John 20 (New Living Translation):
20 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— 9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.
11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
16 “Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
Meditation: The Stone Rolled Away
In January of this year, I discovered a book called “Journey of Stones.” It was a series of sermons written by another pastor. I enjoyed it so much, that I decided to base my Lenten series on the same concept. Today is the final sermon in that series, the stone rolled away from the tomb.
I have at home, small stones, engraved with “He is risen.”
I also have at home, Easter eggs shaped like stones, which when you open them have Jesus come out of the tomb. I was ready for today, back in February.
I was not ready for the reality of today. For us, the stone has not been removed. We continue to face days and perhaps weeks ahead when we cannot come out of our homes and be together. We are feeling afraid, confused, and uncertain. How can we be confident in these uncertain times? What is the message of the stone rolled away, if we are still caught inside?
Usually when we gather, we gather to celebrate an event we know and understood. But this year, we are actually experiencing a morning closer to what the disciples experienced that morning.
They were not confident. They were not certain. They did not understand.
Instead you have a lot of running around, you hear words of fear and bewilderment. Listen again to the very first words of Mary:
“They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Then we have Simon Peter and the other disciple running to see. It says they believed, but they went home and locked the door.
If you read the Mark version, when the women arrived at the tomb, they were so terrified they didn’t tell anyone (obviously, they did eventually).
They were not rushing around telling everyone Jesus was raised from the dead, they were rushing around telling everyone that Jesus was missing.
It was that evening and in the days following, as Jesus appeared to them, that they could accept the truth of the empty tomb. Jesus was not dead, instead, he was alive. He had been raised from the dead.
As I think of the disciples in their early days, like us, they uncertain of what to do now that Jesus wasn't present with them. But then, Jesus began showing up in unexpected places and in unexpected ways. First in the graveyard to Mary, who thought he was the gardener. Then to the disciples behind locked doors. He showed up on the Road to Emmaus, and beside the sea while the disciples were fishing.
Looking over Scripture, I discover that God always showed up in unexpected places and in unexpected ways. Remember Abraham and Sarah, far too old to have a child? Remember Moses, abandoned in the river? Remember Gideon, hiding in the wine press? Samuel looking for a king? Remember Jeremiah, too young to be considered serious? Again and again, God shows up. God acts in unexpected ways!
In fact, look at the disciples! Fishermen? Tax Collectors? What was Jesus thinking.
So what if, God simply uses this virus to help us to reach out in new ways? Who would have thought people would watch sermons online? Who would have considered holding a meeting in a parking lot ... in cars. Who would have known that instead of making us weaker, it made us care for each other in new ways? God continues to show up today in unexpected places and in unexpected ways..
On this Sunday when we are apart, we need to be reminded of the stones in front of our own hearts. These stones existed long before the pandemic. We hide behind stones of prejudice, sin, and judgement of others. We lock ourselves in as we fail to forgive. We close our eyes when they should be open. These stones have kept us from seeing our neighbors in need.
And behind those stones, we think we are ok. But we are not. We think we are whole. But we are not. We are just as broken as any body found in a tomb. Today, surrounded as we are by things that keep us apart, the stones are being rolled back as surely as the stone in front fof the tomb of Jesus.
And so, on this morning, I declare to you that the stone has been rolled away. The tomb is empty. Jesus has been raised from his tomb and is headed to roll away the stones in front of your heart to free you.
I leave you with these words from Jesus from John 16 as he spoke with his disciples the night before he was arrested. They seem to be written for us today:
“Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home … These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
* Benediction
In this time of disease, go in wholeness, knowing God is the healer.
In this time of uncertainty, go confidently, knowing God knows the way.
In this time of separation, go but not alone, knowing that God goes with you.
In this time of despair, know that God is the God of the unexpected and will surprise you.
As you go, may the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you
And also with you
