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Back in the late 90s, there was this amazing educational show called Wishbone. It followed the adventures of Wishbone, a dog, and his family, comparing what they got up to with great book of literature, acted out with Wishbone typically playing the main character of the book of the week.
It was a great way to get acquainted with various stories from The Odyssey to Don Quixote all the way to Frankenstein and The Time Machine.
Watching Wishbone helped me learn what these books were about. It helped me enjoy what those stories were about.
It also piqued my interest so that as I got older, I started reading the books Wishbone retold in each episode. Wishbone did a great job with the overall structure for each story, but I found a lot more details hidden inside the books I read. With works like The Odyssey and Don Quixote, what I found inside the covers was greater than what I ever could have imagined watching Wishbone.
Today, we get the Wishbone version of our Faith. Easter, the Sunday of the Resurrection, tells of our Lord Jesus Christ rising from death on the Cross to new life. This Resurrection, this new life, is what Jesus bestows on all those who follow Him and accept the Grace our Lord offers, freely given and completely unearned.
In a nutshell, this is what we as Christians are all about. Jesus’ rising to new life so that we could rise with Him is at the heart of our Faith.
By being here today, even just listening to our Gospel lesson, you’ve heard the key story telling that core message of our belief as Christians. And yet, there’s so much more.
There’s the forgiveness God offers us for our sins through Jesus’ death on the Cross. There’s the call the Lord gives us to not only love God with every fiber of our being, but through that love to also love our neighbors as our selves.
There’s the tales of the early Apostles, many who were part of Jesus’ core 12 Disciples, and how they spread the Good News of the Risen Lord. There’s how Paul, a former persecutor of the church, came to accept Jesus as his Lord and travelled throughout the Roman Empire to share the truth God gave to him.
There’s even the stories of what came before, how God prepared the way to save all humanity centuries before Jesus was even nailed on the Cross. There are stories that go back to the origins of Ancient Israel, even further to the people who followed God before then, and even further all the way back to the beginning of Creation.
There are stories for everyone here. There are your classic Sunday School tales. There are stories with morals for us to learn from. There are tales about heroes. There are even stories that give us political intrigue, and so much more beyond.
Just like the stories featured in Wishbone, there is so much more going on between the book covers of our Faith. From stories to theology to worship and liturgy to fellowship to outreach and service, we have so much more than you could possibly imagine and so much beauty than you may have realized before.
You’ve gotten the main core of our Faith today, and if that’s all you walk away with then your life is the richer for it. Yet there’s so much more we have to offer. If you like the message of today, if the Good News of our Risen Lord speaks to you, then please keep coming back. We have more to offer you. We have more to give to you.
Each and every Sunday we gather to remember and celebrate the Resurrection and all that it means for us. Whether this is your 5th Sunday here this month or your 1st time back in a year, come learn more with us. Explore between the book covers of our Faith. We’ll be right here next Sunday helping you to learn more as we all come closer to our Lord.