April 16th

Stone Rollers

Acts 10:34-43
Mark 16:1-8



Many of you here today know that our daughter Kimberly, her partner, Dana, and our 4 year-old grandson, Preston, were here visiting just a week or so ago. We were on the go every day, from Progresso to San Antonio, 3 different beach trips, the aquarium, and the list goes on.

Then there was the home entertainment. We have never watched so many cartoons in our lives! We can even quote lines from the Wallace and Grommit movie! Of course, that shouldn’t be too surprising since we watched it three times! We did not watch any significant amount of adult television until Saturday morning after our family had headed back to Georgia. But, several hours of sleep later, Richard and I agreed that we really did have a lot of fun with our family.

Preston was particularly entertaining—as only four year-olds can be. During the commercial breaks of one of our cartoon marathons, he was pointing out to his Grandpa Richard everything he wanted for his upcoming birthday in August. And when I say, “everything,” I do mean “everything.” At one point, Grandpa Richard looked at Preston, smiled and said, “You just want everything, don’t you?” Preston’s confused look seemed to say, “Well, yeah. Duh! What? Is there a problem with that?”

Later, however, during one of our very brief CNN commercial breaks, Richard was mentioning how he liked some of the various products that were being advertised. Preston promptly said, “Grandpa Richard, you just want everything, don’t you?” All I can say is, “Touche’!”

Ahhh, to be a child again! To want everything, to have most everything handed to us, and to have no real responsibilities at all! Sounds great, huh? Of course, the time eventually comes in our lives when we learn that all those wonderful gifts—while given freely in love—also have a certain amount of responsibility that comes with them. And that is when life can get very interesting!

Responsibility. That is the topic I would like to address this beautiful Easter morning. Now I know what some of you are thinking. “Responsibility? What happened to the resurrection? Isn’t that why we’re here today? Well, that and to share some good ‘ol church food!

Well, Jesus Christ is risen; and that is the wonderful news that we are celebrating. Jesus Christ came, lived, died, and rose again so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. As Christians, we believe that Jesus died for the sins of the entire world. Jesus gave his life freely and in an amazing spirit of love for humanity—all of us, everyone, no exceptions! Furthermore, Christianity teaches that salvation is a free gift of God’s grace through our faith in Jesus Christ.

Abundant life! Everlasting life! Eternal salvation! We want it all, and through Jesus Christ we can have these things! This isn’t just good news; this is great news! Amen? These gifts are given to us freely in love. We can do nothing to earn them. But as free as these gifts are, from our reading in Mark today, we learn that there just may be some responsibility associated with these gifts, as well. Let’s take a closer look.

We begin with Mary Magadalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bringing spices to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. Along the way they are wondering who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb. They are looking for a way to get inside the tomb—a safe place, a place sealed away from the rest of the world. See, they thought that this place was the only place they would find Jesus.

Sounds a lot like us sometimes, doesn’t it? By that comment, I mean we sometimes treat the church like it is the only place we can find Jesus—you know, a safe place, a place sealed away from the rest of the world. We come, we worship, and we leave. But Jesus? Jesus stays right here.

Or so we think.

Can you imagine the fear of the women when they arrived at the tomb? First, the stone was already rolled away! Could there be grave robbers inside? Dare they venture into the tomb itself? I can see them oh-so-carefully peeking into the tomb. Nope! No grave robbers; but who is this guy in the white outfit? And most importantly—where is Jesus? Somebody has stolen our Jesus!

Seeing their fear, the young man basically says, “Don’t panic. You’re looking for Jesus. Yep! He was here. But check it out! He’s long gone. Don’t worry, though; I know where he is. Go tell his disciples—yes, even Peter—tell them all that Jesus is on his way to Galilee, and he will see you there. Remember? Just like he told you before.”

You know, I think we Christians sometimes come to church with our own variety of “spices”—that is, our own versions of what we think it will take to preserve our version of Jesus Christ in ways that make us feel comfortable and secure, locked away from the rest of the world. But then lo and behold, we get there, and our version of Jesus is gone! We start to panic! Somebody has stolen our Jesus! Not only that; then somebody in a white outfit has the nerve to tell us something like, “For goodness sake, get out of the tomb! Jesus is on his way to Galilee and said he would see you there!”

And do you know where “Galilee” is, folks? “Galilee” is right outside of these four walls! Jesus Christ did not suffer, die, and rise again so we could sit safe and locked away from the rest of the world! Jesus Christ suffered, died, and rose again so we could leave this place of safety and security and head to Galilee.

Now I want to be clear here. I’m not saying the church is useless. We come here to worship God, and we receive the gifts of God’s strength, grace, and peace through the Holy Spirit. We come here to hear a message of hope! We come here to hear the message that Jesus Christ is risen indeed! But then we are to take those gifts and that message of hope with us and head to our own “Galilees!” We are to take those gifts and become “Stone Rollers.”

And just what do Stone Rollers do? Stone Rollers go out, and we put our backs into helping others roll away the stones of their lives that keep them locked in dark, deadly tombs. Tombs like addiction, depression, loneliness, poverty, oppression, and abuse. We help roll the stones away that keep people locked in tombs of spiritual darkness that tell them that God cannot possibly love them!

Sure, these stones are heavy; but there are a lot of creative ways to move them, too. All we need are Spirit-filled people who are willing to stand up, speak up, and put their backs into rolling these stones away! And let me tell you something, I purposely added that part about putting our backs into it, because talk by itself is cheap. If we truly desire positive change, we have to be that change!

Scary? You bet it is! That’s at least part of the reason the women in today’s passage ran. The message of the guy in the white outfit completely freaked them out! The same thing happens to us sometimes, too. We hear a message that just completely blows us out of the water. That message may offend us; that message may inspire us; that message may even make good sense to us. But often, like the women in today’s passage, rather than take action, we are frightened into silence.

But I am here today to tell you that we have nothing—absolutely nothing—to fear! How do I know that? Because we have a God that goes before us! When the children of Israel left Egypt, God went ahead of them as a pillar of fire by night and smoke by day. When the Israelites were struggling to establish a foothold in the land of Canaan, the Ark of the Covenant—God’s presence in their midst—went ahead of them.

And today, we celebrate the greatest go-ahead ever—Jesus Christ, God’s presence incarnate, willingly goes ahead of us into the future, through suffering, death, and beyond. And if God will go ahead of us—even into suffering and death—then how much more will God go ahead of us to wherever life may take us; be it medical treatments, recovery, a new career, a new city, or a new relationship?

So, hear the great news today! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! And because Jesus gone has gone before us, we too, can leave this place today without fear, meet him in our own “Galilees,” and start rolling some stones!

Christ has died.

Christ has risen.

Christ is waiting in Galilee.

Let’s join Him there. Amen?

God bless you and amen.