On May 1, 2011 the New York Mets were playing the Philadelphia Phillies. It was a tight game with each team knotted at one in the ninth inning. As ESPN continued their broadcast with miscellaneous details about each of the players as pitcher and batter dueled it out for a hit, the crowd started chanting, "USA! USA! USA!" The news story had just leaked that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by US Special Forces.
People around our country took to the streets in celebration, they bombarded social media, they listened to President Obama's address to the nation, and a whole lot more. People's reactions were as if this was the best piece of news they had ever heard. But that is not true.
The greatest story ever told is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Christ, death has lost it's sting, it no longer holds us captive, we all have received eternal life. That my friends is the greatest story ever told.
God loves you so much that God was beaten for you. God loves you so much that God was mocked and ridiculed for you. God loves you so much that God endured betrayal for you. God loves you so much that God died for you. And not just a death in one's sleep or a passing away in the blink of an eye. God loves you so much that God felt the nails penetrate the divine hands and feet as a crown of thorns adorned his head, blood freely flowing. God loves you so much no matter who you are or what you have done.
This is the greatest story ever told.
And that is not where it ends. God loves you so much that God refuses to let death have the last word. God came back from the dead to show us that from the darkest times there is a force greater than sin and death. God loves you so much that God is out and about in the world in the resurrection business. God loves you so much that God is resurrecting Paris, Brussels, broken relationships, abuse, racism, hatred, greed...you get the picture. God loves us so much that God is always resurrecting not just on the last day, but here and now.
And we get to participate in that by loving one another. As one of my friends who used to live in Brussels posted on social media, "We must stop hating and just love. Love louder. Love harder. Share love around the world." That is God working right now to resurrect a horrific situation with the hope and promise of new life.
I invite you to experience the greatest story ever told once again as churches around the world celebrate Holy Week. Come and see what God has done for us. Come and see the extent to which God goes to give us and show us God's love.
"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." Luke 24:5b
-Tom
