"From Grief to Joy" - John 20:1-18 - April 15, 2001

One of the joys of Easter is all the newness that surrounds us. Spring is bursting with flowers and budding trees. The grass has turned from that dreadful brown color to a lush bright green. The women and girls among us are wearing new dresses and outfits. Men and boys are sporting new ties and duds as well. The music is upbeat and festive and our neighborhoods are decorated with colorful signs and symbols in commemoration of the Easter season.

As I passed through the shopping malls in the last few weeks I have been overwhelmed by all the Easter decorations. Department store shelves were lined with rows of brightly colored candy and all kinds of accessories. I saw Easter clothing, toys, candles, even Easter soap. One shopping mall had a full life Easter Bunny sitting in the same place that Santa Claus normally sits at Christmas. I wondered if children were giving him an Easter list?

And today, churches have extra worship services to accommodate the masses of people who come to worship this day. Choirs sing cantatas and sanctuaries are adorned with Easter lilies and all kinds of sweet smelling flowers. Can there be any doubt that something very special has happened? Doesn’t all this prove that Jesus rose from the dead and lives among us?

A confirmation student once asked me to explain the resurrection. I told him that even with all my education and experience in ministry I could not explain the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It cannot be explained. It cannot be proven. It can only be accepted through faith. My student looked a bit puzzled and then said, "Then why do you believe it?" I answered him by saying, "Because we have this story and there was a witness who believed that she saw the risen Lord and I believe in her."

When Mary and the disciples arrived at the tomb that morning they were also puzzled. First, the stone was missing. Secondly, there was no body. And third, all that remained was some cloths and a napkin. There was no proof, no evidence of a living Jesus. On that basis how could anyone prove the resurrection?

If you asked me why I believe in the resurrection I would tell you the same thing I told my young student. I believe that it happened. For some of you that may be sufficient but for others you may still be just as puzzled as Mary and the disciples were on that first Easter morning. But, there is more to the story and what follows gives us three important clues as to why we can believe in the resurrection. Whether you accept them or not will depend on your own, individual faith.

Clue number one: Mary understood Jesus to be the gardener. Last weekend I was fishing off the bank, casting across a narrow channel. At one point I flung my lure across the channel to the other side. My lure got caught on a tree branch. I tugged and tugged but I couldn’t pull it free. I finally gave it a really strong pull and I broke my line. I stood there, pondering over the fact that my lure dangled from a tree and since I had no boat there was no way to retrieve it. I shrugged my shoulders, decided to quit for the day, picked up my gear and began to walk away.

A few seconds later I noticed a man and woman get into a boat nearby. I turned and walked toward them. They had fishing gear in their boat and appeared to be heading out for an evening on the lake. I pointed to my helpless lure across the channel, and asked if they might retrieve it for me. "Sure, no problem," the man said. Two minutes later I had my trusty lure back in my hand. We exchanged a few friendly greetings and off the went.

This may seem like an every day occurrence and of little significance. However, I believe that every time one human being, gardener, fisherman or whatever, performs an act of kindness for another human being, I have once again seen Jesus in the form of another person. It could be someone I know or like my couple in the boat, complete strangers. Sometimes life seems hopeless. We feel like that lure dangling helplessly from a limb with no rescue it sight. We may be afraid to ask for help or fail to see the love of Jesus Christ in another human being who God has placed there to help us.

Clue number two: Mary was grieving and she heard a compassionate voice. Some years ago columnist Alexander Woolcott described this scene in a New York Hospital:

A mother sat in the hospital lounge in silence, tears streaming down her cheeks. The head nurse comforted her about the death, just moments before, of her only child. The nurse asked her, "Did you see the little boy sitting in the hall as you left your daughter’s room?" No, the mother said, she had not noticed him. His mother had been brought to the hospital by ambulance a few days earlier. Recent immigrants, they knew no one in the city. Every day and night the little boy sat outside his mother’s room. "Fifteen minutes ago that little boy’s mother died," the nurse continued, "and now I must go tell this child that he is all alone in the world." Then the nurse added, "I don’t suppose you would go with me?" The grieving mother looked up in shock, but dried her tears, straightenedher hair, and went with the nurse. Not only that, she put her arms around the boy and invited him to come home with her. They soon came to know the meaning of the promise: a grief shared is a burden lightened.

God’s Little Lessons On Life for Dad, 1999, Honor Books, Tulsa, OK

God always listens to our pain. God has an army of listening ears who are there to comfort us and assure us. When we are free to grieve and someone hears us in the process we are able to work through our loss and experience the gift of newness of life. We all experience losses in life and our grief is turned to joy when we finally let go and accept the newness God gives. Sometimes we are too proud to cry or too stubborn to let go. Great victories, however can be won with the power of tears.

Near the end of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln received a telegram that General Lee was about to surrender. He left Washington to go to the front. When he arrived he found officers preparing for his victorious entry into Richmond. Lincoln put his foot down and said, "There shall be no triumphal entry into Richmond. There shall be no demonstration just now." He then walked alone into the city with his head bowed and his heart heavy with sorrow. He went to the Southern capital and sat at the desk of Jefferson Davis. He put his head in his hands and wept. On that day in history Lincoln’s sympathetic heart bound the North and South together, a nation that was gravely divided and in much pain. Instead of being proud and gloating with a smile of victory, this great man shed sincere and humble tears that helped to bring healing to a grieving nation.

Clue number three: The man Mary encountered knew her by name. My mother has four sons. When we were growing up she frequently called each of us by each other’s names. When she wanted one of us she would say all four names until she got it right. We use to kid her about it and my mother’s mistakes are always something to laugh at whenever the four of us are together.

Although my mother may have called us by different names she at least gave each of us the freedom to be ourselves. We are brothers but very independent and very different and I believe she loves each of us for who we are. She may not have always called us by the right name but she was always there to listen to us when we had a problem.

Each of you has a name. You are unique and different from all others. Regardless of when or why you hurt, there is always One who knows your name and is ready to listen. Just as Jesus comforted Mary as she wept for the missing Christ, God is there for you, caring, listening and empathizing with your grief or pain.

Resurrection becomes a reality when our identity is affirmed and we feel the personal one-on-one love of God. Resurrection occurs every time we encounter the love of Christ in another human being. Resurrection is experienced when we are free to process our grief, accept our loss, and begin anew. The joy of Easter will always be yours when you believe in the One who has been risen from the dead. It cannot be proved, it can only be lived.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio