“The Victory of Life Is Won!”

by Bruce J. Johnson

March 31, 2002

Matthew 28: 1-10

 

I guess that it was only fitting that the gospel lesson for this Easter, in the year of our Lord 2002, begins in the following way:

 

“Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat upon it.”

 

What a dramatic scene we have here but it wouldn’t seem right for this year’s account of Easter morning to be anything other than ‘attention getting.’ Ours is a time packed with events that shake the very foundation of our culture, our church and our lives--- things such as:

1.     September 11th,

2.     The Enron debacle where dishonesty wiped out more than ten thousand 401(k)s and sent a shock wave of concern, anger and distrust out from Enron throughout the corporate world.

3.     Palestinian suicide bombers in Israel-- just outside the Western Wall.

4.     The crisis in the Catholic Church, which finds itself in a state of upheaval—shaken by scandal--- at stake, both its soul and its survival.

It just wouldn’t seem right for this year’s account of Easter morning to be quiet.

 

Rather we’ve got an earthquake and the thunder roll of a huge stone. A couple of trembling guards make like dead men, and as the lightning charged angel sits upon the stone, it says to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary:

          “Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

He is not here; for he is risen as he said… Come and see the place where he lay. …. Then go quickly and tell the disciples…

 

And on their way, they met Jesus and while they were holding on to his feet for dear life, he too tells them not to be afraid and to get going, back to Galilee where they will see him.

For me, this particular account of Easter morning has two parts.

 

“Part one” is all about fear and its effect on us. The Matthean account is unique in that the rolling away of the stone takes place right there in front of the women. In the three other accounts, they arrive at the cave and the stone has already been moved. A question could arise with respect to the other three accounts. Was the stone rolled away to let Jesus out? Was it rolled away during the night by someone who wanted to take his body?

 

Not here—not for Matthew.

 

The stone is rolled away not to let Jesus out; (he is no longer there) but to let the women look in…. and therein—is a powerful symbolism for us all. The tomb, sealed by the stone and guarded by the soldiers, represents physically the finality of death and the fear we feel as we face its inner darkness. It symbolizes the apparent victory of hatred and evil over love and goodness and of corrupted and violent power over compassion and truth.

 

The wonderful writer, Amy Tan, (The Joy Luck Club) once said:

“You see what power is--- holding someone else’s fear in your hand and showing it to them.”  (Reader’s Digest, p. 61)

 

That is what that sealed and guarded tomb does—holds our fear and shows it to us. It has tremendous power. Our fear of death can prevent us from living. Our fear of the feelings we have when we lose loved ones can rob us of our joy. Our fear of dreams being shattered can kill the imagination. Our fear of hope being lost can silence the music and stop the dance of life.

 

What a quake we have here, an Easter happening when the stone is rolled away and the women are invited to inspect that tomb--to look in and to look out; to look up and to look down--- to look around, and not be afraid anymore.

“See, he is not here,

                       for he is risen, as he said!”

 

Now that’s real power — to hold someone else’s fear in your hand and in showing it to them- reveal that it no longer has any power.

Paul said it this way:

                “Death is swallowed up in victory

                O Death, where is thy victory, O death where is thy sting!

                ………………………………….    

                Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord

                Jesus Christ.”   (1 Corinthians 15)

 

Looking around an empty tomb, unafraid, we might say it this way:

      Hatred—you lose! You had your day--- now it time for love.

      Evil—you’re toast! You had your say—now it time for goodness.

      Violence—you’re out of here! You had your way--- it is now time for peace.

      And, ‘Death’—be not proud—for now, even you die and life goes on!

 

On the sixth month anniversary of September 11^th the Tribute of Light, two shafts of light, rose from ground zero and reached up to the skies. The caption over the front-page picture read as follows:

“The lights will reach up to the skies and into heaven, near where the heroes are now.” Those graves among the ash, the shattered glass and melted steel are empty!

What a poignant statement of our Easter truth!

 

And this leads us to the second part of the passage.

I was over visiting with F. Pauline Little the other day and as we sat at the kitchen table I noticed that she had the most recent issue of Reader’s Digest. The feature article was titled: “Finding God in Uncertain Times.” It was written by Rabbi Marc Gellman and Monsignor Tom Hartman. It’s just a couple of pages but it makes a useful point, namely:

Times like these really get you thinking! We pause not merely from fear but for a much deeper reason--- to question at the deepest levels whether we are living the way were meant to live. They pose the question like this: “Is the way I’m living my life really working for me?”

 

Of course, the answer that has come back in a veritable chorus has been “NO.”

We now seem to be much more serious about our search for meaning-- our search of God, our search of ourselves, our soul, our spirituality, our truth and a reconnection with family, friends and community.

 

It is not surprising to me at all that both the angel and Jesus himself tell the women and the disciples to get going—get back to Galilee. There was no point in hanging around an empty and now used grave. Call home and go home!!! That’s where the living Christ will greet and be with you!

 

I’ve been chuckling in recent weeks reading all the stuff about the re-release of Steven Spielberg’s—“ ET” on its 20^th anniversary. I think that it is in May or June---what perfect timing for its re-release!

 

I’ve been looking for the boy’s ET undies and getting stocked up on Reese’s Pieces and I’m going to phone home more often. But, I still know today what I knew back then--- that in the end, life is all about devotion and friendship, about laughter and love, about being lifted up on the wings of an almost heroic vulnerability to love’s expression… it’s a flight into pure joy!

 

And that’s what turning our backs on death and on the grave, on hatred and evil, on violence and falsehood is all about ---with great joy, getting back to the living and life, to each other and to a sense of the preciousness of community and its promise and purpose.

      The strife may be or’ and the battle done,

  the victory of life is won but not quite yet!!!

 

Not until we show that it is—in and through lives, blessed and led by the risen Christ- that proclaim the triumph of love, of truth, of hope and of goodness.

  

The strife is or’ and the battle done, and the victory of life is won but not quite yet!

 

Not until the music of the soul that finds its joy in the risen Christ is again sung and hearts rejoice in life itself.

So, let us now leave this place—with stone rolled way and grave clothes still on the floor of an empty tomb. Let us go filled with confidence and joy and head home to show that truly—the victory of life is won!                                                      

 

 

Amen