Easter

Easter   Text: Mark 16: 1-8

 “And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and bewilderment took hold of them. And they said nothing to anyone. For they were afraid.”

How did we ever get from there to celebration?
How did we ever get from fleeing the scene in terror, bewilderment, and saying nothing to anyone -- how did we ever get from there to Hallelujah! ?

It suggests quite a journey, doesn’t it? … like there’s a lot that has to happen in the meantime … between hearing the news, “Christ is risen!” and that somehow registering in such a way that gives rise to joy, to hope, to thanksgiving, to healing … to say nothing of telling!

In the last few weeks I’ve encountered a couple of people whose stories have helped me to appreciate something of this time in the lives of these women at the tomb … this in between time … how it is that instead of being wild with joy, they’re seized with terror and trembling; how it is that all they want to do is get out there.

I don’t know how I missed it before, but of course --
these are the women who stood near Jesus right to the bitter end. They have just come through this experience of witnessing untold suffering … the kind of experience that is near impossible to put into words.  They come to the tomb that morning not only carrying the spices and ointments to give him a proper burial. They come carrying trauma -- in their minds, in their hearts, their bones.
Arriving at the tomb that morning, their singular focus is to care for his dead body.

It is there that they are met by a messenger who tells them, “don’t be alarmed! He has been raised … he is not here … he is going ahead of you to Galilee!”

It was supposed to be over … he was supposed to be safely dead. Finished.  Their world already undone with grief … now this messing with their minds. You can hear it can’t you? … these words tearing into their sanity. “What is this? Where are we? What’s happening? Where is the one I loved?"  "Go and tell!” --are you kidding?

Easter isn’t the end of grief. Grief doesn’t pack up and go on demand …much less trauma. We can arrive at this day with “Christ is risen” proclaimed all around us, even by us … but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re finished with grief. We can still be deeply grieving and yet proclaim “Christ is risen” with all our heart.

Easter isn’t the end of grief. Easter is the shattering of our assumptions … the shattering of our world as we know it. Easter marks a profound rupture and re-making … a re-creation of our world, for while the forces of death and destruction are fierce and unrelenting, they are not all there is. There is another reality … that is powerfully at work … that won’t finally be stopped … the reality of God’s life-giving love …that keeps finding a way … that rises up within us and between us … a rising that is not our own doing.

There are countless ways that has happened and is even now happening.

I’m guessing you’ll remember as clearly as I do, the Fall of 2015 when the world became so painfully aware of the horrendous escalating violence in Syria as hundreds of thousands of people were fleeing … so many of them drowning in their desperate attempt to get to Europe.  It was that image of little 3 year Alan Kurdi washed up dead on the beach that broke us open. And then followed the response … huge response of generosity, of compassion, of a deep desire to be a means of life, in the face of so much death, as individuals and communities in many parts of the world reached out … a powerful expression of that surge of life-giving love that won’t be stopped.

15 or 16 months ago we hosted a meeting right here in this room, of people this congregation and neighbourhood. It was a packed house. There was this intense eagerness to be part of making a new life possible.

Yesterday Aleksa sent out this letter. Some of you will already have received it.

Dear friends of the James Bay Refugee Initiative -

We have just come back from showing a beautiful, strong, brave woman her new apartment in Victoria.
Yes, this is the news we have been waiting for, and it is very good news indeed. Laila, the refugee from Syria whose arrival we have been anticipating is here and she is now a permanent resident of Canada!
On Wednesday, April 12th, she boarded the first of four planes that would take her to Victoria, not knowing there would be anybody to meet her, to show her around, to care about her...imagine the courage!  There were tears and hugs, smiles, chocolates and flowers at the Victoria airport as we met this young woman whose arrival we had been preparing for such a long time.

Laila wanted us to give you all a message. She said she is very happy to be here and is so thankful for all the people who made it possible for her to come to Victoria, a place that is more beautiful than she could have imagined.

Laila talked about her mother’s desire for her children to have something more in their lives than the very difficult labour she herself experienced while working a farm, so she saw to it that Laila was educated. Her English is very good and she is aware of the need to study to become even more fluent. She is thirsty for more knowledge. Laila wants to meet many different people, people who might look at life in a way that is unfamiliar to her and who will give her new eyes. She wants to be a productive member of Canadian society and to give back as a way to say thank you for the gift of this new life.

So for now, Laila is staying in the warm and caring home of a member of the JBRI steering committee. Very soon she will move into her apartment and begin doing the work that is required of her in her quest to make a life here.

It is very good work we have done. Thank you.
Aleksa, for the James Bay Refugee Initiative steering committee

Easter isn’t the end of grief. Easter is the shattering of our world as we know it. Easter marks a profound rupture and re-making … a re-creation of our world, for while the forces of death and destruction are fierce and unrelenting, they are not all there is. There is another reality … that is powerfully at work.

Christ is risen!

This day may we welcome that Love to be powerfully at work in us and in our world that all may have abundant life.