Acts 10:34-43
Colossians 3:1-4
John 20:1-18
Risen Lord, fill our hearts with Easter joy.
May the light of your new life shine forth from us,
So that we may fill the world
with good news of your resurrection .
Dying you destroyed our death,
Rising you restored our life.
Happy Easter! Christ in Risen!
There are no better stories than ones that start off badly and sadly and end gladly in glory. However, we must avoid the temptation to assume that the pain and terror, the confusion and sorrow of Good Friday is all washed away by Easter Sunday. This is not a story that can have a bow tied around to tidy up for another year. Nor is it one that we can discount like the chocolate eggs still in the grocery stores.
The Easter story is one that moves and transforms us. It should deepen our Christian lives and witness each time we hear it.
Thomas Merton, an American Trappist monk and poet, who lived from 1915-1968, wrote a little book called ‘He is Risen’. It begins with:
‘He has risen, he is not here… he is going before you to Galilee. (Mark 16:6-7)
Christ is risen. Christ lives.
Christ is the Lord of the living and the dead.
He is the Lord of history.
Christ is the Lord of a history that moves.
He not only holds the beginning and the end in his hands,
But he is in history with us, walking ahead of us to where we are going.
He is not always in the same place.
Let this be a helpful guide to us this Easter Day. He walks ahead of us to where we are going. He is not always in the same place.
The resurrection of Jesus is a story of love and transformation. The Church is to be a place of love and transformation. The Church needs to apologise for when it fails to be loving; when it meets the stereotypes of being a place of judgment, unkindness, rigidity; when it would rather maintain rules than build relationships. We need to walk ahead; our leader certainly has.
The first Easter day began in darkness, Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb early. She was likely one of the last to leave on Friday; Mary knew the tomb had been sealed with a giant stone. Jesus was not in the place where Mary had left him.
So she ran to find Peter and John. Imagine that conversation, out of breath, trying to get the words out. Exhausted, confused – ‘they have taken the Lord out of the tomb!’ Mary was convincing enough for Peter and John to set out running. John gets there first; younger and faster but he is not able to bring himself to enter. Peter goes straight in. He finds the linen wrappings empty. Jesus was definitely not in the place where He was last seen.
Maybe some here this morning feel dislocated from the Church or faith. Maybe you have been looking for something and not found it. Looking to the world, to society is not providing the answers we need and lacks certainty and truth. Or maybe you have been looking within and found that your own resources are depleted. The Church can sometimes appear to be empty and lacking too.
Maybe God is not in the same place you thought He might be.
Maybe it is time to stand still. Mary got back to the tomb after Peter and John and stood weeping. She stopped for a while. Then probably got the second biggest shock of her life although her reaction seems subdued. Two angels sitting where Jesus had been. A brief conversation ensues and then Mary turns around.
At first she does not recognise Jesus. Mary Magdalene who had been an early follower of Jesus since her healing/exorcism of the seven demons, does not recognise Him. This is almost unbelievable that someone so close to Jesus cannot recognise Him – even after two days apart. Jesus was not in the same place and neither was Mary.
It is not until Jesus calls her by name and she gets the greatest shock of her life. Mary needed to be called back. Back to The One who had healed and redeemed, who loved her more than any other. Mary is called back to move forward. We too need to be called back to move forward. Jesus walks ahead of Mary and He walks ahead of us.
Peter had a similar experience of being called back to move ahead. Peter the fisherman turned zealous follower turned Good Friday denier turned Easter Sunday runner to being restored by Jesus on the shores of Lake Galilee is now preaching and teaching in Caesarea. Peter is preaching about belief in Jesus and the forgiveness of sins. Peter knows what he is saying is true because he witnessed it, he received it and committed himself to living it out until his own crucifixion. Peter has taken the commandments of Jesus to share the Good News seriously.
Paul, who wrote the letter to the Colossians, is telling us to seek Christ and to seek things that are above. Paul gets it too, although he never met Jesus while He was alive. Paul was on the opposing side, the enemy of Jesus and his followers. In a flash of light, Paul’s direction changed. Jesus was not going to leave Paul where He was. He did not leave Mary or Peter the same either.
On this Easter Sunday, my prayer is that we will watch for Jesus in new ways. Not in the traditions, assumptions or habits of the old but in the newness of the Easter season. If you cannot seem to find God in the same place, maybe it is time to scan the horizon and look again. He is walking ahead of us.
Thomas Merton again…
Christ is risen. Christ lives.
Christ is the Lord of the living and the dead.
He is the Lord of history.
Christ is the Lord of a history that moves.
He not only holds the beginning and the end in his hands,
But he is in history with us, walking ahead of us to where we are going.
He is not always in the same place.
