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The Empty Tomb

April 12, 2009 John 20:1-18 Easter could not have arrived soon enough this year. We are mired in gloomy news: the global economy is crippled, God‟s creation is under assault, wars drag on endlessly, poverty keeps spreading, deadly diseases go unchecked, and fear and despair multiply. If ever we needed an infusion of hope, if ever we needed a strong shot of joy, now‟s the time. And Easter delivers. Easter is not a Disney tale of make believe or a Spielberg saga of escapist entertainment. Easter is the story of why we can live our lives with hope and joy, despite the harsh realities life can hurl our way. We live our lives in the present; moment by moment. Yet, none of us live only in the present. We have a past, and more importantly, we carry in our heads and in our hearts, a vision of the future. Writer, Parker Palmer reminds us that “The quality of our lives depends on whether we see a horizon that is dark with death or full of light and life. (If we only) imagine ourselves moving toward the finality of death, we can become driven by fear...but if we envision a horizon that is hopeful and full of life, then we are free to live without fear. We are free to act with love and trust.” 1 We are free to dream of new possibilities and embark on new adventures. A colleague tells of reading a powerful poem by Louise Gluck, called “October.” She “contemplates the season of autumn and the gradual, day-by-day dimming of light. Her poem is about cold winds and changing leaves, but is also about us, for we cannot escape the eventual fading of the light. In stark terms, she writes, „You will not be spared, nor will what you love be spared.‟ When my colleague first read those words, he had a physical reaction to them. A sharp pain squeezed his forehead, and he began to weep. He wept because these words are undeniably true, and he wept because he despises their truth.” 2