Easter Sunday, Year C
Here we are once again, standing at the entrance to an empty tomb. Throughout our lives we have looked for hope, for meaning and purpose, for a better world and a new beginning. Even now, with varying degrees of faith and confidence, we come to this Easter morning peering into the tomb, well aware of death and despair, fear and anxiety and the great sorrows that have brought us to this place. And yet, we are looking. We are listening. We are hoping for deliverance from suffering and wounds, from tyrannical leaders and corrupt authority. We have had too much of chaos and destruction, of loss and grief. We are weighed down by the cares of this world and we long to be uplifted, renewed, dare I say, even resurrected. We stand at the entrance to the tomb with heavy hearts and our heads bowed down with grief.
We can relate to those whom Isaiah addressed in our first lesson, who suffered under tyrannical leadership. We have heard the weeping of people who are victims of war and violence. We have seen photos of the deaths of infants who lived only a few days before bombs, malnutrition or preventable diseases took their lives. We have watched as people were taken from their homes ending up as refugees, as those displaced from their traditional lands and as homeless on our sidewalks.
We have heard of the deaths of despair caused by childhood trauma, addiction and mental illness, of those who have lost hope for a better life. We are standing at the entrance to the tomb and we expect to find only death and decay within.
We can relate to the early Christians who were called foolish and stupid for following a crucified leader. Some of you have been called naive or even weak for caring about the most vulnerable in our communities. Values you have held as precious including welcoming the stranger, feeding the hungry, visiting the prisoner and working towards Beloved Community that is welcoming, inclusive and diverse are now being ridiculed, denied and punished. Those with empathy are being pitied and ridiculed. Those who protest or stand up for what’s right are punished and silenced. We are standing at the entrance to the tomb, mustering all our courage to face the powers that would destroy the innocent and the fear we have for our own lives.
It’s Easter morning and we have come to this day and this place with Mary, our sister in grief, fragile faith, and courage. Mary expected to find a body. She expected decay to have begun three days after the death of Jesus. She came in sorrow and shattered hope. She arrived while the guards were away or asleep since all followers of Jesus were suspect and might be detained.
She had watched as he, an innocent man, the most beautiful and blessed, was tortured, mocked and killed. When she encountered an open tomb, she expected to find a body and when the absence became clear she was overwhelmed again by confusion, disbelief and fear.
“They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Mary stands at the entrance to the empty tomb but she is not alone.
Two angels are in residence. They mark the place where the body of Jesus had lain. They fill the tomb with glory and mystery, with a presence that is more powerful than mere humans can comprehend.
In her confusion, Mary turns to a humble gardener, someone she would not be afraid of, someone who might be able to tell her where her beloved has been taken. A gardener nurtures life. A gardener tends to the beauty of the earth. A gardener is not a compelling angel, a frightening soldier or any kind of threat. A gardener knows about life and death and has their hands in the soil.
But this is no ordinary gardener. And when he calls her by name, Mary truly recognizes him and hears his voice. Her confusion is turned to wonder. Her grief is pierced with hope. Sorrow turns to joy. She was looking for Jesus in the tomb, in the place of death and despair but he is not found there. He is discovered in relationship, in the humble acts of care, teaching and feeding that he will share with those who love him and can recognize him.
Mary won’t be able to hold onto his physical body, but everything in her life is transformed by her encounter with his resurrected presence.
Are you looking for Jesus today? Are you looking for faith, hope and love? Are you standing at the entrance to the tomb, well aware of darkness and the potential for death and destruction?
You won’t find him in the dried-out rules of religion, or the threats of exclusion for those deemed sinners or unworthy. He won’t be identified with any particular national politics or politician. You won’t find him in charge of a political party or a protest movement. He can’t be found trading human lives and potential for monetary gain or punishing others economically to increase personal riches.
But you can still hear the sound of his voice and witness him in his resurrected body.
- You will find him in the guise of a gardener, nurturing life into fruitfulness.
- You will find him in the wounded ones left in the ditch to die, passed by and ignored by both religious and political figures.
- You will find him at meals, where strangers become friends, where bread and wine are shared and where the rich aroma of holy, healing oil permeates the air.
- You will find him in the midst of children with his robe dirtied by little feet and his face covered in sticky kisses.
- Mary won’t be able to hold onto his physical body, but everything in her life is transformed by her encounter with his resurrected presence.
- Are you looking for Jesus today? Are you looking for faith, hope and love? Are you standing at the entrance to the tomb, well aware of darkness and the potential for death and destruction?
- You won’t find him in the dried-out rules of religion, or the threats of exclusion for those deemed sinners or unworthy. He won’t be identified with any particular national politics or politician. You won’t find him in charge of a political party or a protest movement. He can’t be found trading human lives and potential for monetary gain or punishing others economically to increase personal riches.
- But you can still hear the sound of his voice and witness him in his resurrected body.
- You will find him in the guise of a gardener, nurturing life into fruitfulness.
- You will find him in the wounded ones left in the ditch to die, passed by and ignored by both religious and political figures.
- You will find him at meals, where strangers become friends, where bread and wine are shared and where the rich aroma of holy, healing oil permeates the air.
- You will find him in the midst of children with his robe dirtied by little feet and his face covered in sticky kisses.
Even when you don’t know what you are looking for, but only that everything else you have tried and search for in authority, leadership, meaning, causes, health and healing has filed you, only then will you hear the voice of Jesus and see him in his resurrected presence.
Look around today. Here there are others living in sacrificial service to those in need. Here there are beloved children, who are supported by a multi-generational community as they grow into faith, hope and love. Here there is holy food for everyone, no outcasts and no exceptions. You will hear voices raised in praise of the resurrected one. You will hear prayers for those in any kind of need, in body, mind and spirit, in this community, the nation and the world. We are part of the community of the resurrected Jesus, that spans distance, time and division. We are the ones who have stood at the entrance to pain, sorrow and death and heard the Holy One call us by name. Amen.
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