"People Of The Rolled Stone"
(Matthew 28:1-10)
Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn
INTRODUCTION:
In the Good Friday edition of B.C., an Ant walks up and sees another ant with a clerical collar standing between a cave with a cross on top and a sign that says, "Good Friday Service Today." The first ant says, "Sickos! If somebody killed my God on a Friday, I certainly wouldn't call it Good Friday."
The preacher ant replies: "Nor should you, my son! Providing, of course, your God were able to stay killed." (1)
That first ant has a good point. What IS so Good about Good Friday? Black Friday, as some call it, seems more appropriate. Our own Good Friday this week had to mirror the original. It was dark and somber and overcast. The atmosphere was oppressive and depressing. The humidity was so thick it was hard to breathe. It was the kind of day you didn't want to make any major decisions on because the depressed nature of the day wouldn't let you make good healthy decisions. So, why do we call it Good Friday?
It has to do with the second ant's response about a God who wouldn't "stay killed." The story this morning is not only about the events of Friday; it's about promises made and promises kept. It's about what took place after the events of Friday and the even darker fear filled Saturday.
Today is about empty tombs and no more gloom. It's a story we've heard time and time again. It fits like a comfortable old sweater or a well worn pair of shoes. But like those objects, isn't the story a little old? Isn't it a little stale like those knock knock jokes our kids and grandkids tell. Or stale like the 47th rerun of MASH or All In The Family?
Isn't this story a little like the air in a room or house that has been shut up for months, stale and dry and lifeless? Isn't it a bit like that loaf of bread at the back of the counter that's been there for the last three weeks. You're almost afraid to open it and look at the heels and those last four pieces of bread which you know will be as hard as the tiles on the walls of your bathroom. Isn't that what this story is like? Old, stale and useless?
Absolutely not!!! The stone has been rolled away and we're people of the rolled stone. This passage and this story is still filled with more life than we could ever live or ever describe. It is a story that fills us with hope and promise. It is our story. One that we can grasp. Oh, not the physical aspects of the how of the resurrection. But we CAN grasp the why? of it. We CAN grasp that the tomb is empty. And we CAN grasp and hold on to the hope it gives. And that hope fills us with Promise, Possibility and Purpose.
I. PROMISE:
A. The promise is simple. Keeping the promise was the difficult part. General Douglas MacArthur in World War II and Arnold Schwartzenegger in Terminator II both made similar promises. They both said, "I'll be back." In essence, that's what Jesus said. That's what Jesus taught the disciples at the Last Supper. In John 14:1-3, Jesus says: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. . ."
There are any number of other places where Jesus predicts his death and resurrection. But all of them boil down to one thing. They boil down to the promise, "I'll be back." But somehow the madness and confusion of Friday made them all forget the promise. Country Magazine ran a true story that I think describes the confusion of that first Easter Sunday. One of the readers wrote:
"Shortly before Christmas one year, Mom made a healthy investment in a new vacuum cleaner. She couldn't wait to try it out, so she plugged the electric marvel in and turned it on. Without warning, the motor shut off. The motor started up again - and went off again within a few seconds. Then it started again. She proceeded to vacuum and off it went again, then back on. Faster and faster Mom tried to vacuum between the on and off cycles, until she finally gave up exhausted.
Mumbling under her breath and preparing to call the salesperson give them a piece of her mind, she went to unplug the vacuum cleaner. And to her dismay, she discovered she had plugged the machine into her Christmas tree light-blinker switch." (2)
B. When Mary came to the tomb, she was plugged into the wrong source. She was till in a blue funk over the crucifixion and death of Jesus on Friday. She didn't realize that the stone had been rolled away and that the promise had been kept.
In one of his most popular songs, my favorite guitarist, Eric Clapton, asks the question: "Would you know my name, if I saw you in heaven?" The answer of course is a resounding "Yes!"
According to John's account of the resurrection, Mary met Jesus in the garden but she didn't recognize him. She thought he was the gardener. But then He spoke one word. The Risen Christ called her by name and she knew Him. He called her by name and she realized the promise had been fulfilled.
II. POSSIBILITY:
A. And because the Promise has been fulfilled, because the tomb is empty we have become the people of the rolled stone. And people of the rolled stone are people of possibility.
A teacher asked her class what each of them wanted to be when they grew up "President," "a fireman," "a teacher." One by one they answered until it came Billy's time. The teacher asked, "Billy, what do you want to be when you grow up?" "Possible," Billy responded. "Possible?" asked the teacher. "Yes," Billy said, "my mom is always telling me I'm impossible. When I grow up I want to become POSSIBLE." (3)
Easter Sunday reminds us that as people of the rolled stone we are people of possibility. Not through what we have done, that's what causes or separation from God. It's not what we have done, but what has been done for us on that Good Friday. And it's the rolled stone that makes it all possible.
B. Without the rolled stone and the empty tomb, Jesus would have been just another senseless death. He would have been just another lamb sacrificed at Passover. They thought it was all over when they sealed him in the tomb. But God had the last Word. And that Word was Jesus, alive and Risen from the dead. And that makes life and faith possible.
You see, when the guilt of our sin is wiped away through God's forgiveness, all that is left is possibility. Where once there was only a dead end in our journey, now we can turn around and travel the path of Christ on the journey of faith that leads to that place prepared just for us by our Savior's own hands.
Last years Easter morning B.C. comic shows a tomb. It's night and the stone covers the opening of the tomb. In the second frame you see light shining around the edges of the stone. In the next frame you're in Peter's cave. There's a rumble, rumble as the stone comes rolling through the door of Peter's cave only to crash with a loud "clunk" which startles Peter awake.
Peter steps out of his cave and sees the tomb. A cross shaped star is shining overhead. You can see the trail that the rolling stone left. Peter heads up to the tomb. When he gets there he sees footprints in the dirt and begins to follow them. The sun is starting to rise. Peter follows the footprints down the hill right up to a small lake. The sun is fully risen and the footprints go right across the water. When Peter looks across the lake he sees the snake obviously mad and recovering from some sort of trauma. The snake says, "Well, that was rude! . . .Some guy just stepped on my head." (4)
Had the stone not been rolled away; had Jesus been left in the tomb to rot; had Jesus not risen from the dead then sin would have won. But the truth is that the stone has been rolled away. Jesus did step on the head of the snake. Jesus did step on the head of that serpent sin. he not only stepped on it but he crushed the life out of it. Sin no longer rules our lives. Sin no longer has us dead and entombed, consigned to the smoking section of eternity.
Sin has been defeated. God offers forgiveness through Christ Jesus. The promise has been fulfilled. The tomb is empty and that fills us with possibility. God can take our worst and use it for the best. God can take bitterness and make it sweet. Good Friday was the worst and most bitter day in all of history. But because the promise was fulfilled, because of the endless possibility which God set into motion, the Sunday following is the sweetest day in all of history. The tomb IS empty.
III. PURPOSE:
A. The promise has been fulfilled. There is possibility in our lives. We are the people of the rolled stone. And that gives us purpose. We can become anything God calls us to be. We can do anything God calls us to do. As individuals or as a Church. If God calls us to build, we can build. If God calls us to grow, we're going to grow. God can take even our worst efforts and use them for God's glory.
God can take what others thought was dead in us. God can take whatever hurt and betrayal has occurred in our life. Or whatever hurt and betrayal we have caused and breathe new life into them. God can take the stones of guilt, the stones of failure, the stones of rejection; God can take whatever stone still keeps us sealed in the tombs of our lives and roll it away. We are the people of the rolled stone and through the cross of Christ, God can and does take our faults and our failures and breathe the breath of resurrection into them. God renews us and empowers us to fulfill our purpose, God's purpose for our lives.
B. There's a parable from India that illustrates what I'm saying. A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the masters house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the water bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was only able to accomplish half of what it had been created to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.
"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."
"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"
"For the past two years, I have only been able, to deliver half of my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."
Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house." (5)
Each of us has our own unique flaws. In one way or another, we're all cracked pots. But if we allow it, Christ will use our flaws and our imperfections. Christ will renew us and use our gifts to grace God's table. Because, in God's Kingdom, nothing goes to waste. So, don't be afraid of your flaws. don't be afraid of your failures. Acknowledge them. Let God breathe the breath of resurrection into them. Find the strength of purpose through letting Christ roll the stones away in your life.
CONCLUSION:
If we could, I would love to go stand before that original tomb. I would invite you to kneel down and look in. You would notice what Mary and all the others noticed. Jesus in not there. The tomb is empty. I would ask you stay there for just another minute or two because there's something else I want to point out. The stone wasn't rolled away so that Jesus could get out. He was already out. He had already been raised from the dead. Even a sealed tomb couldn't hold him. The stone was rolled away so that we wouldn't be afraid of death. The stone was rolled away for our benefit, not Jesus'. The stone was rolled away so that everyone who came could kneel down and look in and see that the tomb is empty. Stone was rolled away so that we could have new life in this life and in the next.
The tomb is empty! He is risen. The tomb is empty, but not the promise. The tomb is empty, but not our lives. The tomb is empty, but not God's love or the love we are called to share. The tomb is empty, but not our faith. The tomb is empty because Son of God is alive and so are we. His resurrection fills us with Promise, Possibility and Purpose. He IS Risen.
This is the Word of the Lord for this day.
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Bibliography
1. B.C. by Johnny Hart, 4/2/99
2. JO SHUE of Spring Grove,Pennsylvania: Country Dec/Jan/97 Reiman Publications, LP, 1996 (Vol 10. No. 6) p. 38.
3. SFMar85 Submitted by Thomas Sublett, Trinity Lutheran Church, Jacksonville, Florida
4. B.C. by Johnny Hart, 4/12/98
5. HeartWarmers, heartwarmers4u.com - submitted by Denise
Other References Consulted
-Sermon Mall - Easter 1999, www.SermonMall.com
-SermonWriter for Easter Year A (April 4). Copyright, Richard Niell Donovan, 1999
-Lectionary Homiletics, Volume IX, Number 11, October 1998, (Lectionary Homiletics, Inc. Midlothian, VA)
-Joyful Noiseletter, Vol. 14, No. 3, March 1999. Fellowship of Merry Christians, Portage, MI.
-Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series VI, Cycle A, (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH, 1998) SermonPrep Version.
-Preaching the Miracles, (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH, 1998) SermonPrep Version.
-The Clergy Journal, May/June:1998, Volume LXXIV, Number 7, (Logos Productions, Inc., Inver Grove Heights, MN)
-The Clergy Journal, January:1999, Volume LXXV, Number 3, (Logos Productions, Inc., Inver Grove Heights, MN)
-Preaching Magazine, Jan/Feb 1999, Volume 14, Number 4. (Preaching Resources, Jackson, TN)
-Homiletics, Mar/Apr 1999, Volume 11, Number 2. (Communications Resources, Inc., Canton, OH)
-LectionAid, April 4, 1999 (LectionAid, Inc., Boulder, CO) Computer Version.