31 Mar EASTER SUNDAY – MARCH 31, 2024
First thing to notice is this: There is confidence and a lack of anxiety in these ladies to start with. At first, they are all set. They are following religious protocol; not one of them made a move before the sabbath was over. The spices weren’t bought ahead of time and the ladies had no plans to go and anoint Jesus’ body until the first day of the week, which was a Sunday, like today is. Once the sun came up, very early, it says, the ladies went to the tomb.
Along the way, they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” Wait, what? What were these ladies thinking? I wouldn’t have made a move until I had that detail sorted out. Why go to the store to buy spices or make plans before finding someone to move the stone? What good would it do to wake up early, purchase items and walk some distance knowing full well that nothing could be accomplished without the large stone being moved?
Any number of people will tell you, as soon as I know that I have to do something that I’ve never done, can’t do, have done infrequently or feel unsure about, I ask for help. And if I can get a personal demonstration or a set of written instructions beforehand, that’s even better. I can’t stand not knowing that things will be set up or in good working order ready to go when it’s time to do my thing.
Had I been one of the Marys or Salome, I’d have been standing on the rooftop of my house in ancient Israel calling out to neighbors the Saturday night before. “Listen, y’all. I need a large stone moved very early tomorrow morning just after dawn. Is anyone available? Could you please send out your husband and sons and ask them to meet me here bright and early Sunday morning? I’d have already told Steve, “C’mon, hon. I’m counting on you plus several other guys to help move that stone at Jesus’ tomb just after sunrise.”
In a modern day context, a person might send out a group text, contact relatives or post a plea on social media. And if anyone agreed to help, we’d probably arrange to meet them ahead of time at our place or Salome’s house or the other Mary’s home before dawn. How could those ladies leave such an important detail hanging until somewhere along the walking path to the tomb that first day of the new week as the morning dawned very early?
They take their roles seriously while simultaneously being somewhat casual and flexible, a thing I’ve come to admire in these two congregations. You are faithful; you believe time and time again that things will work out. You do what you can and have faith beyond your own capabilities. You often agree to try; you give your consent then forge ahead with additional ideas or plans. I’ve witnessed both churches doing these things time and time again.
You give generously, donate grocery items and household goods as needed, collect socks, razor blades, shaving cream, and water bottles, bake and cook enough food to serve dozens, host meetings, make candy, gather and collect whatever items you’re told are needed, all in advance of knowing whether or not you’ll gain access to the tomb. Like the women in today’s gospel story, you are so focused on serving the Lord that you willingly do and move in that direction so you may accomplish the current task that enables you to participate.
When the women looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. A friend of mine recently shared a neat story that demonstrates how to be like the women in today’s gospel story, people who trust God’s timing and the benefits of process.
The story goes like this. Her young daughter has always enjoyed playing catch and chasing bouncy balls. This year, she expressed interest in playing basketball on a team so off to Walmart they went. On the way back home, they stopped at the Y to shoot hoops in the gym. With the young girl’s heart set on practicing and having the option of doing so indoors or out, the mom and daughter went outside since the nice weather beckoned. After only a few dribbles and shot attempts, the brand new basketball bounced away on its own into the middle of a nearby drainage pipe.
There it was, visible but out of reach. Because of a bend in the pipe and the distance to its middle, there was no way of getting it. The mom called the Y and a maintenance man was sent out of doors to give retrieving the ball his best shot to no avail. He said. “It’s too far in there. I can’t reach it with any tools I’ve got.” His advice was to wait ‘til a good hard rain, then hope for the best.
What would you do? Would you give up and go buy another basketball? I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t like that idea. How hard would it be to convince your daughter or grand-daughter that she’ll have to wait until E’ville gets a good hard rain ‘til she can practice again? Do you think she’d be patient until she could practice again even though her heart was set on dribbling and shooting as much as possible as soon as possible?
Lo and behold, not long afterward, E’ville got a good hard rain. The ball floated up and out of the drainage pipe into clear view. Then the maintenance guy at the Y called to say that he’d retrieved the basketball and that it still bounced just as good as new.
When the women looked up, they saw that the stone which was very large had already been rolled away. Think about the last time you expected to meet with a dilemma, a thing you didn’t want to face and couldn’t solve yourself. A thing you needed help with, but hadn’t planned to solve in advance. A thing that even a person whose job title implies they are a fixer of all things on the premises can’t access with any tools at their disposal, but God can, and does make prior arrangements.
A young man dressed in a white robe sat on the right side of the tomb’s entrance, that is, at the opening of the large drainage pipe. He, like the maintenance man, was just waiting there with anticipation, waiting to inform the woman or women that the thing or person they were looking for was no longer there. Jesus of Nazareth had been raised. Like a brand new, fully inflated basketball, he had been lifted up, floated out and was free and clear.
Unlike the mom who was now relieved after possibly fretting over how to keep her daughter occupied and happy, these ladies became alarmed. This was NOT the solution they expected. Their main concern was moving the stone.
heir focus and energy once they’d woken up early, gathered spices and traveled some distance was on the obstacle they anticipated, not the surprise they received.
Isn’t that us to a t? We prepare ourselves for the shortcomings we’re already aware that we can’t handle. We know our limitations and try to work around them by enlisting help accordingly.
But what we don’t anticipate is having our plans change altogether.
If Jesus is not here, why have we come? Why did we get up early and go buy spices? If Jesus has been raised, that means none of us are needed. Jesus’ disappearance was one thing that surprised them and hit hard, but those other things: Being mistaken, being off on our aim, having our intentions count for naught, finding ourselves ignorant of unforeseen change, being informed that our services are not needed, putting effort into something or someone important to us that amounts to a hill of beans, well those things cause people’s undoing.
The women were terrified, alarmed and amazed. Who knows? It may not even have been the presence of an angel that prompted these emotions as much as what news the angel gave them. “The person whom you seek is not here.” It was as if the maintenance guy from the Y called and said, “The basketball is gone. I know, you saw it and I saw it there the other day and it was truly there. But now it’s not. I can’t tell you any more about it or where it is. Sorry.”
Their hopes are dashed. Now what? If we had only known what would happen in advance, we would have handled things differently or made other plans. Ahh. That is the crux of the matter of the cross and resurrection.
Just like followers of Jesus in Jesus’ day, we wish to be clued in. We wish to know in advance what God has planned so we can make our plans accordingly. We think it’s important for Jesus to be predictable and follow our schedule. That will lessen our fears, eliminate big surprises and allow us to remain secure.
The truth is, we have no security, unless Jesus does what God has planned: a trip to the cross to save us all from sin, a trip to the land of the dead to free the captives, a trip to Galilee to appear before 500 chosen witnesses who will be asked to testify about what they saw to the rest of the world.
That’s the purpose of sharing a good story: acknowledging the cost of investing in a loved one, relaying the goofy mishaps of life and shaking our heads together. Together we may discover humor rather than frustration over attempts to resolve things on our own, the futility of enlisting the help of others, the benefits of gaining good advice, the lesson of waiting patiently while things are out of our hands, the instances of personal disappointment as we gather up the necessary item to do a job only to find out, that we are in fact, unnecessary.
The gospel message is this. We need to do only one thing: Show up and claim the prize, the joy of our salvation or the basketball of our dreams, whichever the case may be. Here it is, go to Galilee or go to the Y. There you will see it or him, just as you were told.
So they went out and fled from the tomb. They hightailed it up the road because terror and amazement seized them. They didn’t bother to return the spices from where they purchased them. I wouldn’t be surprised if the bag still sits atop the very large stone the angel rolled away near the empty tomb. Let us pray.
Lord, you are full of surprises and sometimes we are terrified about what we might discover or be faced with because we have plans, thoughts and ideas of our own about what we must do or can be done. Therefore, by the example of these women may we trust that you have made prior arrangements, that you have been busy doing what is best for all concerned. We anticipate our futures and your continued activity here on earth with humble grateful awe. In your holy name we pray, Amen.