Sermon for the 20th of April - Easter Day

My daughter works in script development for a production company and from her I’ve learnt about the phrase “dramatic reveal.”

 It’s when the plot pivots to reveal something that can pull together all that has gone before.

 It can be a moment of surprise or fear. It can be uplifting. It can create a deep emotional bond with the viewer or in the case of text, the reader.

 Luke’s account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that we have heard this morning has elements of the dramatic reveal. The women go to the tomb with spices. One thing they are not expecting to find is that it is empty. Even more surprising, in their dumfoundness and fear, they are confronted by two angels who ask them:

  “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.

Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”

 Jesus had indeed said these words to them as Luke relates earlier in his gospel, but it had passed his listeners by. Jesus followed this up, with hints in two of his most famous parables. In the Prodigal Son, the father overjoyed at the return of his son exclaims, this son of mine who was dead, is alive again. And the story of Lazarus, the poor man who lay at a rich man’s gate concludes with Jesus saying:

 If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.

No one expected someone who had been killed in the most horrific manner to return to life from the grave. And certainly not for the world to carry on as though nothing had happened.

 Today’s Gospel ends with Peter visiting the tomb to see for himself to find the linen cloths by themselves; he went home, amazed at what had happened.

As yet, we are only halfway through the reveal. You could say that today’s reading ends unsatisfactorily. Peter and the women know Jesus’s body is no longer in the tomb, but don’t know what has happened. We are left in suspense, waiting for the next episode.

 The next episode which follows on from today’s reading, is perhaps the most moving event in the entire bible, the encounter of the couple on the road to Emmaus with the risen Christ; they discuss with him the events of the last few days in Jerusalem, their hopes that Jesus was the one to redeem Israel, and the empty tomb.  Having arrived at Emmaus, Jesus sits with them that evening. He took bread, blessed it and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened.

 I said earlier that no one expected someone to return from the dead and carry on as though nothing had happened. Until then, Jesus had made a huge impact on life in Galilee and in Jerusalem. Doing things that people didn’t expect, miracles, parables, teaching how to love God and our neighbours. Jesus had been killed and then most extraordinarily of all he had conquered death – death, the ultimate instrument of control of dictators and autocrats throughout the ages. They prey on our fear of it. Jesus’s ministry was a roller coaster, with moments of the highest drama, and for his followers, a constant looking over the shoulder for the reaction of the Jewish religious authorities and the Roman rulers.

 What does it mean for us this Easter morning?

 Today the world still has autocrats and dictators. It is a place of multiple distractions. In this country, since the arrival of 4G mobile technology in October 2012, we have become more distracted than ever. Rather than looking over the shoulder, we look down at our smart phones, at things which are transient.

 I suggest that on this Easter morning we recognise that we too have entered the empty tomb, seen the rolled-up linen and emerged from it, blinking, into a world than can be as Jesus wished it to be, if we live according to his teachings.

 Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit give us the opportunity to experience the peace of God which passes all understanding.

 We have been given the promise of Eternal Life beyond the grave.

 But just as football managers speak of the need to focus on the next game, so we need to focus on this life. Jesus wanted us to have life in abundance, as full as we can make it. Let us cast away transient things as best we can and clothe ourselves in the teachings of Jesus.

 Shortly at the altar, we will take bread, bless it, and break it, just as Jesus did at Emmaus and in the Upper Room, and on the hillside above Lake Galilee when 5,000 were fed.

 Muscle memory is our ability to move in a particular way without thinking about it. We develop this type of memory through repetition and practice — doing the same task over and over again.

 Receiving the gift of Holy Communion regularly provides us with the muscle memory to put aside the world’s distractions, to join those at Emmaus and Christians across the world  and to receive the peace of God which passes all understanding and to bring Earth closer to heaven.

 I wish you a very happy Easter.