A preacher in a small church wanted to come up with a unique way for his congregation to experience Easter. He decided he would enlist the children in the church to help him. The week before Easter Sunday, the preacher went to a local department store and bought enough small bells for every child in the church to have two or three. He tied them together using yarn so that the children could wear the bells around their wrists. He told them that he wanted them to listen very closely to the sermon and every time they heard the word “resurrection,” he wanted them to raise their arms and shake their wrists so that the bells would ring all over the congregation.

The preacher was delighted as the children entered the sanctuary for the Easter service. The bells could be heard everywhere as the children walked in, arms swinging. And during the sermon it also worked well. Every time the minister said “resurrection,” a chorus of bells would ring throughout the sanctuary. It was obvious that the preacher, the children and everyone in the church thoroughly enjoyed the service.

But the preacher also noticed that there was occasional unauthorized ringing. A child would forget about the bells and scratch an ear or nose. The bell would ring. A child would wave to a friend, the bell would ring. And sometimes, when the waiting became too much, when “resurrection” was not heard in a timely manner, a bell would ring.

At the end of the sermon the preacher stopped for a moment and talked about these unauthorized bells ringing. With a broad grin he said, “I guess this proves you just can’t keep the resurrection quiet.”