On this Easter Day I would like to think about Luke's account of the Resurrection.
"They found
the stone rolled away from the tomb,
but when
they went in, they did not find the body.
While they
were perplexed about this,
suddenly
two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them."
(Luke 24: 2-4)
I wonder if any of you enjoy a good mystery story? A
“Whodunit?" Or even a game of Cleudo? I have a mystery for you. It happened one Sunday morning.
The
man went to bed on Saturday night, set his alarm to go off at the normal time, and went to sleep. Sunday morning…BRINNNGGGG…off
it went as usual, and (as usual) he stretched, he yawned, he dressed, had a bowl of cereal, a piece of toast, and a glass
of Fresh Orange for breakfast. Then he wandered down to the corner store to
get a Sunday Newspaper.
On the way to the store, which was the other
side of the railway tracks, he watched for the 8:55 train to go past. But the crossing
barriers were up and no train was in sight. He wandered across to the corner store and found it was closed. He thought about
hammering on the door, but hesitated in case the owner had been taken sick or even died! So home he went with no paper.
He drove down to church for Sunday school at 10:00 and arrived twenty minutes early. He waited and waited
and nobody came. He waited till twenty minutes after ten and then got back into his car, turned on the radio and solved the
mystery. The solution: It was October and time to put the clocks back an hour. He only realized he had neglected to do so
when the radio announcer gave out the time.
Have
you ever been in a situation where things just didn't add up? When it's almost like everyone else knew a secret, but nobody
told you? It was a bit like that for the women on the first Easter morning. They
had seen Jesus cruelly murdered and went to His tomb, hoping in some way to persuade the soldiers to move the great big stone
that blocked the entrance so that they could prepare the body with spices, as was the custom in those times. But when they got there - no soldiers - and the stone had moved.
This
wasn't the way things were meant to be. Luke tells us "They found the stone rolled
away from the entrance." It was a big stone, bigger and much heavier than, let's say, our communion table.
Now
imagine if last night we had set out the communion things, prepared the church for this morning’s service, and then
come back this morning and found no decorations, no bread and wine, and no table either, with the doors open, the lights on,
but no sign of any breaking or entering.
You'd
walk in here, look around, walk out again, scratch your head…hum…and be totally puzzled. It's always a mystery
when things go missing. Luke tells us of the women who discovered the stone rolled away, "They went in; but they couldn't find the body of Jesus."
Many
moons ago when I was playing in a band, before we could play anywhere we had to set up all our gear – Amplifiers, P.A.
system, Drums, and all that stuff. It was messy work getting it out of the van. So I used to carry around an old sweater that
it didn't matter much if it got messed up. This sweater was one of those hand me down things.
My sister (who is 8 years older than me) had it first, then it got passed to my brother, and eventually, years down
the line, it came to me.
After
one concert we were putting all the equipment away and loading it up, but there was one thing missing. Was it my flashy guitar? The drummer’s expensive new 'Paiste' Cymbal? A microphone? No....my mangy
old sweater! We looked high and low for it and could only reach the conclusion
that some young punk-rocker had taken a shine to it and decided to add it to his wardrobe.
You
can understand somebody stealing something of value, but it would be strange for some one to steal some thing that would be
of little use, like a dead body for instance.
The
women on the first Easter Sunday looked around the tomb, but they couldn't find the dead body. You can imagine them going
in, looking around, going out, and wondering "Are you sure this is the place?" Luke records, "They stood there puzzled about this."
Puzzled
they would be. Matthew tells us that it was because the authorities were worried about something like this happening that
the tomb was being guarded by soldiers. And the women knew the disciples hadn't
stolen the body, because they were all back home, hiding up together, afraid to go out unless the same fate awaited them as
had befallen Jesus.
Remember
our little mystery at the beginning, how it was only when the man switched on the radio he found out that time had changed? At the first Easter, the women found out that time was about to change for them when
they were confronted by messengers of God who told them Jesus had been raised. "Why
are you looking amongst the dead for one who is alive? He is not here. He has
been raised! Remember… what He said to you... The Son of Man must be crucified
and three days later rise to life."
And
the women DID remember! And everything started to make sense again. What a glorious
moment in time that was. At the moment in time the message grasped them, and
for the rest of their lives they would tell all who would listen:
“Christ is Risen; He is Risen indeed!”
Around ten years ago, not long before we departed
from the shores of Great Britain
to move here, Yvonne's family threw a party for Yvonne's now passed-into-glory mother. They got all the relatives from all over to come to a particular hotel, and Yvonne’s mum knew nothing
about it. Well, when she walked into that room, saw a few faces she recognized,
then a few more, and then everybody…well…her face was a picture of joy!
Something we’ll always treasure and remember, a truly delightful joyful moment.
On
British television they used to have a TV show called "Surprise, Surprise." It
should have won a prize for some of the worst lyrics of a theme song I've ever come across, having a line that went:-
"Surprise, Surprise,
The unexpected hits you -
between the eyes!"
The
program was all about reuniting people and making their dreams come true. It
was very much one of those programs where you needed a box of tissues nearby, because invariably it brought a lump to your
throat – full of moments of… well… surprise.
But
nothing can compare with the joy that should be central to our Easter Celebrations, the joy that greeted the women as the
realization of the resurrection gripped their hearts, and the realization of all that the resurrection represents:
ü That love can conquer hate,
ü That life can overcome death,
ü That light can triumph over darkness.
When that resurrection realization "hits us between
the eyes,"
life is
never and can never be the same again!
Of
course there will always be those, who like the disciples at first did, dismiss the whole thing as nonsense. There will be others, who though amazed, will struggle with their doubts before they let that joy get a
grip on them.
For
ourselves, let us allow the message of new-life to transform our lives - at this moment in time, and in this place. As we
gather around a table laid with bread and wine that represent the sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ, let us recognize that
this is a table bathed in resurrection light; that this is a feast to remember… not a dead hero, but a living savior…
not a tragic defeat, but a glorious new beginning! Oh how I pray that resurrection joy will grip our hearts today!
“Christ is Risen - He is risen indeed!”
AMEN!
Rev. Adrian J. Pratt
