Just after we were married, Erica and I took a week-long Honeymoon to central Florida. Ostensibly, we went to Orlando to spend a few days at the major theme-parks, Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, but we also took a day, near the end of our week, to visit a lesser known attraction that seemed too interesting to pass-up (at least to me that is). The Holy Land Experience (as it is called) is the culmination of one-man's God-given vision to place a larger-than-life Christian witness in the middle of the country's most popular tourist destination. According to the brochure, The Holy Land Experience "is a living, biblical museum that takes you 7000 miles away and 2000 years back in time to the land of the Bible. Its combination of sights, sounds, and tastes will stimulate your senses and blend together to create a spectacular new experience." It is a biblical theme-park of sorts complete with rides, shows, vendors and gardens.

In the middle of one of the gardens, at the foot of the full scale model of Mount Calvary, is a replica of the tomb in which Jesus was placed following his death upon the cross. As one would expect, the tomb is empty save for a pile of winding sheet and a small wooden placard affixed to the back wall. "He is not here," it reads, standing in for the voice of the angel, who was, I assume, rather difficult to cast.

Now, I guess I could say that I was surprised to see that sign there in the tomb. My surprise, in some ways, puts me in league with the women who came to the real tomb of Jesus early on the first day of the week nearly 2000 years ago. Sure, our expectations were different. They expected to find a dead body; I expected to see a young man dressed as an angel (or at least a completely empty tomb.) But we were both greeted with the same message, which challenged our preconceived notions of exactly what our experience of Jesus' tomb would be.

Likewise, as Christians two thousand years later, I can't help but think that the angel's greeting comes as something of a surprise to us, too. I mean, surely, we know that Jesus has been raised from the dead - this is the advantage that two millennia of Easter celebrations gives us over those women in the story -- but I still think that the angel's report catches us somewhat off guard. We are looking for an encounter with a savior that is alive and what we get is the word that he is simply "not here."

I sometimes wonder if the story would have been better if Jesus would have met the women on the way to the tomb. Or perhaps, if he had only waited a minute, the angel could have said something like "Good, you finally made it, Jesus will be right with you - he just got up." Likewise, I think that our experience of Easter Vigil would be better if we had a big poster of the risen Christ, or if Jesus would just agree to appear in bodily form here before us. Or maybe it would be nice to simply begin the service with Eucharist, rather than wading through all of those readings and baptisms and prayers and such. But as it is, we join the women, confounded and perhaps frustrated by the fact that what we experience is not what we expect. We have come all this way, but He is not here.

And so our collective mind begins to wonder, "Where could he be?" Certainly no one has stolen him away, this Christ, who not even the chains of sin and death could hold. Surely he could not have been taken captive? Maybe he was never here in the first place. But we have these witnesses, these records and the hope of our ancestors, surely he has been real. Maybe he has simply done his duty and simply moved on. I guess that would be ok. He is God, after all, he can do what he wants.

But abandonment is not in God's nature is it?

Tonight we have carefully recounted the tales of the mighty deeds of God throughout history. Like a list of famous victories in some ancient epic poem we have marked each conquest in word and song. God banishes the darkness in created light. He thwarts Pharaoh's army and divides the Red Sea before his people, Israel. He raises a mighty army from a pile of bleached bones. And in one final glorious stroke he defeats sin and banishes death in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In each case God has been our champion working for our good and conquering every adversary. And at the end of every fight he could have very easily walked off the field, leaving us, and our new found advantage, to fend for ourselves.

But this is not the way with God. He who is our creator and our champion is also our guide and our constant companion. He knows, as we do that each victory and each new gain opens up a new vista and a new potential for both success and failure. So God remains, but not in the same place. Like a pioneer and a pathfinder God goes on before us, blazing the trail and leading the way.

"Indeed he is going ahead of you," said the angel, "there you will see him." In the same way that the cloud and fiery pillar continued before the armies of Israel into the wilderness, Jesus is going on before you into the world. Sure he has conquered death and released humankind from their bondage to sin, but this is not the end of the story. There is a whole world out there in which to tell the tale and many more people to bring into relationship with Christ. It is no time to set and rest upon our laurels, now is the time for action and look, there is Christ leading the way.

Beloved in Christ, as we gather this evening to celebrate the completion of the once-for-all victory of Christ over death and the grave, let us not forget that God continues to lead us even now: beyond the Red Sea of the grave, through the continuing wilderness of this earthly life, into the promised land of eternal life with God. So let us revel in the might and majesty of the God who has freed us from death, but let us also rejoice that Christ is not here! He has already gone ahead, not abandoning us but beckoning us forward into all of the potential that life eternal has to offer. All we need do is look. There we will see him and there we will follow; Jesus Christ our guide, our savior and our risen Lord.

AMEN.