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The Empty Tomb
| Spiritual Journeys #2 |
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The Empty Tomb |
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TheBackOfTheMill Junior Member
since 2003-09-30
Posts 14Canada |
Hello again  Well, I usually go the poetry road here, but here is a prose-ish sermon-ish thing that I might turn into a poem someday! I have been asked a number of times to write an "Easter poem" by people who think it might be nice but that's just not something I've been able to do. It's such a joyful time, but it seems these last few years have had some bitter twists around this time of year. Plus, to have things ready for an Easter service they would have to be written during lent, when it's really hard to be in the Easter mindset, for me at least. So here's something that came when I just typed, apparently what prose is partially all about  but I'm not really experienced here so please be critical!!It seems to me that Easter is expected to be a very full season. Full of new life and new hope and new beginnings. So much fresh and new that when I look back to that first Easter celebration, I wonder where this idea all came from! It was, in fact, an empty tomb that the women found. An empty barren tomb. So much of the world seems like that. Everywhere we look there is brokenness, and in that brokenness, loneliness. We want that God who will fill up our cup, so much that it overflows. There are many things all around us that tell us to “fill up”. Fill up our lives, our schedules, our bank accounts and even in seemingly good things- fill in the gaps in society, volunteer, “be there” and leave nothing forgotten or empty. So, why, does our story of Easter come from a tomb which seems to be just that? We must look at what wasn’t in the tomb. Jesus, of course, that’s a simple answer. We celebrate a Jesus who wasn’t there- in that place- as well as Jesus and a God and a Holy Spirit who were and continue to be very much there, because a body wasn’t. I know I’ve felt the empty tomb lately. Wanting to be held by a God and by a church that I’ve loved and trusted but have found myself very alone. None of that fullness of life blooming and bursting at the seams with new energy and enthusiasm. It just seems that in so many ways the world is not as it should be. The Pope, a leader for many Christians, but more than that, a father, dead. Wars, arguments, confrontation, times of uncertainty, all around. There is more than enough emptiness to go around. I thought it was interesting when I was reading about a debate surrounding whether or not Jesus’ ascension was actual and scientific and all that. There was one person who said, wait a minute, I know that Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension are real because I walk with him everyday. That’s the Jesus, I believe, that we find when the tomb seems so empty and the stories of scripture seem so impossible. It wasn’t easy Jesus’ disciples as they watched their guide and their friend leave, but in being not there, we find a God who is always there. As the women who found the empty tomb ran to look for Jesus, I believe we are called to do the very same thing. We look around and see little of the dreams and promises that could be in the world. We can see plainly that these things are not there, meaning they must be somewhere else. Not in the realm of what is, but in that of what could be. Let us see these empty places and hold them as promise that there is a God who is not there, but everywhere. Let us see them as potential for improvement, and let the emptiness stir the desire we all have to make change. Let us run like the women who found the empty tomb to search for that which is Jesus in our lives, in our time, and in our place this day and always, bringing with us those who are still staring at the empty tomb, waiting for the promise in flesh. Let us remember that when we see the empty tomb, it is a sign that Jesus is not there for he has risen to be with us always. Hallelujah! May you continue to seek the Christ this day and forevermore. |
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sandgrain Member Elite
since 1999-09-21
Posts 3662Sycamore, IL, USA |
How interesting this approach is! Sometimes I drift away a little and I definitely feel that emptiness inside and look for Him. Thanks for sharing. Rae |
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