Introduction
Imagine
yourself to be there on that first Easter morning. You have got up whilst
it is still dark and you want to go and anoint Jesus’ body, to wash it
and make it ready for a decent burial. You want to make up for the hurried
burial done a couple of days beforehand just before the Sabbath started.
You
are still numb. You saw your Lord taken away, tried, tortured and made to
carry his cross to his dreadful death. You probably haven’t stopped crying
since Friday and you can’t make sense of anything at the moment.
And
then you get there and you can’t find the body. The stone has been moved
and all the grief and confusion comes to you and you say those heart rending
words:
“They have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid
him”
They Have Taken Away My Lord
In
many ways we can relate to what Mary says here. Her cry reminds me of many
Christians who feel that their Lord has been taken away. When we are told
we cannot be Christian because of how we love, or who we perceive ourselves
to be it is as if they have taken away our Lord. Like Mary, we cannot see
what is really happening because of our tears and our inward focus.
In
our reading today Mary tells her tale through horror and tears to the other
disciples who come to the tomb and see its emptiness and the folded grave
clothes. They leave and Mary is left alone in the garden crying quietly. Through
her tears she does not recognise Jesus who stands next to her.
Often
when we are in despair, when we think that the world is against us, that the
Church is against us, we cannot see Jesus because of our pain and despair.
It is precisely at these times that we need to meet the Risen Jesus and precisely
at these times when we find it the most difficult.
When
we are at our weakest ebb God can meet us in the most powerful ways. It is
when we are at our lowest point that the Risen Jesus comes and meets us and
transforms us.
A God of Surprises
When
Mary went to the tomb all those years ago she went expecting to find a dead
body. Instead she found an empty tomb and the Risen Jesus – what a surprise!
How ready are we to be surprised by the Risen Jesus who continues to meet
us through our tears and to surprise us with his exuberant life. We expect
Mary to be full of joy when she sees the Risen Jesus but instead she is full
of fear. What do we make of the Resurrection Are we trembling in silence or
proclaiming it with joy and confidence?
The Gospel We Proclaim
This
Easter we proclaim the Good News. We proclaim that Jesus is risen from the
dead.
The
fact that Jesus is risen means we can be forgiven - just as Peter was forgiven
for denying Jesus.
The
fact that Jesus is risen means he has won the final battle between good and
evil. Satan has been defeated. He had hoped to snatch Jesus for his own, but
he got rather more than he bargained for and Jesus' death on the cross was
not a defeat, but a victory over sin and death. The battle is over. All that
is left in the cosmic battle between good and evil is the mopping up - but
the battle is won, the die is cast.
By raising Jesus to new life, God has declared that the end of our life is
no longer death - for after death is new life. The tomb is no longer a place
to be feared, but a bed. We live on.
The
fact that Jesus is risen affects us now. We can talk to Jesus, confident that
we are forgiven our sins and that he is victorious over sin and death. We
have a new quality of life now as well. We are worth something, for Jesus
died for us.
This Easter as we rejoice in the news that God raised Jesus from the dead, let us tell others of this fact. Tell others that they can be forgiven, that death is not the end, and that our lives are forever difference because of the battle that Jesus has won.
Amen.
This
sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester.
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