Sunday, April 5, 2015

Celebration of Emptiness #T

The quality of emptiness carries with it a negative connotation.  It is characteristic of something now nothing, something not there.

An empty cereal box in the morning conveys disappointment.  An empty coffee cup suggests the need for a refill.  An empty purse is devastating. The feeling of emptiness that overwhelms one when a loved one departs or even when an exciting adventure has ended further suggests that emptiness leaves much to be desired.

Yet today we celebrate emptiness.  We rejoice in the emptiness of the sepulchre in which Jesus was entombed following his death on the cross.  It is a celebration because his absence from the tomb signals the possibility for us that we might be emptied of our guilt.  For a vessel to be cleaned it is first imperative that it be emptied.  We are emptied out, our sins, our guilt.  We are emptied of self so that we might be cleansed by the Holy Spirit, made fit to abide with our Risen Savior!

Happy Emptiness!  And may you have a Happy Easter in Jesus, our Risen Lord!  

9 comments:

Vee said...

Happy Easter to you and JoAnn. I hope your is special and blessed.

Grace said...

This is an excellent Sunday sermon...no "professional" pastor could do better.

Secondary Roads said...

Sylvia joins me in wishing a blessed Easter to you and JoAnn.

Ilene said...

Happy Easter. May you be richly blessed.

vanilla said...

Vee, and we hope the same for you!

Grace, Heartfelt and easy to write because of that. I appreciate you. You are a faithful reader.

Chuck, thank you. It is my favorite holy day.

Ilene, thank you; hope you had a blessed day as well.



Lin said...

As I read this, I was trying to think of good "empty" things. I could only come up with a laundry basket. :)

I agree with Grace--this was a good post.

vanilla said...

Lin, I thank you. An empty laundry basket is a good thing. And the dryer is empty, the items folded. Now I need to get the bed put back together.

Sharkbytes said...

From a Michael Card song I really like "and the grave became a place of hope"

vanilla said...

Sharkey, yes, when it attained "emptiness!"