Mathew tell us that when the women arrived at the tomb the earth
shook and the stone rolled away - the very bowels of the earth shook when God
acted. It rings true that everything we know is disrupted by God’s
intervention – and rightly so, but more likely than not we are more closely
aligned with the soldiers - whose fear of the unknown power of God to transform
our very lives - turns them to stone. Like the emoji with the sun glasses
we shield our eyes and our hearts from the blinding light of
resurrection. Instead of a tables turning realignment of justice and
love, religion, - as society teaches it - becomes the backdrop for social
stability, cultural conformity, and relational order. Instead of calling
us to act boldly out of a passionate fervor to extend God’s reign, religion can
become for us a code of behavior and a mesmerizing narcotic. God shaking the
earth is not on most folks list of what I came to church to hear.
Sorry….. Newsflash …. Jesus is on his way to Galilee. You
will need a new pair of sneakers to catch him and the joy of
life that we all hope to find today.
Some preachers in their online pulpits will give fiery
sermons on the evils of one human frailty or another. Some will
offer words of consolation and pacification for the troubles that the world
today is facing. Some will invite you into meditation and
reflection on the beauty of the world around us even in the midst of pandemic. Some
will try to explain away one of the more mysterious theological
tenets. Such sermons may comfort or cause us to mend our errant ways
and they will give us a feeling of joy, but those who hear a steady diet of
such are likely to respond the same way that the disciples did – saying that
the women claiming that the earth had moved were absolutely nuts.
Each of these “joy’ sermons have one common thread of
error. At the core they are all about me…. all about you… all
about us…. Church for these congregations is where we come to get pumped
up for one service project or another, or where we come to be sustained and
nourished in order to juggle the demands of parenthood, jobs, relationships and
all, or perhaps to see where my path went astray and to be reassured of
forgiveness for the sins of omission and commission, or perhaps to get my
perspectives realigned as my mother used to tell me. Well yes…. It
is all of that and there is nothing wrong with whatever it is that brings us
here…. God and your Vestry and your rector welcome you warmly!! And
we want you to come back – Sunday after Sunday online or in person… But
that is not the real joy that God offers to us.
This story of an empty tomb is not about
us….. It is about God. It is about God who is on the
move. In fact it is about God who is taking on the ills of this world
head on. God who doesn’t meet us at the tomb or in the garden, but
who walks with the healthcare workers, the police officers, the grocery store
clerks, the delivery drivers, and on and on. God who seeks out the
lost and the lonely. God who reaches out to the woman in the mask with
the grocery cart who is petrified of what might be lurking in the air…. and
offers her comfort. God who hears the voices calling from the
wondows of their houses – who lament the tragic loss of life and who only want
a chance to live without fear or anger. God who confronts the rich
man and tells him that idolizing the things in his life will rob him of
salvation. God the truth teller, God the sin namer, God the life
giver, God the earth shaker. God whose call to us in this life moves
us from “What am I to do?” to a much more fearsome place of asking, “What is
God doing?”. That is the mystery that lies at the bottom of our joy
this Easter. What is God doing in the world? God pierces
the darkness with light. God creates. God loves, God
heals. God raises the dead to new life. Dare we come
today and look with the women into the emptiness of the tomb with wonder and
awe? Dare we set out for Galilee – enter into the unknown – go in
search of God?
Rev Susan Gleason posted a story on Facebook about her encounter
with a small child at the Holy Thursday service she attended. This little
girl has a lot to say about why we are all here today.
“Last evening, I attended a
Maundy Thursday service. Just before communion a young woman entered the
sanctuary with a little girl. My first response, as they walked past the
choir loft and behind the table where the pastor and church members were
reenacting the Last Supper, was to wonder who would be so bold as to come so
late to the service and not enter through the back door. The two had
barely found seats in the front row when we were called to line up to receive
the sacrament. My husband and I fell in line behind the woman and
child. The woman kept bending down to speak to the child who was pointing
in various directions. When she caught my eye the woman whispered to me
that the little girl had been outside riding her bike and said that she wanted
to come into the church. The woman explained, “My family was not
religious but I figured ‘Why not?’” Now, the little girl wanted to know
where God was. She pointed again toward a corner of the church, “Is he
there?” I bent down and told her, “God isn’t a body…God is spirit and God
is everywhere…In our hearts and all around us.” She looked confused and
pointed in yet another direction. “Is he there?” I tried again, “Do
you know how you can’t really see the wind?” She nodded. I
continued, “But you know it’s there because you can see what it does?”
She nodded again and seemed less agitated. “Well,” I told her, “God’s
kind of like that.” The line had continued to move as we whispered and the
woman and child were now at the front. “And,” the woman added, “God gives
us bread.” The smiling pastor extended the platter which held a broken
loaf and a dish of gluten free crackers. The child hesitated and the
pastor nudged a broken piece toward her. The woman also offered her one
of the crackers. They then returned to their seats and when the service
ended, I looked for them, hoping to share more, but they had gone. I
don’t know if they will come again but even if they do not, I hope that on a
day when it matters most, that little girl will choose again to look for God, knowing
that she may find some answers and that she will be fed.”
I don’t know if you will find what you are looking this Easter.
I don’t know if you will be back next Sunday either. I don’t know who
will fall in love or get a new job with more money or who of us will face
change, or loss, or even death in the coming days. But I do know
this. God has acted in the world and God is with us through whatever
trials or tribulations life deals out to us. I do not understand it
nor can I control it. But I am grateful and I am full of joy. And
what’s more I know where to go to see God… in all the Galilees of the
world…. Out there and in here and I know that when I see God in the faces
of my brothers and sisters…there God will give us bread.
