Sermon - March 23, 2008: The Resurrection of Our Lord

Pastor Heisley

The soldiers had their orders. No one could visit the tomb. And certainly, no one could leave the tomb. The government was seeing to it that no grave robbers would steal away the body of Jesus so that his followers, the followers of this imposter, this pretender to the throne of grace, could claim that he had risen from the dead, as he had said he would. The soldiers guarding the tomb had their orders. 

But no one had planned on an earthquake. No one thought an earthquake would come and shake the graveyard so violently that the seal that held the stone covering the tomb’s doorway would be broken. And the stone would be rolled away. And the tomb would be found –empty. 

The soldiers were shaking as wildly as the earth, shaking for fear of what was happening, shaking as they saw the angel who appeared like a bolt of lightening, blinding them with the truth of his glorious announcement. “Do not be afraid; Jesus is not here. He has been raised.” Not, “He has escaped.” Not, “I have taken him away. 

“He has been raised.” God has raised Jesus, the only Son of God, from death. The earth shook and the stone was rolled away and the world was blown open. One earth shaking, one stone rolling, seen by only the soldiers. One earth shaking, one stone rolling, felt by the entire depth and breadth and height of the universe. One earth shaking, one stone rolling. One resurrection. And death has been killed by death. Now only cosmic life prevails. Death no longer has any power. 

I probably spend more time in cemeteries than the average person. If you’re in a cemetery and you look closely, you’ll see the unfinished business of the world lying there, lying buried under six feet of earth, lying there, incomplete. If you’re in a cemetery and you listen carefully you’ll hear the promises and the hopes and the dreams of a thousand people that have gone unfulfilled. 

Silence stands guard over the orderly rows of markers, over the cold, lifeless graves. Like soldiers, it stands guard. No one leaves. Those stones will never be rolled away. 

But when I go to a cemetery it’s also my privilege to help people to see and to hear beyond these things. I get to tell people that Jesus has finished all of the unfinished business that we see and hear, all of the unfinished business that keeps the tombs of the dead under control, all of the unfinished business of our sinful living and our shameful secrets and our powerful greed. All of the unfinished business of our longing for love that we never find, searching for purpose that constantly eludes us, all of the physical and mental anguish that chases us from one doctor to the next. 

I get to tell people that there has been an earthquake and the seal on these things, the seal that keeps them bound up in the tombs of our lives, the seal has been broken and life has burst out of death itself. I get to say this: “Life lives!” And so do you. You get to say it, too! 

So do all of us who have been washed in the fresh waters of the font. So do all of us who have been splashed, who are dripping with joy, with life itself. As Jesus hanged on the cross, suffering from the bone crunching, the sinew slicing pain of harshly hammered spikes, further pain was added. 

A spear pierced his side, and blood and water flowed out. Blood flowed out, like the blood that fills our chalice every time we celebrate the Holy Eucharist. His blood, shed for us, so that graves are shaken open. And water flowed out like the waters of the font, like the waters of Holy Baptism. Water that washes away the deaths of our lives. Water that brings us new life. 

Jesus rose from the dead in God’s ultimate act of grace given to us. Grace that is undeserved, unhoped for, unexpected, undreamable. Grace that not only shook the tomb of Jesus until it gave up its prisoner, but also grace that continues to shake the entire universe with creative, redemptive power. Grace that is cosmic. Grace that is ours. 

And we are reborn. Born out of unfinished business to God’s gracious completion. Born in the fetal waters of cosmic grace. Born. Clean. Whole. 

And the universe shakes with joy. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed. Alleluia!)

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