" What Next?" - John 20: 1-18
A Sermon by Alex W. Evans, Pastor
Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA
John 20:1-18 – “What Next?”
Easter – 2023
So, a fellow had a dog that learned to talk. The man, excited and hopeful about his pet, took the dog to a talent agent hoping to get the dog on one of those reality TV shows: “This dog can speak,” he claims to a skeptical agent.
“Okay, sport,” the man says to his dog. “What is on the top of a house?”
“Roof,” the dog replies. The talent agent shakes his head – “come on; all dogs go ‘roof.’”
“No wait!” The owner pushes back. There’s more. He says to his dog: “what does sandpaper feel like?” “Rough!” the dog answers.
The agent rolls his eyes, losing his patience.
“No, hang on!” he says. “This one will amaze you.” He turns to his dog and asks the dog: “Who, in your opinion, is the greatest baseball player of all time?” “Ruth!” the dog says. And with that the talent agent, having endured enough, boots the man and his dog out of his office.
As they walk down the street, the dog turns to his owner and says, “Maybe I should have just said Hank Aaron?!”
The point of that story: if you have something to say, say it as well as you can.
Well, give John, the gospel writer, credit! Compared to all the other Easter stories in the four gospels, John leaves almost nothing unsaid. In fact, John’s telling of Easter is the longest, with the most dialogue, the most detail, the most characters and activity, all related to what happened on that first Easter morning.
I am pretty sure you know a little bit of this Easter story – it is why you are here today. The women come to the tomb at dawn. The stone is rolled away. There is great confusion and misunderstanding. But, . . Jesus has been raised.
Listen afresh to these important verses from John 20:
Early in the morning of the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 She ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him.” 3 Peter and the other disciple left to go to the tomb. 4 They were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and was the first to arrive at the tomb. 5 Bending down to take a look, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Following him, Simon Peter entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 He also saw the face cloth that had been on Jesus’ head. It wasn’t with the other clothes but was folded up in its own place. 8 Then the other disciple, the one who arrived at the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 They didn’t yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying.
11 Mary stood outside near the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent to look into the tomb. 12 She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. 13 The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
She replied, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” 14 As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabbouni” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold on to me, for I haven’t yet gone up to my Father. Go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, ‘I’m going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene left and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord.” Then she told them what he said to her.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Here is what I want to do today. I want us to recall the basics of this story – and then I want us to consider what this story might truly mean for our lives – our daily, often difficult, often complicated aspects of life in the world.
Easter begins in darkness – with dread and death seemingly holding the day. John describes it: “early in the morning, . . . while it was still dark.”
I am sure most of you know about darkness – the darkness of the night, before the dawn of morning, . . . But you also know, I am sure, about the darkness of the soul, when all the light seems blocked out and everything seems heavy and uncertain.
We live in a time of lots of darkness. Gun violence has become as American as baseball and apple pie. School children . . and concert goers . . . and parade participants and people at other public events keep paying with their lives for this crazy obsession with the Second Amendment. That brings real darkness.
We also have great suffering in our communities because of poverty . . . and politics. It has been another dizzying week in politics where it appears that our democracy is increasingly in peril. We also have Mr. Putin destroying Ukraine and even threatening nuclear weapons. We are nearing the crisis point on the critical elements that sustain life on this planet. That is a lot of darkness.
Just this week, I spent three more days with police officers from across this state who attended a seminar at Massanetta Springs for their trauma. This was the 28th seminar for the Virginia Law Enforcement Assistance Program, an organization that I helped to form following the shootings at VT. This program held its first seminar for police officers in 2009 here at Second Presbyterian Church. We have had 1100 officers attend across the years. Yet the main topics are all related to darkness – trauma, depression, suicide, and the impossible challenges these people face trying to protect and serve around our Commonwealth.
Most of us know a bit about darkness. Easter begins in darkness.
Mary comes to the tomb of Jesus alone . . . . and the stone has been rolled away. Right away, we recognize this story wants to change our perspective, lift our gaze. What Mary finds is altogether different from what she expected to find.
Are you, are we, open to seeing things differently? Are you, are we, able to lift our gaze out of the darkness, out of the crazy life that is all too familiar, all too often bad, and see something different, and new?
On this resurrection day, what might we see together? We got communities trying to re-build after horrific storms. We have layers of systemic racism that we are trying to overcome. We have young people trying to figure out their identities, their purposes in life, who they can trust, who might really love them. Many of you are facing uncertainty, decisions, worries. It can be hard to see the dawn of God’s love breaking into our darkness. It is so often difficult to think that God might be moving among us, through us. Can we be gospel people? Resurrection people? It is Easter; . . . . who . . . and how . . will we be?
When Mary and Peter peer into the tomb, shocked and uncertain, they discover that Jesus is not there. But, as it says, “they did not understand the Scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.”
Across 35 years of pastoral ministry, I have not counted how many funerals I have done. Children, young people, older people. People killed in accidents and even violently. People who died far too quickly from some difficult disease, and people who died after a long and faithful life. Some of these people I did not even know, . . . others I knew and loved – they were like my family, people who nurtured me like my parents did, and people whose death covered my own heart with grief.
Through all the years, whenever we gather to celebrate life and affirm God’s promises of new life, it reminds me that THE LOVE OF GOD SIMPLY REFUSES TO give in to the power of death. Yes, death separates us from loved ones. Yes, death brings grief and loss – that is where Mary was on that first Easter. But even death does not have the power to pull us from God. Since that is true, our lives take a different shape, a different focus – with love and purpose and hope, always. We live with faith, even in the face of huge loss, seeking to trust God, who holds us, and holds our loved ones forever.
This Easter story also has that question – mentioned twice in this story. “Why are you crying?” We cry because we love. We cry because our losses are real. We cry because hurts and grief can overwhelm us. Resurrection is not the promise that life is all easy and rosy. Resurrection is not a message of quick relief from the setbacks. There are often lots of tears in our suffering. There can be a long call for patience in our tribulations. Fairy tales end with the idea that “they all lived happily ever after.” Resurrection is not a fairy tale. Resurrection is a truth – a framework for our living – a course-setting for our lives. Resurrection comes on the other side of suffering – as we see in the Jesus story. Resurrection emerges through the tears, when we can begin to see more clearly, see God, see light overcoming the darkness. (see T. Are, “Resurrection is Not A Fairly Tale,” JP, 2023)
As you might guess, in these days, I am trying to figure out how to clear out my study; what to do with too many books, and how to dispense with so many ministry file folders. In this process, I have re-discovered some very sacred items, all of which brought back some very cherished memories.
I found a note from one of you, following the death of your loved one. It had been a long and difficult chapter, a slow decline with lots of challenges. Yet the note was full of faith, . . . and peace. Clearly, resurrection was shining through the heartache. Loss is real, but so is God’s presence, God’s promises of new life, eternal life, and God holding us forever.
I found a note from a couple who had been through a season when each partner had done so much harm to the other, when words and actions were not only unkind, but vicious and abusive. And yet despite the hardships, that couple found a way to stay together, to make a life, a marriage, a better journey – and they are still together, now approaching retirement. That is resurrection – there was despair and death – and then life prevails – by God’s great grace.
I came upon a gift given to me from someone who almost died from alcoholism – whose days were so dark, whose hope was so lost, whose family had given up on him. And with God’s help, and through a caring community and hard days of treatment, he found life, . . and peace and new purposes. Resurrection.
There was a picture, from a member of a former church, of a sunrise from the ocean, with dolphins in the surf. The person had been through a terrible regimen of chemo, exhausted from the fight, and escaped to the beach for some solace. A sentence on the back – “whether we live or die, we belong to God.”
Here is the deal – if you have something to say, say it as well as you can. Darkness is real. Weeping is often part of life. Questions abound. Doubts can un-settle us. But the stone was rolled away. Jesus was not there. God always gets the last word. We cannot give in. We cannot let powers and principalities prevail. We belong to God. Life is full of surprises and full of hope. That is the resurrection.
Friends, Christian faith is always about “how God continues to reach into the graves we dig for ourselves, and pulls us out, giving new life, in ways both dramatic and small.” (Nadia Bolz-Weber. Pastrix)
So, . . . you know the story. Resurrection. But, . . . what’s going to be next, especially as we go from this place today – this Easter day – and all the days ahead? Resurrection is not just a theory or some knowledge, or some piece of theology. Resurrection intends absolutely to direct our living. With whom, and how, can you use your words, or your actions, to spread resurrection love around?
Easter is not just a moment – or a day – it intends to change life – our lives, and how we function – living and serving as resurrection people. What’s next? Who needs your care? Where can you spread resurrection light? Darkness is real. Weeping is part of life. But so is God – God’s presence and God’s promises and God’s victory over evil and death. And it is up to us to make it real – in our days, in our community, through our families, through our city and nation.
Remember - WITH GOD – with resurrection – the worst thing is never the last thing! (Beuchner)
The wonderful poet, Mary Oliver, puts the question very directly: “What are you going to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Will we respond to the resurrection of Jesus like those who were there: not in fear, but in telling others – as best as we can – in words and actions – “we have seen the Lord” – seen the Lord do amazing things! God can be trusted. Our lives belong to God. Christ is risen. Christ is risen, indeed!
Prayer of Commitment: Holy God, pour out your great Spirit upon us this Easter and empower us to live – really live – with courage, faith, fortitude, and focus following Jesus. AMEN
Alex W. Evans, Pastor, Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA preached this sermon during Sunday morning worship on Easter, April 9, 2023. This is a rough manuscript.