Resurrection of our
Lord
I find graveyards and cemeteries fascinating. Tombstones tell a story. I visited an old cemetery in eastern Oklahoma
many years ago. In one corner of the
cemetery, there were a number of small graves marked by simple stones. All of them belonged to children; a grim
reminder of an epidemic that swept through the tiny town. During a call interview I was taken to the
community graveyard. As we walked among
the tombs, they told me the story of their town, the story of their people,
they told me who they were. I took a
“cemetery tour” in New Orleans and looked at the ornate and elaborate tombs of
the wealthy. Many were truly works of
art. A little later in that trip, we
visited a graveyard in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. There, in unkempt crypts, old bones were
often pushed aside or even removed to make room for a new body. The contrast of the two cemeteries painted a
striking picture of the long history of injustice and racial and economic divisions
that are part of that city’s story.
In Luke’s story of the Resurrection, we find ourselves
walking with three women among the tombs.
Those tombs told a story too. A
story of kings and exile, of wars and occupation and tyranny, of prophets and faith,
of God’s steadfast love and promises.
But, on that day, the story that was uppermost on the women’s minds
pertained to one particular tomb: the
tomb of their beloved teacher, Jesus.
Crushed by the terror of his death and the shattering of their hope,
they came to do what needed to be done.
But he was not there.
Two men in dazzling clothes questioned them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” And then offered them startling Good
News, “He is not here, but has risen!”
Too often, I think, we humans prefer to walk among the
tombs. We prefer to live in the past,
and dwell on the tragedies and deaths, large and small, that define so many of
our lives. Worse, we scrub out the
tragedies and the death and just remember how good things used to be. We conveniently forget that yesterday was
just as full of sorrow, struggle, suffering, injustice and death as today.
But, as Easter people, as people who supposedly ground our
lives in the Good News of the Resurrection, why do we go on looking for the living
among the dead? Why do we go on living
as if death is more powerful than life?
That death is more powerful than God?
A walk among the tombs can be both instructive and
insightful but, only if we remember that “He is not here, but has risen!” The Good News of Easter helps refocus us on
the enduring power of God’s life and love.
People of Easter faith need to be constantly vigilant in looking for
empty tombs and signs of resurrection life.
People of Easter faith need to be committed to bringing that
resurrection life into the dark and death-filled places that so many still
inhabit – even if our efforts are dismissed as idle tales.
Peace,
Bishop Mike
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