
He is not here. He has risen! Mark 16:6
Peter Marshall was a Scotish-American preacher who began his short, but remarkable career in a rural Presbyterian Church in Covington, Georgia. Although, he was quickly called to Westminister Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, then to New York Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, and ended up as Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, I’ve always felt a kinship with he and his wife, Catherine. Our first appointment was in that same small rural community on the outskirts of Covington just a few miles from his first church, and I can identify with the bonds that are formed in these small communities as well as the trials.
It was this connection that prompted me to read some of the sermons preached by Dr. Marshall, and the book, A Man Called Peter, which was written by his wife, Catherine after his death at the young age of 46. The movie by the same name was released in 1955, and it was nominated for an oscar.
Dr. Marshall always ended each day by saying to Catherine, “See you in the morning!” rather than just the typical good night,sweet dreams, or sleep tight. On the night on which he had his fatal heart attack, and the EMT’s were loading him into the ambulance, he held Catherine’s hand and said his final words to her which were, “See you darling! See you in the morning.”
I love the fact that good-byes were never in his vocabulary because he knew there was no reason to bid another Christian a final good bye. He was comfortable with the certainty of death, and he was confident that we will see each other in the presence of Jesus one sweet day.
I also love the mental picture of seeing Jesus in the morning when the dew has fallen, the air is clean and sweet, and everything is quiet and still. Could there be a more perfect example of heaven?
We have just experienced the glories of Easter, the hallelujahs, the hymns of resurrection, the flowers on the cross, and the large congregations gathered to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. It has been such a celebration, but I wonder how many of us really think about the significance of the day. Jesus fulfilled his promise, rose from the dead, and says to us, “See you in the morning.” Imagine thinkiing someone dear to you has died only to discover they are alive!
On February 27, 1991, Ruth Dillow was at her home in Kansas when she received the bad news from the pentagon that her son, Private First Class Clayton Carpenter had stepped on a land mine in the Persian Gulf and was dead. Ruth was feeling a lot like the women who came to the tomb on that Easter morning with their hearts full of sorrow. Three days later, Ruth got another call, and the voice on the other end of the line said, “Mom, I’m alive.” Just like the women at the tomb who heard the words, “He is not here. He has risen. Jesus is alive!” Ruth witnessed a miracle!
We, as Christians, have just witnessed the miracle of Easter. Those that have left us already and arrived in heaven are witnessing a powerful display of His love. They are experiencing a sense of joy and peace, comfort and support, grace and forgiveness, and a sense of belonging which we can only imagine at this point.
The songwriter Charles Austin Miles wrote the beautiful hymn In The Garden in 1912. He was inspired by the Biblical account of Mary Magdalene’s visit to the empty tomb of Jesus and her encounter with the resurrected Christ “in the garden.”
The words give me a picture of what the words, see you in the morning might mean to us. I come to the garden alone; while the dew is still on the roses, and the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses: And He walks with me, and He talks with me; And He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, no other, has ever known.
This Easter promise is given to every Christian, and it says, see you in the morning.