a pearl downunder: Matthew 28:1-10

Saturday, 20 April 2019

Resurrection Go and Tell

the one who died is now alive

the tomb, sealed and guarded

is now empty

resurrection
new life
death conquered by love

A quote:

“The proof that God raised Jesus from the dead is not the empty tomb,

but the full hearts of his transformed disciples.

The crowning evidence that he lives is not a vacant grave,

but a spirit-filled fellowship.

Not a rolled-away stone, but a carried-away church.”

(Clarence Jordan).

Today is a day to celebrate the wondrous “yes” of God despite all that the world tries to do to stifle that affirmation[i]

resurrection happens whenever oppression is turned into freedom

resurrection happens whenever injustice is turned into liberation

resurrection happens whenever someone has found the space

to love after being hurt,

resurrection happens whenever someone has found the courage to begin again when it seems life has ended[ii]

.…

This passage again has angels

Mary was told not to be afraid when an angel told her of God’s plan for her to have a child.

Joseph was told in a dream not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife.

The Shepherds were told don’t be afraid when the night sky lit up with angels announcing the birth of Jesus

It seems that angels must be scary, every time they speak to someone, the first thing they say is ‘don’t be afraid’.

Or maybe it is because no one expects to see an angel.

And the women who went to the tomb were certainly not expecting what happened that morning.

They were not expecting an angel,

or an empty tomb,

or to meet Jesus.

The women had seen what had happened on Friday,

the crucifixion and burial,

they were coming to mourn.

Some gospels mention burial spices,

but not Matthew.

Matthew has the women going to see the tomb,

maybe they hoped to feel close to Jesus there.

But,

something happened that morning,

something extraordinary and amazing and earth shattering.

An earthquake, Matthew records 2 earthquakes, one as Jesus dies and one of Sunday morning.

Death and new life are earth-shattering events.

……………..

I wonder what it was like for the women that morning,

Going to the tomb, my guess is sad, and maybe concerned about getting into trouble for even being there.

Then when an angel rolled the stone away, and spoke to them?

And then when Jesus spoke to them?

Then they grabbed his feet and worshipped him.

They went to grieve at the tomb,

and end up worshipping Jesus.

Sometimes the best things in life are surprises J

Every so often something happens in our lives that is life changing, and in my experience, that is often accompanied by pain or fear, or both J

I wonder what this story has for us today, most of us have heard this story, or variations of it from Mark, Luke and John, many times over.

I have a cartoon that reads: “Look at that! Brilliant! You kill the leader and you nip the whole movement in the bud.”

And then just a few days later, the leader isn’t dead anymore, and the movement …

The movement has lasted another 2000 years.

What shape is the Jesus movement in today?

Where do we see signs of resurrection in our own lives and in the world?

Both the angel and Jesus tell the women: don’t be afraid, and then ‘to go and tell’.

Don’t be afraid, go and tell.

Tell the story of Jesus –

The story of compassion,

of grace,

of inclusion,

of acceptance,

of healing,

of liberation.

Tell it in words and actions

Tell it with your time and your money,

with your voice and your hands,

tell the story of love with your life.

Don’t be afraid, go and tell

[i] Spill the beans

[ii] Based on May the Resurrection Come by Cheryl Laurie, on [hold this space]. holdthisspace.org

Saturday, 15 April 2017

The newspaper article is about the Mother of All Bombs the USA dropped on Afghanistan, and how Russia has the Father of all Bombs, which is even bigger, and on the news last night there was a story about North Korea and weapons.

The angel said: don’t be afraid.

It seems that so much of our time and expertise goes into killing and maiming and destroying people and buildings and the earth. Just like Pax Romano – the peace of the Roman Empire. Do what you are told, don’t make a fuss and no-one gets hurt. Except we all are hurt by the constraint and the fear that such a regime imposes.

The women who went to the tomb early on Sunday morning, were not expecting anything to have changed. The dead body of Jesus had been wrapped in a cloth and placed in a tomb, and sealed tight.

Then Matthew writes of an earthquake;

and the stone is rolled away;

and an angel says to them: don’t be afraid.

I don’t know about you, but if the person who I thought was God had just been executed, and then then the second earth tremor in 3 days and then an angel speaking to me, well I think I might be terrified.

As people who believe in the life changing power of resurrection, in whatever way we understand that, it can be tempting to end the story here. We have been through Lent, and Holy Week, and read or listened to the long chapters of betrayal, arrest, mistreatment, and crucifixion, and finally we get the happy ending to the story. Jesus is alive. The end.

But the resurrection is not the end of the story.

The story of God’s love did not start with the birth of Jesus and did not finish with the death, or even resurrection of Jesus.

I wonder what it means to not be afraid, when we live in a world where it is easy to see the pain of Good Friday; tragedies of suicide; terrorism; famine; child abuse; violence in the home; ….

How might resurrection speak to the pain and fear that infects our lives?

The story of God’s love for the world and each one of us continues as long as we tell the story and live the story.

Last Sunday I spoke about how Jesus came to change the game, to bring in a new way of being, a new kingdom.
Jesus didn’t come to beat the Romans with military might.

Jesus didn’t come to beat the religious leaders in spirituality contest.

Jesu came to show a different way of living.

One without fear

One without oppression

Without violence

Without hate and poverty.

A letter to the editor this week suggested that instead of weapons, the US could drop bombs of food and books and medicine. This reminded me of a story:

“Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon.
A happiness weapon.
A beauty bomb.
And every time a crisis developed,
we would launch one.
It would explode high in the air -
explode softly - and send thousands, millions,
of little parachutes into the air.
Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas.
And we wouldn't go cheap, either -
not little boxes of eight.
Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in.
With silver and gold and copper,
magenta and peach and lime,
amber and umber and all the rest.
And people would smile
and get a little funny look on their faces
and cover the world with imagination.” [i]

What if instead of seeing how has the biggest bomb that can destroy more people, we didn’t retaliate, we bombed with love and hope and beauty and food?

What if instead of seeing who is the fastest or the brightest or the one with the most toys, we encouraged each other to live out the life God has given us, to use what we have for the good of the Kingdom of God?

The story of the life and death and resurrection continues to be told today. Because the women at the tomb went and told the disciples. And after Jesus appeared to the disciples, they wrote of their experiences.

Peter spoke: We are witnesses of everything that he did in the land of Israel and in Jerusalem. … And he commanded us to preach the gospel to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God has appointed judge of the living and the dead.”