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First
Reading
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Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
Acts 10:34–43 |
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Corinthians 15:1–11 |
John 20:1–18
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With her heart heavy with sorrow, Mary left for the graveyard intending to anoint the body of Jesus before the tomb was sealed. “Who will help me roll away the stone from the tomb,” she wondered. Mary had struggled with heavy stones most of her life. There were stones that threatened to limit her potential, to prevent her from seeing larger horizons, and stones that trapped and imprisoned her. Meeting Jesus was like finding all those stones being rolled away. Now, when she arrived at the graveyard as a last gesture of profound gratitude, she would attempt to do the same for Him in giving Him a decent burial.
Of course when she got there, she discovered the stone had already been rolled away. Frightened, she assumed that someone had stolen Jesus’ body, so she ran to get help. Peter and another disciple came, went into the tomb and ascertained that it was empty. The bloody cloths of the crucifixion were there, but no evidence of what had happened. The Gospel reports that “for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that Jesus must rise from the dead,” so the disciples returned to their homes in grief; for them, nothing had changed.
Mary was more persistent. She stayed at the graveside, trying to piece together all that Jesus had said to her. Perhaps she remembered or had been told that towards the end Peter had asked Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now; you will follow me later. . . . Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still and trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone, I shall return.”
Gradually, Mary became aware of a presence she hadn’t sensed before. At first it was as if divine messengers surrounded by coronas of light were standing on either side of her. They seemed to be asking her a question and then pointing towards a figure coming towards her. Mary thought again of her purpose of coming to the graveyard, and implored the figures, “Do you know where they have taken the body of my rabbi?” Jesus exclaimed, “Mary!” and Mary instantly knew it was Him. She rushed to embrace Him, intending never to let go. Jesus smiled and cautioned her not to hold on to Him as a memory that would inevitably fade, but to continue to seek, knowing that as her risen Lord, He would be there to meet her, rolling away the heavy stones as she continued on her life’s journey.
Jesus’ words can be translated several ways. “In my father’s house are many mansions.” “In my father’s house there are many dwelling places” or, as it says in a brochure from my old seminary, “In God’s house, there is room for all.”1
I cannot comprehend exactly how a reverse credit default swap works. However, Easter proclaims it ultimately doesn’t matter if we don’t know, because God’s neighborhood will never be mortgaged to the powers of the world. Know this: Easter is saying that the world, as much as it tries, can never seal the tomb of God’s future or foreclose on the plans God has for us.
So don’t look for the living Lord in a tomb. You will find emptiness, return home in disappointment, and think that nothing has changed. Seek the risen Lord among the living, out there. Seek as you continue your journey forward and you will find, that in some way and manner, the Lord will be present to meet you, calling you by name, and rolling away the heavy stones. You will discover that Jesus has prepared a mansion with many rooms, one especially for you. There is never a “no vacancy sign” hung outside God’s house. In God’s house, in God’s house, there is room for all.
And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.
1 Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA
