Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her. John 20:1-18
When good news comes into your life, what do you do? Some people shout with happiness – woo-hoo! Some people savor it quietly, letting the news wash over them; others give thanks to God; still others might clap or dance a little jig – ever been tempted to do that, or at least jump up and down? Maybe you do or have done all of those things when you have received great good news. And I think the great majority of us have the impulse to share the good news with someone else – a phone call, a text, stepping out of your cubicle at work to tell an office mate, posting your good fortune on Facebook, talking to your neighbor across the driveway. However you do that, we all have that impulse to share wonderful news with someone else. It’s as if our joy and excitement overflows and will not be contained until it finds an outward expression and lightens the hearts of others who are glad with us and for us.
Easter is all about the celebration of Good News – the very best news there has ever been: that Jesus defeated the sin and death that took him to the Cross when he was raised from the dead on the third day, and now lives to gives us new life. Great Good News! Mary Magdalene knew this when she went to the tomb in the earliest hours of the morning. It took her a little bit, though, to fully understand what she was seeing: the stone rolled away, the tomb empty, the grave clothes and linen wrappings lying there, no body. Even after she went and told Peter and the other disciple what she had found, the meaning of the scene did not fully sink in; the presence of two angels didn’t even move her to the comprehension of what was in front of her. But when she saw the Risen Christ and he called her by name, the truth and goodness of the news came upon her in full force. The Good News of Jesus rising from death to new life filled her, encompassed her and she ran to share the news with the other disciples: “I have seen the Lord!”
Such excitement, such joy, such energy, such vitality! Because Resurrection is precisely the new life that God gave Jesus, and gives to all of us. It is not a feeling, but does bring us great joy. It is not an idea, but it is absolutely worth thinking deeply and prayerfully about. Resurrection is not merely a religious or spiritual experience; it touches every aspect of our lives.
Resurrection is once-and-for-all event in history. God acted in a particular time and place in history, among a certain group of people, to bring to fruition God’s plan and purpose for all humankind and for all creation. Jesus’ resurrection brings new life in all times and in all places to each of us in the ways that are particular and true to our own circumstances. Resurrection gets into all the cracks and crevices of life; it’s not just a mantle or blanket that gets spread on top of our daily concerns and then just sits there, masking pain and brokenness. The power of Jesus’ resurrection is precisely that it is like the tide that rises and seeps in between the rocks, washing away that which does not belong. And it is like the fresh spring air that rushes into a room long closed once the doors and windows are flung open, displacing the stale air. It is the tomb on Easter morning which had been filled with darkness and the stench of death; when the stone was rolled away and Jesus rose to New Life, the old and the dead were dispelled. No wonder Mary ran to tell the others that she had seen the Lord; this was the best news there could possibly be!
And the news is just as good for us and for our world. The Good News is that God has conquered the ultimate triumph of death, that sin in our lives and in the life of the world will not have the last word, that evil is indeed judged by God and consigned to powerlessness. Now that’s a very brave and brash thing to say in the face of so much evil that we see in the world about us, the bombing attacks in Brussels being the most recent and public example. But Jesus’ Resurrection was God’s way of breaking the back of Death – capital D; of showing us that God’s purposes have always been for life, and for goodness, and for love, and there is nothing in heaven or on earth that can stop that. It has been said that the Crucifixion and Resurrection are the final and decisive victory, and that everything else is a mop-up operation.
So we live our lives in these over-lapping realities of the victory and the clean-up. And every day we experience both, no doubt. But the place to focus – today and every day – is on the victory, the place where we see Christ the Lord at work in our lives, at work in the world about us. Every time we can see Jesus and then say “I have seen the Lord” in whatever words make sense to us, we will be able to see him more readily and more clearly the next time. And the more we share this Good News with others, the more we will hear Christ speaking to us, calling us by name, calling us to embrace the new life and salvation and wholeness that he so freely and generously offers us. Good News, indeed, more us and for all God has made – the whole creation and the peoples who live in it.
And so we say:
God is good/All the time. All the time/God is good.
God is good/All the time. All the time/God is good.
God is good/All the time. All the time/God is good.
Amen. Alleluia!
Victoria Geer McGrath
All Saints’ Church, Millington, NJ
Easter Day
March 27, 2016
When good news comes into your life, what do you do? Some people shout with happiness – woo-hoo! Some people savor it quietly, letting the news wash over them; others give thanks to God; still others might clap or dance a little jig – ever been tempted to do that, or at least jump up and down? Maybe you do or have done all of those things when you have received great good news. And I think the great majority of us have the impulse to share the good news with someone else – a phone call, a text, stepping out of your cubicle at work to tell an office mate, posting your good fortune on Facebook, talking to your neighbor across the driveway. However you do that, we all have that impulse to share wonderful news with someone else. It’s as if our joy and excitement overflows and will not be contained until it finds an outward expression and lightens the hearts of others who are glad with us and for us.
Easter is all about the celebration of Good News – the very best news there has ever been: that Jesus defeated the sin and death that took him to the Cross when he was raised from the dead on the third day, and now lives to gives us new life. Great Good News! Mary Magdalene knew this when she went to the tomb in the earliest hours of the morning. It took her a little bit, though, to fully understand what she was seeing: the stone rolled away, the tomb empty, the grave clothes and linen wrappings lying there, no body. Even after she went and told Peter and the other disciple what she had found, the meaning of the scene did not fully sink in; the presence of two angels didn’t even move her to the comprehension of what was in front of her. But when she saw the Risen Christ and he called her by name, the truth and goodness of the news came upon her in full force. The Good News of Jesus rising from death to new life filled her, encompassed her and she ran to share the news with the other disciples: “I have seen the Lord!”
Such excitement, such joy, such energy, such vitality! Because Resurrection is precisely the new life that God gave Jesus, and gives to all of us. It is not a feeling, but does bring us great joy. It is not an idea, but it is absolutely worth thinking deeply and prayerfully about. Resurrection is not merely a religious or spiritual experience; it touches every aspect of our lives.
Resurrection is once-and-for-all event in history. God acted in a particular time and place in history, among a certain group of people, to bring to fruition God’s plan and purpose for all humankind and for all creation. Jesus’ resurrection brings new life in all times and in all places to each of us in the ways that are particular and true to our own circumstances. Resurrection gets into all the cracks and crevices of life; it’s not just a mantle or blanket that gets spread on top of our daily concerns and then just sits there, masking pain and brokenness. The power of Jesus’ resurrection is precisely that it is like the tide that rises and seeps in between the rocks, washing away that which does not belong. And it is like the fresh spring air that rushes into a room long closed once the doors and windows are flung open, displacing the stale air. It is the tomb on Easter morning which had been filled with darkness and the stench of death; when the stone was rolled away and Jesus rose to New Life, the old and the dead were dispelled. No wonder Mary ran to tell the others that she had seen the Lord; this was the best news there could possibly be!
And the news is just as good for us and for our world. The Good News is that God has conquered the ultimate triumph of death, that sin in our lives and in the life of the world will not have the last word, that evil is indeed judged by God and consigned to powerlessness. Now that’s a very brave and brash thing to say in the face of so much evil that we see in the world about us, the bombing attacks in Brussels being the most recent and public example. But Jesus’ Resurrection was God’s way of breaking the back of Death – capital D; of showing us that God’s purposes have always been for life, and for goodness, and for love, and there is nothing in heaven or on earth that can stop that. It has been said that the Crucifixion and Resurrection are the final and decisive victory, and that everything else is a mop-up operation.
So we live our lives in these over-lapping realities of the victory and the clean-up. And every day we experience both, no doubt. But the place to focus – today and every day – is on the victory, the place where we see Christ the Lord at work in our lives, at work in the world about us. Every time we can see Jesus and then say “I have seen the Lord” in whatever words make sense to us, we will be able to see him more readily and more clearly the next time. And the more we share this Good News with others, the more we will hear Christ speaking to us, calling us by name, calling us to embrace the new life and salvation and wholeness that he so freely and generously offers us. Good News, indeed, more us and for all God has made – the whole creation and the peoples who live in it.
And so we say:
God is good/All the time. All the time/God is good.
God is good/All the time. All the time/God is good.
God is good/All the time. All the time/God is good.
Amen. Alleluia!
Victoria Geer McGrath
All Saints’ Church, Millington, NJ
Easter Day
March 27, 2016
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