March 27, 2016, Easter Sunday

My wife, Amy is in a new church in Fairfield. This week, their staff has been busy with Holy Week preparations. Their musician is famously messy and the office administrator went into his office to drop off some papers. She gasped and said, “Come quick! Look at this!” Amy and the bookkeeper – three women – one named Mary – looked into the office, and it was spotless. Everything had been put away. There was nothing on the desk. Mary said, “Oh no! He’s left us for a new job!” Just then, the musician came by and said, “No. I just got sick of the mess and I had to clean it up.”

The resurrection is a story about surprise. It’s not what we expected! It’s a story about our first instinct – to wonder what must have happened to explain it. Then there is the good news. It’s not something bad. It’s something good – unbelievably good. It’s not a mistake and we are seeing the truth. God has actually done something about the mess we had gotten used to.

The Easter story begins with an empty grave. Mary and the other women try to complete the burial ritual. They are full of fear. They are afraid to be caught by the authorities. They are afraid to revisit their pain. They see the empty tomb and they are afraid of what might have happened. Is this some sort of vandalism – some last indignity? Something else must have gone wrong.

“Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” There’s nothing in the tomb. It’s empty. One half of the story is how we keep looking for something when there is nothing there. Jesus is not there. Death is not there. All of the inevitable outcomes of power and dominance over the weak and the poor – those expected endings are no longer there. Jesus has mocked death and evil. He has prevailed over all of the plans of the devil and all the maneuverings of the power elite. The tomb can no longer hold him.

This is only half of the story. The other half is what is new. Just as Jesus empties himself for our sake, he also is lifted up and glorified for our sake. The ways of the world we have come to expect have been emptied of meaning. A new creation takes its place. Now, instead of dominance and brutality, we have love and mercy. Jesus has replaced the law of the jungle with the law of love. The new creation has its own consequences.

The new hope Jesus gives us also gives us courage. Jesus gives courage to a group of powerless women. They are the first to proclaim the good news of salvation. Of course, the disciples aren’t able to believe their word – old habits die hard. Peter, and the other disciples see the empty burial chamber for themselves and begin to wonder.

They too will find new courage. A group of fishermen and laborers will become preachers and apostles. They will wander the Roman Empire with a radical message that undermines everything the world takes for granted. They will challenge the power of Caesar and transform their world.

First, there is a need to empty their own minds of their stubborn expectations. Death is not the end. The power of the state and the power of fear are not the last word. Jesus didn’t offer only nice words. He really does conquer death. He really does offer new life.

Then there is a need to be filled. The disciples have to cast out fear and be filled with faith. They will have to learn to step outside of their locked room into the wider world of God’s new creation. They will have to set aside their own plans and be open to God’s purpose. They will have to set aside their own strength and their own cleverness and rely on the good news of God’s love.

This challenge is ours as well. We must walk away from the empty tomb. There is nothing there for us any more. We are used to being on edge with all the reports of doom that surround us. The anxieties of this life are mesmerizing. Instead, we must listen for God’s last word. Death is not the end. Evil will not triumph. God will give us everything we need to live resurrected lives.

We are challenged to seek the living. We are challenged to seek the living Jesus, the risen Jesus. He isn’t where the powers of this world say that he is. He isn’t an idea stuck within the pages of an old history book. He isn’t a myth found in ancient bible stories. Jesus is alive. He lives in the hearts of everyone who believes (even those who struggle to believe.) He lives in the life of this community. We proclaim Christ by our words and by our acts of love.

Jesus was tired of the mess, so he cleaned it up. The world still seems to be mess. Now we’ve been shown what God will make of it. We’re part of the clean-up crew. We share love instead of hate, life instead of death, joy instead of fear.