I preached one of my worst sermons on Easter Sunday seven years ago. On paper, it looked like a masterpiece. It preached like a wounded duck. Here’s what happened.

Ever noticed how many people in the gospels run in response to the news of the resurrection? You’ve got people running to the tomb, from the tomb, etc. Well, I had the brilliant idea of preaching about how the resurrection gives us the energy to run. I unpacked a number of scenarios in which we’re running to Jesus, away from sin, with each other, etc. Honestly I’ve tried to forget as much about it as possible.

To enhance the sermon, I had a buddy of mine (are you out there Kyle Schei?) take footage from the movie Run Lola Run and loop it on a screen so that throughout the service we could watch Lola, um, run. Then I’d get up and preach about running.

It didn’t work. The sermon itself was half-baked and contrived. The added visual only made it worse. People left the service wondering if I really understood the gospel and I went home and started looking through the classifieds for a new career.

I learned a valuable lesson from that experience. Easter Sunday is not the time to get cute or gimmicky with your preaching. If you want to try something cute or gimmicky in a sermon, save it for Daylight Satan (Savings) Sunday. That way if you come up with a good idea, it will wake everyone up and if you flop no one will be conscious enough to notice or remember it.

Easter doesn’t need our gimmicks. It doesn’t need our creative help. Easter stands on its own. It doesn’t need us to pump excitement into it. Easter generates its own energy. Simply tell the story and let the gospel do its thing. Since that failure, I’ve tried to preach Easter sermons that are simple, to the point, and don’t obscure the view of the empty tomb or get in the way of what the risen Jesus might be up to that day.