"Every town should have something like this," was the response of a woman from a neighboring town who attended the third annual noontime celebration of Easter at Monument Square in the center of Concord, Massachusetts. She had come because she had read about it in her local newspaper. Christians are invited to transcend denominational differences, assemble on the town green after attending their respective places of worship and give a one sentence public declaration of the crowning creed of the church- what the resurrection of Christ personally means to them. "It is putting our freedom of assembly and freedom of speech to good use," said one of the organizers from Concord's New Life Community Church.

"I found the part when people lined up to speak from their hearts especially powerful," said a young Jewish man who describes himself as spiritually seeking. "It's beginning to make sense to me." Another said, "Today I see how His story can affect our story."

A small fife and drum corps led a procession through Concord's main street to the tune of "Thine Be the Glory". Marchers of all ages carried yellow and purple balloons making their way to the Green at the center of this New England town. Concord is known as A CRADLE OF LIBERTY (for the colonists first successful resistance to the British redcoats at the North Bridge in the struggle for independence) AND LITERATURE (for the works that distinguished American prose by such resident authors as Emerson, Thoreau, the Alcotts and Nathaniel Hawthorne).

Children participated in a festive mime rendition of "The Lord of the Dance" on a specially constructed stage around the obelisk monument with the chiseled inscription "Faithful unto Death". The crowd joined in singing joyous Easter songs.

The following is a summary of my comments as officiator in this celebration yesterday:

Our coming to the center of town to share the good news of the risen Christ is symbolic of Christ coming to the center of our private and public lives. We are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is about the power of God changing lives.

Our town is rich in historical sites that have become national symbols- The Old North Bridge has become a symbol of liberty, where common folk resisted the unjust intrusion of an imposing government; Walden Pond has become a symbol for refocusing our lives so as to become better students and stewards of nature. The site of the Jethro Tree just off this Green is a symbol of covenant 'peace-making', where Concord (meaning peace, harmony and unity) was originally purchased from the Musketaquid tribe of Massachusetts Indians. In attendance then were Indians Tantamous (Jethro) and Waban (meaning 'wind'). They were among the first converts to Christianity under the ministry of John Eliot. Waban, once converted became known as 'Inspirer' among the Praying Indians, as they were called, and Tantamous as 'Jethro'. Tantamous was the first native American missionary to other native American tribes, taking the gospel to the Indians at Waushakem. These Praying Indians came back to Concord and reprimanded the English for waiting so long before sharing the gospel with them. "Had you done it sooner," they said, "much sin" (and bloodshed) "might have been prevented." According to Lemuel Shattuck's History of Concord, the English answered, "We do repent that we did not do long ago as we do now." Let us not be guilty of keeping the good news of the resurrection to ourselves.

On Easter we commemorate other sites that have become symbols - symbols of a universal dimension - symbols of liberty, life-change and a covenant relationship with God. The cross, sometimes called a 'tree of death', was a crude means for the public execution of convicted criminals. However through the death of one perfectly innocent victim the 'tree of death' became a 'tree of life'. The law carved in stone that condemned us all as sinners and gave us a death sentence, demanding our capital punishment, was satisfied through the willing sacrifice of a sinless Savior, Jesus Christ. The stone table breaks.

The same Jesus who died for us rises from the dead, just as He said He would. In the history of the church recorded in the book of Acts, Peter preached "God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." (Acts 2:24 NIV).

Jesus purchases our freedom and reverses the curse of death. The Cross becomes a symbol of liberty. His laid down life becomes a bridge of freedom to all those who will pass over it by faith.

The cross did not become a symbol for Christianity until the fourth century, at least one generation after this hideous means of torture and death had been outlawed. Before the cross was ever used as a symbol for Christianity, Christians identified their movement using the sign of a fish. The Greek word for 'fish', 'icthus', was an acronym for that which refocused their lives on a central truth to the degree that they became lifelong students and stewards of it:

Iesous-Jesus; Christos-Christ; Theos- God; Huios- Son- Soter-Savior;

As the town of Concord was purchased by covenant under the shadow of the Jethro Tree, so true and lasting peace, has been legally deeded to us, if we will receive it, under the shadow of another tree, the tree of Calvary.

We gather to proclaim on this Easter Sunday when we commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ that through His laid down life He offers all who will come to Him a bridge to freedom. Through His victory over death, He is powerfully declared by God to be His Son; this world's only Savior, Life Changer and Lord. The revelation of Who He Is refocuses our lives. As Savior, He is worthy of our trust. As Lord, He is worthy of our obedience.

Because the tomb is empty, our hearts can be full,