Minister's message for Easter Day

A joyous and blessed Easter to you and all whom you hold dear. We give thanks and praise for Jesus’ resurrection, that despair has been transformed to hope and life.

"Why do you look for the living among the dead?" (See Luke 24:1-12)

Have you ever felt perplexed, or uncertain about what to do in a given moment? Like being lost in a maze or navigating around the random roadworks that pop up unexpectedly!

There is a story (true or not I will leave to your own discernment) about a police cadet who was taking their final exam:‘You are on a patrol, when an explosion occurs in a gas main in a nearby street. On investigation you find that a large hole has been blown in the footpath and there is an overturned van lying nearby. Inside the van there is a strong smell of alcohol. Both occupants – a man and a woman – are injured. You recognise the woman as the wife of your Divisional Inspector, who is at present away in the USA. A passing motorist stops to help, and you realise that they are wanted for armed robbery. Suddenly a man runs out of a nearby house, shouting that his wife is expecting a baby and that the shock of the explosion has made the birth imminent. Another person is crying for help, having been blown into an adjacent canal by the explosion, and they cannot swim. Bearing in mind the provisions of the Mental Health Act, describe in a few words what actions you would take. The cadet thought for a moment, picked up their pen, and wrote: ‘I would take off my uniform and mingle with the crowd!’

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we really have no idea how to proceed – where our lived experiences and knowledge momentarily do not provide us with a way forward. 5 years ago we were in the unprecedented situation where no church buildings were open (legally speaking) on Easter Sunday…and yet, we still found ways to celebrate and give thanks.

The women – who had been with Jesus since Galilee so were very much disciples rather than ‘groupies’- would have made their sad journey to the tomb, prepared spices at hand. I cannot imagine that there was much conversation as they walked along. Did they have a plan how to access the tomb after all they had seen that had been covered by the heavy stone.

The first strange thing – the stone was rolled away…The second strange thing…the tomb was empty. We are told that they ‘wondered’ or were ‘perplexed’ about this “a-po-reh’-o” which could also be translated as: being at a loss, to be in doubt, in a state of confusion. The literal translation of this Greek word is "to be without a way." It is expressing that human experience of not knowing what to do or how to proceed.

The next strange thing was the sudden appearance of two men in ‘dazzling’ clothes. Again the Greek here has a variety of possible translations- shiny, flashy- the word astrapo has at its root astra- star; that is how bright and dazzling these men or angels were. Something ‘supernatural’ was happening.

"Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here but has been raised!"

When we are perplexed we will turn to what we know, what we are certain of, to anchor us in all the newness and strangeness that may be washing over us. The women had been expecting to anoint a corpse, they had come prepared with the spices, they had even waited until after the Sabbath was over. After all, where would a body go?

And yet this question directed to them was a challenge to remember. The women and all who had followed Jesus from Galilee had been told what would be happening, they had been provided with a way through the confusion, but they had been unable to grasp it at the time. It was not until they had lived through the events, been brought to the very brink of despair, then seeing the empty tomb, that they could even begin to connect all that Jesus had told them to this present moment.

In some ways the fact that they came prepared to anoint a corpse suggests how little faith they had – or perhaps more fairly how they had forgotten what Jesus had said. And who could blame them, since he had not specifically detailed the manner in which he would be ‘killed’.

At this point in Luke’s gospel- Jesus himself, the risen Christ has not yet been seen, the women and the apostles are having to rely on their faith; the way was still unclear but they were provided with the small steps.

Finding the way – small steps, trust in God/Jesus, attentive/listening to Jesus’ teaching and words. Be prepared to show up and do the routine stuff anyway – do the right thing…

They prepared the spices/honoured the Sabbath – did things ‘properly’. But also to recall and share what we have been taught – today we constantly explore how the words in the Bible, written thousands of years before, apply to our here and now in the 21st century.

Beforehand the way was simple – they followed Jesus around wherever he went and did what he asked them to do (well sort of, most of the time, with reluctance on occasion). Now, just like us today, Jesus was not going to be present in the same way- in an awesome and holy way, full of glory – yes….but now the emerging early church was establishing the new way, one that was fully reliant on their faith, on remembering and enacting Jesus’ teaching and which would also have to learn resilience in the face of increasing opposition to the way that they would take.

Easter hope – so much hope in this passage – not least that the tomb is empty. They went expecting to deal with death – a seemingly bitter end to all their hopes – to find that Christ is amongst the living. The story had not ended but would continue.

If we feel that we are ‘without a way’ – follow this pattern, take the small steps and take them with an assured faith. The way might not follow how you might expect, the endings and beginnings not as you would have planned them. But from that place of despair, perplexity can reveal God’s presence and guidance to us, one step at a time. Rather than mingling with the crowd we will have the confidence to declare that Christ is Risen, each and every day.

Alleluia!

Rev Karen