Sermon - Easter Sunday

Sermon - Easter Sunday
Luke 24:1-12
April 4, 2010
"But…that’s not the end of the story"

When my mother reads a book, she likes to read the end of the story first.
We like to know how the story ends.
Easter is when we get to the end of the story in the gospels, and to the heart of the Gospel (good news) and of our faith; and it is the climax of our Lenten journey.

If you are reading this story for the first time (not knowing the end of the story) —at the end of the 23rd chapter in Luke, Jesus’ suffering and death, it looks as if that’s the end of the story.
The Messiah, the one who came to save the world, to bring a new reign of love of peace of justice…but they executed him, they nailed him to a cross, and now he’s dead. It appears as if the story ends with this death and the surrounding fear, mourning and disappointment.
It looks like Jesus’ death on the cross was the end of the story… It looked as if the evil powers of this world had won, that oppression, injustice, hatred and violence had won.
The authorities were scoffing at Jesus; the soldiers were mocking him.
The women were wailing and the disciples were running around like sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus’ body was taken down, wrapped in linen cloth, and laid in a tomb, and then rolled the rock over it…
Darkness came over the whole land… As we ended our Good Friday service, we ended it in darkness.

Now what is the first word of today’s gospel? It is “but.” – although, however, on the contrary. There are a total of 6 uses of the word “but.”
Jesus was crucified, buried, they rolled the stone over the grave… BUT…
Theodore Wardlaw calls this conjunction defiant, stubborn, and relentless.
It’s like a the devil’s advocate who says: BUT…have you thought about it this way…
Just when you thought the story was over… here comes the conjunction: BUT, hold on, wait a minute, it’s not over yet

BUT…Then the women brought spices to the tomb, for the dead body and they found the stone rolled away
BUT…When they went in, they did not find the body
BUT…the men said to them, why do you look for the living among the dead?
BUT…he has risen!

What is the story of our lives? Is the ending written? These days it may seem like the end of the story has been written for us…
Loss of a job, of a loved one, depression, addiction, illness. Sometimes these things try to convince us that it’s the way that it has to be, that it is the end of the story.
How is the end of the story being written these days? Well, that’s just the way it is, things will never change. We read the newspaper, and we read of job loss, earthquakes, gang violence, war, corrupt politics.
…BUT that’s not the end of the story.
The tomb tries to convince us that it is the end of the story. Death itself taunts us and tries to convince us of its finality. Death, illness, suffering and decay tries to convince us that it is the end of the story.
…BUT (that conjunction) Easter fills us with the promise that it is not the end of the story.

The resurrection gives us the power to go into our world of suffering and pain, and proclaim this conjunction: BUT … Christ is Risen and Christ lives today!
It is the Holy Spirit that moves in the world today, is the power of the Risen Christ breathing the resurrection into our lives today, breathing hope into our despair and life into what’s decaying or dead in our lives.
The Risen Christ is active today in the world proclaiming this word… BUT! HOWEVER! ALTHOUGH! ON THE CONTRARY! WAIT A MINUTE!
Suffering and death is not the end of the story.

The people of Haiti suffer severe party, and their country was ravaged by a destructive earthquake… “BUT that’s not the end of the story” A group of Haitians gather together to sing songs of hope and praise to God.
In downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania, a twenty-year-old man was killed by an eighteen-year-old, an act of gang violence. The murder took place early on Sunday morning in the parking lot of Grace Episcopal Church. “BUT that’s not the end of the story.” The people of Grace Church, with the paschal candle and the church's banner, processed to the spot where it happened, "to recommit themselves to holding out a corner of grace in a troubled neighborhood.
In Argentina, a woman has her horse stolen. “BUT that’s not the end of the story” a group of kids get together to find pop bottles to turn them in, and buy the woman her horse.
A Church is divided by conflict and disagreement, people leave. “BUT that’s not the end of the story” New life and fellowship is beginning, new people come.
Stories of resurrection abound … look around where is the Risen Christ at work bringing life out of death and hope out of despair.

So when anyone tries to tell us how our story ends.
When death tries to tell us how the story ends.
When suffering, oppression, injustice tries to tell us how the story ends
When division, violence, anger and strife try to tell us how the story ends…
The hope we have in the Risen Christ of Easter empowers us to proclaim the word:
BUT...however, although, wait a minute…that’s not the end of the story! Christ is Risen!

On this Easter Sunday…We have read the end of the story. We know that the story does not end with suffering, death and despair; but when we roll the stone away, we see that the tomb is empty.
May we roll away the stones in our own lives. And may we look all types of suffering, despair and death square in the eye and say: BUT, however, on the contrary, wait just a minute…Christ is risen! Alleluia! Amen.