‘If we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also
live with him.’
The long journey through Lent and Holy Week is finally at
its conclusion.
We have been considering
love this week: love that is extravagant, love that needs to be released, love
that loves even in betrayal, love that stoops to serve, love that loves in
pain. Today we think about love that conquers.
The death of Jesus left
his followers with a lot of questions. The immediate question in our Gospel
this evening is the one asked by the two Marys: ‘Who will roll the stone away
for us?’
We go through many varied
experiences in our lives. We encounter the great mountain-top experiences of
joy and elation, and yet also experience the depths of grief and despair. Many
of those experiences leave us reeling and wondering how we are going to get
through it all. So many times in my own life I have asked that question: ‘How
am I going to get through this?’ There have been many times when I wasn’t sure
that I would. There have been many times when I really couldn’t see the answer.
And yet, here I stand.
‘Who will roll the stone
away for us?’
When the Marys arrived at
the tomb, they found that the stone had already been rolled away. They found
that the problem they thought that they had was no longer there. They arrived,
looked up and they found that the cause for their concern had been taken away.
The journey that they had
taken was real. The grief that they encountered was real. The fear that gripped
them was real. We should not blame them for feeling how they felt. We should not
blame for asking their question, because how could they know, until they
arrived, that the stone was rolled away? How could they see?
What was important in the
story is that they did not give up and that they continued on the journey that
they had to make. They went forth in the cautious light of the early morning,
wondering whether it was all a waste of time because, if there was nobody to
move the stone, that’s exactly what it would have been.
‘What’s the point?’ is a question
I have heard so many times. ‘What’s the point of believing when there isn’t
much in the way of concrete proof?’ ‘What’s the point of denying yourself all
of the fun that you could have in the world?’ ‘What’s the point of being a
priest when you could make a fortune with all the languages that you speak?’
‘What’s the point?’
Well, the point, it seems
to me, is love.
Love defies all
explanation. Love defies all logic. Love defies all the common sense that the
world has to offer, and even the most sensible and down-to-earth people can
become dreamy lovers when love strikes.
Love compels me to follow
the way of Christ, even though I get frustrated, even though I fail so often,
even though there are times when I wish I could stop following and go my own
way, even though I wish I could be better off, travel. ‘Love bade me welcome,
yet my soul drew back | guilty of dust and sin.’ No matter how far I try to
run, loves calls me home.
‘Who will roll the stone
away for us?’
If the two Marys had let
doubt and fear get in the way, if they had thought that there was no point, if
they had given up, they would not have seen the stone rolled away. They would
not have known the victory of Christ. It was in the willingness to step forward
as only the faintest glimpses of the morning light began to be seen that the first
answer to their question was seen. ‘It has already been done. All that you need
has been done for you.’
This is the message of
salvation. All that you need has been done for you. He is not here. He is risen
and you will see him.
This love of Easter is
the most powerful thing that can drive out all fear. This love of Easter is a
love and a power that conquers all fear, that conquers all doubt, that gives us
the courage and the boldness to step forward.
Sometimes we have to make
the journey in the darkness, or in the early morning light. Sometimes we have
to take those first tentative steps, not knowing what will happen. Sometimes
we, like the two Marys, have to keep going not even knowing whether the journey
will be worth it, because that is what love does. Love calls us to step out and
walk. Love calls us to move even when fear would have us stand still.
It is in that stepping
forward that we see that the stone has been rolled away. It has been done. It
is accomplished.
As we step forward, may
we too see the victory of love, the victory of Christ, and enter boldly into
that new life.
Alleluia! Christ is
risen!
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