Easter is now over…WHEW! I am tired. Setup for Sonrise service, then the service, breakfast after that with Sunday School after breakfast and then the Morning Service. Then I go home and have a great Easter Lunch with family. What a full day. I was empty after all that. My recliner was calling my name for a good afternoon nap.

Then I got to thinking about being empty. What are some things that are empty? I was empty physically and mentally Sunday afternoon and pretty much useless the rest of the day. Then I remembered my truck has a gas tank that is approaching E. I remembered dad told me “E does not mean eternal, put some gas in the tank.” Some things are sad when empty…things like my coffee cup! (Actually that precipitates a major crises!) A plate after a meal indicates the food was good but you hope there is enough for a second helping.

I went to purchase something from the store the other day and went to get the cash out of my wallet only to find receipts and some dust, but no money. I gave it to Jill to put in some Easter cards for the kids and grandkids. When I was younger and the kids were still at home finding and empty wallet was a usual occurrence. I thought those days were past.

Again, in my younger years, before online banking (checking balances on your phone) I had to record checks written and keep a close balance in my check book (using that paper statement that came once a month) or I would be overdrawn…indicative of having an empty bank account (translates to NO MONEY). Today, I just pull out the phone and look at the balance and see if I can make the purchase.

Other empty things are words or promises. Someone tells us something when we know that they do not mean or have no intention of keeping (past words or promises that always come up empty). It seems this is most prominent among politicians around election time. This causes trust issues that are hard to regain/rebuild (if ever).

Someone who continuously makes bad decisions or does not seem to sharp intellectually is sometimes called empty-headed. A person who is cold, hard or emotionless could be referred to as emptyhearted (cold-hearted).

Empty shelves shows a run on groceries at the supermarket. Empty bucket, empty room and empty space…all things that aren’t necessarily bad but show there is availability or a place for progress or improvement.

I know that is a lot of empty. But empty is not all bad. It does have some good to it. An empty nest at home is indicative of having all the kids gone, living a life on their own now. It takes adjustment and can be depressing for parents.

However, when you see the kids making it on their own, contributing to society and no longer having to depend on you for the basics of life, there is that moment of achievement and success in being a parent. And, not to mention, you do not have to go through the house shutting doors, windows or lights off. You now have control of the remote to the TV (unless your wife has it watching “Say Yes to the Dress”).

But, my favorite empty is, hands down, the empty cross that led to the empty tomb! That is the theme of Easter! You see, they took Jesus down from the cross. Jesus is not on the cross. They crucified Him and once dead, they removed Him from the cross.

From the cross they put Him in a tomb… a borrowed tomb (He only needed it for 3 days). Friday evening they took Jesus from the cross and put Him in the tomb. Then on Sunday morning, He rose from the dead and left the tomb. Mary Magdalene and other ladies went to the tomb and found it empty. Peter and John went to the tomb and found it empty. The Roman guards keeping watch over the tomb witnessed the tomb being vacated (stone rolled away) and were paid by Jewish leaders to keep quiet about the event.

Jesus was seen by many over the course of the next 40 days, indicative of His resurrection. The tomb was empty. Jesus was alive. Death lost and Jesus won.

Some things, most things that are empty are not good (coffee cup, dinner plate, bank account, gas tank and emotions or words). However, an empty tomb is what separates Christianity from every other religion. Our Savior is alive and sitting at the right hand of God. Other religions have a founder that has died and is buried in a grave somewhere.

For us to serve a risen, living Savior, the tomb had to be empty. It was empty and that is why we can celebrate Easter. And now, I am out of words (empty).

Happy Resurrection Sunday a few days late. Bro. Tim