God’s Love in a World of Lost Hope

John 20: 1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”

Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Alleluia, Christ is Risen! Happy Easter my friends. Today is all about the power of God’s love in a world of lost hope. It is about knowing that regardless of what we face at any given moment, no situation is beyond God’s redeeming grace. Easter affirms that new life, resurrection, is always possible, whether in this life or the next.

Remember, when Mary arrived at the tomb on Easter morning, she was sure all hope was lost. Her friend and teacher had been brutally killed by the Romans because he was deemed a threat to the state. Most his disciples and friends ran away in fear for their own lives. All that was left to Mary was her grief and her duty to prepare her friend’s body for burial. And so, at first light she came to the tomb. When she realized that the stone had been removed and that Jesus’ body was missing, she ran and told her friends. But when they arrived Peter and the other disciple were as puzzled as she was and so they returned home and left Mary standing at the tomb weeping.

On this Easter day, I know there are many people who, like Mary, have spent too much time standing at the tomb weeping. For some there have literally been too many painful hours spent beside the graves of those loved and lost, grieving for those who have died. For others these tombs are more metaphorical: the tomb of a lost job that we counted on to provide for our family, the tomb of disappointment when we realize that a lifelong dream will never happen, the tomb of sadness and worry as we struggle with disease, the tomb of heartbreak when a child takes the wrong path, the tomb of rejection when a relationship we depended on falls apart, the tomb of addiction that destroys lives and families. After 33 years of ministry, I know about these tombs, I know the pain and the struggles of good people trying to make their way every day.

But Easter proclaims that the tomb is never the end; the grave never has the last word. As Mary stood weeping, little did she know that the risen Christ was nearby, alive and well. As she felt most hopeless, little did she know that hope was literally standing a few feet away. It wasn’t until Jesus spoke her name that she knew the truth of this day.

Today is a day to celebrate. It’s a day to breathe a sigh of relief, a day to rekindle hope. It is a day to reaffirm our faith that God loves us far too much to ever let us go. As Victor Hugo once wrote, “The tomb is not a blind alley; it’s a thoroughfare. It closes on the twilight; (but) it opens on the dawn.” Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark but the darkness did not remain. The dawn broke. God’s Son had risen. Alleluia!

Randy+

prayer

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.