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.
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.
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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?
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”
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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