Luke 24:1-12
Some things to note in Luke’s account of the Sunday morning.
The women go at first
light, really early, maybe even pre-dawn.
They were following
the customs of caring for the body.
The tomb was empty,
then two men in dazzling clothes – reminiscent of the people in dazzling clothes
at Transfiguration [maybe] – appear.
The women tell the
men.
The men think the
women are talking nonsense.
Peter goes and checks
it out and doesn’t know what to make of it.
Some ancient texts do
not have the verse where Peter goes and looks in the tomb, the story ends with the
women not being believed.
Now that would make
for an interesting ending.
The women came and
told the disciples the tomb was empty, they didn’t believe the women.
End of story.
And the biggie - Jesus
does not appear!
That’s right, in Luke’s
Sunday morning account, we have women and spices and an empty tomb and men in white
dazzling clothes, but no Jesus.
…..
We sit here this morning celebrating resurrection, yet on the Sunday morning of that first Easter, there was mystery and possibility.
The ones dressed in
dazzling clothes spoke of what Jesus had said before his death, and the women remembered.
There is a slow
realisation of what is happening.
I wonder if it is like a seed being planted, most of what it needs to grow into a plant is within it. during the time a seed germinates it looks like nothing is happening, but much is happening under the soil. When we are faced with major changes to our thinking, we too need time to see how this new experience fits into our world.
[I will have seeds for
people as they leave]
A major change in our world view takes time, not a click of our fingers. All the clues Jesus had given in his life did not make sense to the disciples, or the others who followed Jesus. Now, following from the words of the ones dressed in white, they begin to sift through their memories.
The women showed courage to go to the tomb on Sunday morning. Jesus was executed because he upset the religious leaders, what would they do with women tending to his body? But the women go, as dictated by tradition, the body needed to be prepared properly for burial, and this would be done, even though he had already been placed in the tomb.
Notice no-one says I told you so, no-one says we knew this would happen, no-one shouts Hallelujah. No-one was expecting this to happen, even though Jesus had told them about it beforehand.
The men in dazzling white ask: Why are you looking in the place of the dead for someone who is alive?
I imagine the women thinking: But he was dead, we saw
his body taken form the cross and paced in the tomb, and dead people stay dead,
well expect for Lazarus, but that was a miracle, and ….
I understand why the women scratched their heads; I understand
why the eleven thought they were talking nonsense; the idea of someone rising from
death, even Jesus, takes a while to get your head around.
I sometimes wonder if the gospels and in particular the story of resurrection is so amazing that we don’t think too much about it, because if we did it would create too many questions for us.
Each of the Gospel writers includes different accounts of Jesus appearing after the resurrection, including:
- · Jesus
appearing behind locked doors, so maybe a ghost
- · but
then Jesus eats in other stories, so not a ghost;
- · in
some of the resurrection appearances people recognise him instantly,
- · and
in others they do not recognise him.
It seems so
easy to say the words I believe in the resurrection. But can you explain that
to someone who has not experienced Jesus?
Yet I know that the resurrection is real, not because I can explain it, not because I understand it, but because of the new life I have been offered.
I believe because of my experience, because of times when the presence of God is all that kept me breathing; because of times when I have been aware of something happening in my life, of a warmth, a glow, a voice. I don’t understand any of these things, but they happened to me, and still do; and the Christian gospel is what makes sense of those experiences for me.
The Gospel isn’t just about God and me, sure there is the personal relationship that we have through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus; but there is more to it than that.
Believing is one thing, but the call of Jesus is not to believe, but to follow. Not just about what is in our head, or even our heart, but our hands, our voice, our life.
Will we listen to the voices of women speaking about violence and harassment without discounting their experience because it is not our experience.
Will we listen to
experience of people addicted to drugs without condemning them to prison.
Will we listen
to the voices of our indigenous brothers and sisters without discounting their experience
because it is not our experience.
The Uniting
Church Synod of NSW and ACT is encouraging people to sign a petition based on a
decision of the Synod meeting in 2019, in support of the Statement from the
Heart and the establishment of a Makarrata (Truth Telling) Commission. If you would like to more know, talk to me,
and I can provide you with further information, or look at our Facebook page.
Once the gospel
is about more than me and Jesus and heaven;
once we read the gospel as a manifesto to change the world,
to rid the world of terror and violence and oppression and poverty;
the gospel becomes more uncomfortable.
Because if I am honest, the transformation Jesus is asking us to work towards, a kingdom of peace and justice, is at odds with my lifestyle. The transformation Jesus is asking me to work towards, the transformation not only of my heart and my life, but the transformation of the community and nation, is about more than me.
It asks for my voice, just like the women used their voices, even when not believed.
It asks me to
add my voice to the voices of the Pacific Islanders being disposessed because of
climate change, even if it means limiting my petrol and energy usage.
Resurrection tells me that
- the impossible is possible;
- · that renewal is possible;
- ·
that we already have what we need for the next step
in our journey,
when we look deep within ourselves
Resurrection,
new life, a new Kingdom is about
- · justice that transforms not retribution
- · peace that is abundant life not stifling
- · hope based on trust, not wishful thinking.
Resurrection can
be life changing, will we let it be transforming?
Will we work for
the coming of a new kingdom?
Are you open to
new possibilities?
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