Hope is the Last Word: An Easter Sermon on John 20:1-18

On Wednesday of last week, my wife gave birth to a new life.  Joshua Paul Buckwalter was born on March 20th at 12:16 p.m. weighing 8lbs 2oz.  He is a healthy, happy little boy.  We're calling him Josh.  The birth of a child can bring some amazing perspective to things.  This is his first Sunday at church, and I'm already going to use him as an illustration.  Poor kid has no hope for not being embarrassed by his father in front of people.  Such is the life of a preacher’s kid.

I figure at this point he doesn't mind.  He's not aware of much, and all he does is eat, sleep, and poo.  But I guess that's all he is supposed to do.

I'm not sure if it's the birth of a baby itself that lends all kind of perspective to things or if it’s the journey that the parents take together that leads to that point.  There's a lot of expectation, a lot of waiting, a lot of hoping that goes into the process.  A lot of hope. 

For new couples, the question is if they can actually have kids.  Are they sterile?  The hope is that they aren't.  The hope is that all of the things that are supposed to work, biologically speaking, will work.  The anticipation and expectation are great when a couple first sets about to have a baby.  That first month, they wait, and they hope, and they wait until the results come in.  Will we have a baby or not?