(Shuffle papers on the lecture. Look around frantically.) Well, where is it? I know I left it right here on the lecture – and now it’s gone. Sam, did you move it? Gary? Janice? Did either of you take it with you? I know I left it right here, and it obviously isn’t here now.) How many of you have every lost something, and you know exactly where you left it – or at least are pretty sure where you left it? But when you go back looking for it, it’s gone, just disappeared? I think most of us have had that experience – and probably more than once in our lifetime. It happened to me on Friday when we got in to start the noon service - We have a tendency to live pretty fast lives and especially when we are in a hurry we forget things or lay things down without thinking about it.
Well, around 30 AD people didn’t live lives as fast as we do today. At least I hope they didn’t. They didn’t have phones ringing in their ears (literally). They didn’t have baseball and TV and movies and theater and Nascar all vying for their attention – taking them away from church and family on Easter morning. Oh, wait; they didn’t have Easter morning either, did they?
I’m told that many years ago, there were missionaries on a remote island who were teaching a group of natives about Jesus. These natives had never heard the gospel story. They were filled with joy and hope as they learned about Jesus, what he did and said. Then came Good Friday and the missionaries told them about the arrest, trial and death of Jesus. Not knowing the rest of the story, they went away with heavy hearts at the devastating loss of this Jesus whom they had learned to love. Then on Sunday morning they returned to the missionaries under the shadow of death and were (as Paul Harvey would say) told the rest of the story - the resurrection. Their joy at learning of the resurrection of Jesus was unbounded. They leapt for joy and danced around singing and rejoicing. I think we’ve lost that kind of response to the resurrection story. Yes, we are happy about it, but in a reserved way. “Oh yes, Jesus died for us, and he was resurrected and that means we will have eternal life.” Where’s the “Hallelujah! Christ is alive!”?
That first Easter morning was the day after the Passover according to John. Jesus had been buried in a hurry – but they knew he was dead and they knew he was buried and they knew exactly where he was buried – and they had seen the stone rolled in front of the tomb. So when Mary saw the stone rolled away, she was very confused. She ran back to the disciples and told them that Jesus was gone. Peter and John ran to the tomb. John being younger reached the tomb first and looked in. The scripture said that he believed – he believed that Jesus was gone. The scripture also says that they didn’t yet understand the scriptures. Peter went inside to look around and John followed him in. So being men, they simply decided there was nothing else they could do. They may have believed that Jesus had risen and gone to the Father, but there was nothing more they could do. So they let it go, and they went back home. Not unusual for the disciples, they misinterpreted the meaning of the empty tomb. Since Jesus had risen and gone to the Father, they accepted that they would not see him again.
Mary wasn’t quite in the same place emotionally as the men. This was something of a devastating loss for her. For many of us, it’s important to be able to go to the place where our loved one is buried. It allows us to feel close to that person – even when we know “they” aren’t there. Sitting by the graveside can become a place where we meet and speak with God about how much this person meant to us. It can be an acknowledgement that we’re going to miss them, that they were an important part of our life. Even though we know they are gone, it helps us to feel close.
Mary had gone to weep, to mourn - to grieve in the only way she knew how - to be near Jesus even in death. But now even that was denied her. And she missed that opportunity to feel close – to grieve at the tomb where his body lay. She stayed and not being able to accept that he was gone, she asked the gardener, “If you have carried him away, please tell me so that I may take him away.” She wasn’t expecting to see Jesus – only his body, so when the person she thought was the gardener called her by name it surprised her, but she recognized the voice speaking her name.
When we are terribly grieved; when we feel all alone; when we are lost and don’t know where to turn; it is then that the Lord speaks to us. Through the pain and confusion, Jesus calls us by name. And he says, “I am here. I will sustain you. Do not cling, but go and tell others that I live, that I will come to them also, in their hour of need.”
The message we receive is that because Jesus has risen and has ascended to the Father, he has escaped the prison of this earthly life and is now available to anyone who need him. There are stories of children who have never been to church, never heard the name of Jesus,` who in a time of great need meet and are sustained by Jesus. When we feel the most lost, when we are the most hopeless, that is when Jesus comes to us, in our pain, and through our confusion. He is there. He is here! He is risen.
You are called to continue the story – it is your turn to go out and to tell others that Jesus Christ has indeed risen from the dead. Our presiding bishop, in his address from Jerusalem reminded us that “Because He lives, we can face tomorrow.” I can face tomorrow! You can face tomorrow! Regardless of what tomorrow brings!
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
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