|
|
 |
|
 "WHILE IT WAS STILL DARK" John 20:1-18
Our story from John's gospel this morning may not be rated "R," but it is certainly not for the faint of heart. Carlyle Marney, who once taught ethics at Austin Seminary, was asked by a college student one time to reflect on the resurrection. And he declined. He said he didn't discuss things like that with anyone under 30.
Why is that? It's not because it's horrifying; it's because it's unbelievable. Good Friday, we can understand. We know the power of evil. But resurrection? That's incredible.
This story raises more questions than it answers. Why didn't the two disciples go into the tomb once they got there? And why did they go home?! How could they go home, for goodness sake?! Why did Mary Magdalene go back to the tomb, all by herself in the dark? How could she tell the tomb was empty if it was dark outside? And how dark was it? Was it Daylight Savings time? All John tells us is that it was still dark. -------------------------------- And it's still dark, isn't it? Even on this bright Easter morning. John tried to tell us that it would be this way from the very beginning of his gospel. He warned us that this would all be very hard to comprehend. From the very first chapter of John, we are told that the true light had come into the world, that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot figure it out. But as John himself infers, the presence of light doesn't always mean that there is no darkness.
Today we celebrate with joy the resurrection of the light of the world. But it's the world that worries us, isn't it? There's war in our world, and we are in the thick of it. And not just in Our society, and even and especially Fannin County, is at war with physical abuse and drug abuse and hunger and poverty. New reports show that the rich are richer than ever, but we are having a hard time finding $12,000 to make Kool Lunches so that won't go hungry this summer. Many of us are grieving the loss of loved ones this day - brothers who died too young, grandchildren killed in harm's way, friends whose lives were taken accidentally, or parents, or a spouse, who even though they lived to a ripe old age and died of natural causes, have left us bereft. It's still dark, isn't it? We need some light. --------------------------------- Maybe that's what keeps drawing us back to a story that's two thousand years old. Faith doesn't come easy to us when it's dark outside. We don't know what to make of the fact that the body is not there and the graveclothes are folded up in the corner. We can understand those disciples, going straight home after what they had seen, maybe out of fear, maybe out of despair. Home is the first place we want to head when life gets to be too much for us.
But there is something, // something that keeps tugging at us, // something compelling us to go back to that tomb while it's still dark. We find our way there, without a flashlight, even though we can hardly see our hand in front of our face. At first glance, it looks just as we thought it would. They can't even leave his body alone. Crucifixion wasn't enough - now they have to take his body. Our worst fears give in to despair.
But then - maybe this is why they always say it's darkest before the dawn - in the depth of our darkest moment, we hear someone who loves us calling us by name. And then we notice it's not dark anymore. The sun has risen indeed. All at once, we know as we are known. ----------------------------------------- Friends, the good news of the gospel - the good news of this Easter Day - is that God does his best work in the dark. Think about it: when Mary Magdalene arrived, it was still dark - and the tomb was already empty! Neither death nor life, neither darkness nor light can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. There is no darkness so dark, no loss so complete, in which God is not already there, bringing about resurrection. Death and pain and loss are terrible. But they will not have the last word. We have the empty tomb to prove it. The good news of the gospel is that even when we encounter our darkest night of the soul, new life is already dispelling the darkness. And even if Jesus said that we can't hold on to him, he didn't say anything about his not holding on to us. In the light of resurrection day, in the waters of our baptism, Jesus does hold on to us with a love that will not let us go. Believe it, friends. ------------------------------------ In October of 2004, about two and a half years ago, five Christian churches in were bombed on a Saturday night. You may remember hearing about it. The next morning, on Sunday, one of the churches opened for worship at the regular time and a child was baptized. Fifty people showed up to worship in a cavernous hole where the church had been before the bomb had fallen. One wall of the church had collapsed on a home that was next door to it. The couple who lived in that home // were the parents who brought their child that day for baptism. In the bombed-out ruins of a church that had almost destroyed their home, a man and a woman brought their newborn son and at his baptism named him "Savio" - "Savior."
The baptism of Savio - and of Sondra and Steven and Susan and Sallie- your baptism and mine - our baptisms speak a truth that cannot be limited by terrorism, a light that cannot be doused by darkness. That is the truth that we celebrate this day, while it is still dark. We no longer have to weep. Darkness and death have been shattered. The stone has been rolled away. And that guy standing next to you is not the gardener. Christ is risen - he is risen indeed.
Amen. ---------------------------------
Carlyle Marney was quoted by Paul Duke in his article "Transfigured Relations," which appeared in the Christian Century, 10/25/95, vol. 12 #30, p. 985.
I first heard the story of Savio at a meeting of Grace Presbytery in March 2007, where the Rev. Dr. David Batchelder recounted it in talking to us about baptism. Later I found a source for it on the Internet: www.washtimes.com/world/20041017-111440-4043r.htm |
