They Were Not There at the Beginning

You can listen to this sermon here

 Easter 2023 – Year A

First Reading:        Acts 10: 34-43                                                       
Gospel:                  Matt 28: 1-10 
 

What I want to say:

We are invited to bring our own trauma from recent times and to join the two Marys’ at the tomb.
And we are invite with them to have our world rocked and to know that God’s life cannot be contained. Jesus’ resurrection changes everything for them and us.  
We too are invited into the ongoing story to live resurrection lives. How have we met the risen Christ? How might we live resurrection?

What I want to happen:

where do you meet the resurrected Christ

The Sermon

They were not there at the beginning
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
but they had heard
from those who were
in the small fishing town of Capernaum
when Jesus came
from the wilderness
wild eyed
healing
teaching
inviting some to follow
They had heard of
Jesus gathering those first disciples
on a hill
overlooking Capernaum
overlooking life
in Rome’s Empire
with all it’s death and uncertainty
all it’s grinding poverty.
There Jesus gave words to his deeds
and spoke of God’s empire
Imagine, he said,
a world where we honour  
the poor 
the broken 
those who have lost hope 
How different would this world be? 
Imagine a world where the most important people are:
those who mourn,
the humble,
those who hunger and thirst for God’s justice,
the pure in heart,
the merciful,
the peacemakers,
those who are persecuted for the sake of God’s justice,
This is a world where all flourish
a community that gathers around all
where the common good is held as paramount
A world where the needs of the poor are met
Where they are treated with honour and respect
and given what they need to thrive.
 
They had not been there
when Jesus first spoke of this world
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
but they had heard and seen it
lived out each day in Jesus
healing and freeing
teaching life.
This is God’s covenant to Israel fulfilled.
God’s promises lived out.
It was why they were here now
walking towards his tomb.
 
They had been there
as they left Bethany
walking down the Mount of Olives
shouting with the others
“Hosanna
God save us
Praise God
Hosanna”
while others laid branches and clothes on his path.
 
They had been there as they entered the shadow
through the gates into Jerusalem
engulfed by so many other pilgrims
here for the great celebration
Passover
remembering God freeing God’s people
from slavery and oppression
Passover
that still held the hope
that God would again act
and free Judah from her oppressors today.
Passover
Their joyous Hosanna’s lost in the noise
as they climbed past the Roman fortress.
No cheering here.
Just cold indifference
surrounded with bemusement.
They had trekked up into
deadly fear and loathing
as the temple
loomed on their path.
That shadow never left.
The threat grew darker.
The sun dimmed.
 
They were there on Friday
when Jesus was stripped of his humanity
and was nailed to that cross.
The earth moved
as he was wrapped tight in fear and hate
crushing him
and all their hopes.
While the men hid
they were there
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
suffering the trauma of each moment.
They were there when Jesus groaned out of the depths,
 “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”
“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
They were there when he cried out
and breathed his last.
They were there when Joseph was given permission
and came to take him down
placing him in the tomb.
And now they are here again
walking in the dark
bringing their grief and shock
to where he lay.
They have come to weep
to mourn their dead rabbi
their dead friend.
They have come to weep
to grieve of all that died on that cross.
 
Like Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
we too have suffered trauma over the last years
And at times
we wonder
with them
how much more we can take.
Today we are invited to weep with them,
to bring all our trauma from recent times
all that causes us to grieve
and to join them at the tomb
to weep
to mourn
Who or what do we weep for today?
 
So here they are
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
at the tomb
In the gloom of dawn
The quiet is broken
with angels and earthquakes,
soldiers afeared and quaking,
stones rolling back
to reveal
a tomb
not occupied
and  linen cloths
that once held the dead.
tidily folded to one side.
Jesus is not be found here.
God’s life cannot be contained.
As they stagger in the light
and the quaking ground
they see the world anew.
Everything changes
Everything begins again.
The Empire of God is all around!
And they are here to witness it!
Hope is reborn
Compassion renewed
Justice announced
Love reigns.
With this empty tomb
the revolution begins.
God is not defeated
The chains of death
have been broken
The Covenant with Israel holds.
The promise with humanity stands.
The powers that nailed him to that cross
are rendered impotent..
Death has been defeated
its dance has finished
its power is gone.
The revolution begins
resurrection begins
begins in God.
Such joy
such fear
They run in obedience
to tell the others
“We have seen the Lord”
 
In the midst of our fear and grief  
how do we feel the earth move
What stones are rolled away for us?
What powers of death are broken?
as God’s life breaks free
in us and for us?
Where do we meet the risen Christ?
Where do we meet the empire of God?
And how do we respond?
 
Discuss
What changes for you this Easter?
People and places which needs God’s resurrected life this Easter.

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