled up with the Holy Spirit of God.  When it comes to Easter: EMPTINESS IS EVERYTHING!  We need to empty our lives of the world to make room for the KING!

VIDEO:  THAT’S MY KING

INVITATION