Easter Day - Look for the joy.... 4 April 2021

Look for the joy….

Have you ever had to wait for something that you want? Wait so long that it felt like an eternity?

It seems to have been a long lent this year……we’ve all given up so much and we haven’t yet got it all back. In some ways it seems lent has lasted for over a year, since Covid began…..we’ve lost things we care about – people, freedom, life as we knew it!  

And we’ve been waiting – waiting for things to “go back to normal” – waiting for the freedom to come, for the fear to go……

What are you most looking forward to being able to do again?

And given how long it’s been, have you managed to hold on to the hope that things will get better, or have you given it to a bit of despair?

Have you wanted to scream and shout at God about how rubbish things are, and why life should be like this? Maybe ask what he thinks he is playing at?

If so – you are in good company. The disciples were probably feeling pretty similar on Easter Sunday!

They had experienced Jesus being captured, tortured and killed and had absolutely no idea what was going on. They just knew Jesus was gone. Can you remember the last line of the gospel reading today?

The last line of Mark’s gospel is: “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

Even after the resurrection, they didn’t understand what had happened – they were just scared and confused.

Over the past year, humanity has endured so much. We’ve lost so much. We’re numb, weary, bewildered and sad. We know it’s Easter and we are here to celebrate, to hear what the angel at the tomb is saying, and deep down, we may recognise the truth of the these words, but we’re still trembling in alarm, we’re still trying not to flee.

So maybe what we need to hear this Easter is Mark’s version of the story. Maybe we need time to sit with these feelings, time to come to terms with what we’ve experienced, and grieve.

Maybe we don’t need to shout with joy right away.  Maybe it’s okay to whisper.  Because things can take time to sink in…..

What can you think of that takes time before you see the good things?

Cakes baking in the oven? Spring coming, Flowers blossoming? The birth of a child?

Just as spring comes after winter, just as plants blossom from seeds that have died in the ground, so new life emerges from times of emptiness and sorrow. This is the hope of Easter – but it can take time….. the disciples all needed time to understand the joy of Easter – their first reaction was fear, flight and silence.

We too may need time, to come to realise the joy and hope of the Easter events, when, as Debie Thomas writes: “God’s incomprehensible work of redemption collides in real time with the broken bewilderment of our lives.”

And that’s ok – but my message to you this morning is don’t stop looking for the joy, keep the hope of the resurrection, even when things seem dark. Because the best news of Easter Sunday is that the truth of the resurrection doesn’t depend on us or our ability to engage!  It doesn’t matter one bit if we believe on the spot or not.  The tomb is empty.  Death is vanquished.  Jesus lives.  We are not in charge of Easter; God is.

And God’s message remains the same – whether we are in a place to hear it or not – God sent his son to show us the very nature of love and to save us from sin – he was willing to die he loved us so much. And the good news of the resurrection is good news for all.

This good news means that, if we matter to God at all, (and we do), then we matter forever. As John Polkinghorne writes: “God does not just cast us off as discarded broken pots, thrown onto the rubbish heap of the universe when we die. Our belief in a destiny beyond our death rests in the loving faithfulness of the eternal God … a God who will not allow anything good to be lost.”

Our lives are gathered up by God, into his resurrection life, so nothing good is ever really lost. Lives cut short by tragedy, hearts broken, bodies broken—all are gathered up into the resurrection life of Christ and made whole again.

So, this Easter, we celebrate this hope – this hope that, even when things seem dark, the light is coming….so listen again to the angel’s message and don’t stop looking for the joy.