O.M.C

Set Free to Set our Minds on Things Above

An Easter sermon, with readings from Colossians 3:1-4 and Matthew 28:1-10

Don Friesen
March 31, 2002
Ottawa Mennonite Church

www.ottawamennonite.ca

For twenty centuries followers of Jesus have told the story of his passion, death and resurrection, and when pilgrims came to Jerusalem in those early years, they were anxious to visit the sites where the events of Holy Week transpired. Eventually, following in the footsteps of Jesus through the events of Holy Week became known as the Via Dolorosa, and in the 16th century villages all over Europe created replicas of the way of the cross.

I read of one such replica built by monks on the side of a mountain in Italy. Their scenic recreation became very popular, and thousands of people travelled to Italy to walk this particular way of the cross as their way to enter into the mystery of Christ's suffering on our behalf. However, maintenance of this particular site deteriorated as the years went by, and parts of the path became overgrown and less travelled. Fewer and fewer people visited it. And one year a tourist walked the path, which seemed to come to an end at the foot of the cross. He was about to leave when he saw a small pathway leading beyond the cross. Quite overgrown with weeds and vines, he almost missed it, but closer inspection revealed an unmistakable path, and curious, he pushed back bushes and limbs and made his way along the path. The path ended in a clearing at the very top of the mountain, and there, at the top, was a replica of Jesus' empty tomb. No doubt many other tourists had missed the path, and had stopped their pilgrimage of curiosity at the cross. ("Don't Stop at the Cross," The Timothy Report , March 25, 2002)

I don't know if that story is true, but if it isn't, it should be. I like it, because our interest in Jesus, for various reasons, often stops at the cross. The cross holds a fascination for the curious alone, if only because of the graphic cruelty of a crucifixion. The empty tomb holds less curiosity for unbelievers, partly because it strains their credulity. Interesting that human imagination is kindled more easily by cruelty than by hope! Even devoted believers, however, often stop at the cross, their devotion largely focussed on what transpired there.

Don't Stop at the Cross!

My childhood theology was largely focussed on the cross, and I don't think it was until I visited the Roman Catholic cathedral in St. Boniface in 1975 that the resurrection first became vivid for me. The old cathedral had burned down some years earlier, and a new cathedral was built on the same site, incorporating some of the ruins of the older church. It was an impressive sight, but I was particularly struck by the sculpture at the front of the new cathedral. Instead of the traditional cross as the centrepiece, there was a figure representing Jesus with raised arms, and under one of the uplifted arms was the cross, but smaller in scale than the figure of Jesus.

The cross is important, there's no doubt about it. It's central to the gospel story, and it's no accident that in the New Testament Gospels the Passion of Christ takes up many pages. The Passion of Christ, however, is Part One of a two-part story! Without Part Two, Part One is just a story of death. A good man was born; a good man died. His sealed tomb would be just that--a burial place, a final resting place. If his followers were sufficiently loyal--and they gave scant evidence of it during Holy Week--the tomb might become a monument, but hardly a place of devotion and inspiration.

The path of Jesus, however, did not stop at the cross. It continued on Easter morning, when the burial cloths could no longer constrain Jesus, and the tomb could no longer hold its seal! Two women came to the tomb, perhaps to pay their last respects, when all heaven broke loose! The Gospel of Matthew says, "And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it." (Matthew 28:2) I like that last phrase; it seems a gratuitous comment, for who cares where the angel sat? It seems to underscore the fact, though, however, that that stone ain't goin' nowhere!

Matthew wants us to know that this is no ordinary event. He makes it absolutely, crystal clear that this is earthshaking, life-changing, death-defying news! This is a pivotal event. Things will never be the same again. And the two women--Mary Magdalene and the other Mary--were told, "I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay." (Matthew 28:5-6) An empty tomb doesn't make for a very good monument, but its significance inspired the rest of the New Testament; it inspired the expansion of the Early Church; it inspired the faithfulness of believers in times of incredible persecution; and it inspires still, for its implications are astounding!

Entombed by Dark Fears?

The things that claim the power to entomb us have lost their power! Entombed by fears, we may feel engulfed in despair, but Christ has rolled the stone away! And he's sitting on it! There is much to bring on despair, but even in our darkest hours God rolls the stone away and lets in a little light.

A colleague tells the story of a woman whose husband was involved in a car accident in which a young woman was seriously injured. It happened right after a 3-martini lunch, which was undoubtedly a factor in the accident. The young woman was in the hospital for a long time, and it weighed heavily upon this man. For most of that year he was seriously depressed. Then the young woman died, and it so shook him that he took his own life. A tragic story, filled with grief for two families, and the man's wife could not sleep the night after his death. She stayed awake all night watching the sky, not even sure that the sun would rise again. Only when sunrise came, and she had survived the night, did she feel that she could go on. She could not adequately convey the depth of her experience, but there was something about waiting for the sun, while it was still dark, and seeing it emerge again, that was a powerful experience for her. (Kathy Donley, Bethel Baptist Church, Taylorville, Illinois)

Words may prove inadequate for experiences of depth, but the loss of the ability to hear and speak words is itself an entombment. Many of you may know the story of Helen Keller, a young child whose illness left her without sight, hearing and speech. Helen was born a bright and beautiful baby, but then, as she relates in her own words, "One brief spring, musical with the song of robin and mockingbird, one summer rich in fruit and roses, one autumn of gold and crimson sped by and left their gifts at the feet of an eager, delighted child. Then, in the dreary month of February, came the illness which closed my eyes and ears and plunged me into the unconsciousness of a newborn baby." (Story of My Life , page 17)

For a child of great intelligence, vigour and strength of will to be left without sight, hearing and speech was a virtual prison! It meant she could not acquire language through the imitation of sounds. Without language, she could not describe the difference between an elephant and an egg. Without names, things have no distinctness or individuality; without names for love or sorrow, how do we know what we are experiencing? Without hearing or sight one cannot distinguish the tone of the voice, or go up the gamut of tones that give significance to words, or watch the expression on a speaker's face, or read body language! It was a virtual prison for her.

Imagine her feeling of freedom, then, when at the age of seven Helen learned her first words! She writes, "I learned a great many new words that day. I do not remember what they all were; but I do know that ‘mother, father, sister, teacher' were among them. .... It would have been difficult to find a happier child than I was as I lay in my crib at the close of that eventful day and lived over the joys it had brought me, and for the first time, longed for a new day to come." (Story of My Life , page 35) She says: "I (learned) that ‘w-a-t-e-r' meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away." (Story of My Life, page 35)

Set Free!

There is no doubt that the power of dark experiences to entomb us in fear are powerful indeed. Death is powerful. Its finality can be overwhelming. The power of death to entomb us in grief and despair is powerful indeed. Easter, however, tells us that nothing can "separate us from the love of Christ". (Romans 8:35) Hardship can't do it. Distress can't do it. Persecution can't do it, as many courageous believers of the past have amply demonstrated. The Apostle Paul says, "I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation (is) able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (8:38-39) "In all these things," thanks to Easter, "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (8:37)

Ironic that the event that touched off an earthquake should leave believers so unshakeable! William Willimon tells of preaching in Alaska when an earthquake occurred, and though the earth heaved for only a moment, to Willimon it seemed like forever! Willimon was shaken, and the little church in which he was speaking shook, but the Alaskan Methodists to whom he was speaking weren't all that perturbed. Their only response was the woman who said, "How about that, the light fixtures didn't fall down this time!"

Easter has the power to empty tombs, to turn darkness into light, and to centre Christians so securely that nothing can shake them. Easter has the power to overcome grief, like the man whose wife died after a long and agonizing battle with cancer and who found that he could love again. Easter has the power to overcome broken relationships, like the friendship broken by betrayal which was rekindled with time, and laughter, and forgiveness.

Easter invites us to set our minds on things above. Paul wrote to the Colossian Christians, "If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above...." (Colossians 3:1, 2) After wading through the swamp of the Seven Deadly Sins these past six weeks, Easter invites us to focus, not on those things that erode and damage love, but on that which builds up love. Anger may be a powerful emotion, but Easter has emptied anger of its power to ruin our relationships and us. Greed may be a powerful motivation to work hard, but Easter has emptied greed of its power to absorb all of our energy. Sloth can overcome us, as fears and despair wear away at our devotion, but Easter inspires us to shake off our lethargy and get on with it! Even death has lost its sting! (1 Corinthians 15:55)

We are set free! Set free to set our minds on thing above. Set free to live with courage, for nothing--even death-- has the power strike fear into our hearts. Poet Shirley Maddox asks:

AMEN!

All quotations of Scripture, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version.