From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul

Easter Gardens & Railway Stations

Easter Day 4 April 2010 7.45am

The Revd Jenny Wilkens

• Isaiah 65:17-25
• Luke 24: 1-12

http://wellingtoncathedral.org.nz/index.php/Sermons

As the Cathedral bells ring out across the city today, announcing it is Easter Day, I wonder do you hear them as good news or bad news? I know for some apartment dwellers in Thorndon, the Cathedral bells are a bit of a mixed blessing! But I was interested to hear a snippet on the radio about the church bells in Samoa, and how they have not only been used to call people to worship, but also have traditionally been used as an alarm system for the community in cases of emergency or disaster. But since the recent tsunami, when people have been hearing the church bells, rather than heading to church, they have been heading for the hills, fearing another tsunami! So alarm systems have been installed in the villages, so that the church bells can go back to being bearers of only good news.

When Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary and the other women came to the tomb early on that first Easter day, they were expecting bad news, not good. They were coming to a cemetery, a graveyard, they were coming to a place of grief and mourning, They were coming bearing spices to anoint the body of Jesus, they were looking for a body to minister to and care for, as women have always done over the centuries.

No wonder they are perplexed when they find the stone rolled away from the tomb and Jesus' body is not there. This is totally unexpected, but then something even more startling, terrifying even - two men in dazzling clothes before them. They bow their faces to the ground, in terror, in awe? In the presence of something more than human?

And then the challenge: "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." Living, risen…those words must have taken moments to sink in, as these dazzling beings go on to remind the women of Jesus' words: 'remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.'

Then they remembered his words, the penny drops, it all starts to sink in, deep down into their hearts and souls, and they go to spread the good news.

Well, good news it may be, but the other disciples take a bit of convincing - 'these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.'

But Peter, dear Peter, always the one to act on an impulse, but Peter got up and ran to the tomb, stooped and looked in, saw the linen cloths by themselves, then went home, amazed at what had happened. He is on his own journey to faith and belief. By that evening, the risen Jesus will have appeared to Simon Peter, to the two disciples at Emmaus, and then to the disciples in the Upper Room.

'Why do you look for the living among the dead?' Where do we seek the risen Jesus?

There are two places in Jerusalem associated with the resurrection of Jesus. One is called the Garden Tomb, and is situated just north of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is not likely to have been the actual site of Jesus' resurrection, but it does contain a very ancient tomb, and it does have a rolling stone, and a very beautiful Easter garden has been established there.

It is very near St George's Cathedral and College in Jerusalem where we were staying, and I recall heading there one Sunday afternoon, and being rather startled to find that the Garden Tomb was closed on Sundays, which made me think that Jesus must have had a bit of a problem there on that first Easter Sunday!

We did get to visit the Garden Tomb on another day and to spend some time in that very beautiful, peaceful and quiet garden setting. We were able to enter into the doorway of the tomb and see the passages and niches inside, and saw the stone rolled aside from the doorway. It was a wonderful setting in which to imagine the risen Jesus, the women, the angels, the disciples.

The other site in Jerusalem associated with the resurrection is probably the genuine one, right in the middle of the Old City, called by the Western Church 'The Church of the Holy Sepulchre' (or tomb), though the Eastern Church simply calls it 'the Church of the Resurrection'.

This is a massive building, or a number of buildings conflated together, with myriad chapels, at a number of levels, full of steps and stairs, and reminding me most of one of the big Victorian railway stations in London - packed full of people, tourists and pilgrims, noisy and bustling.

This church has been built and rebuilt over the centuries over the supposed sites of the crucifixion and of the empty tomb, but it is quite hard in visiting it to get a sense of the holy in the midst of all the tourist crush, the camera flashes, the babble of many languages, the singing and concurrent masses of the half a dozen Christian denominations who somewhat grudgingly share the building.

We visited this church several times over our time in Jerusalem, and as we watched and observed and spent time there, it did become easier to find the sacred midst the cacophony of sounds and smells that assailed our senses; to glimpse beneath the myriads of lamps, incense burners, icons and candles, that this was a place prayed in over the centuries, and where people had indeed met the risen Christ.

This is re-enacted graphically each Easter and will be going on as we speak. All the hundreds of lamps in the huge church with its multitude of chapels are put out on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, and all those who come in on those days, stand in darkness as they remember Christ’s death and wait and watch.

Then as Easter Sunday dawns , a candle is lit at Christ’s tomb, then from that another, then another right round the building, until the entire massive church is ablaze with the light of Christ’s resurrection. And the cry thunders out "Christ is risen, He is risen indeed, Alleluia!"

'Why do you look for the living among the dead?' Where do you seek the risen Jesus today?

Perhaps you will meet him in the peace and serenity of a garden, in the beauty of God's creation, on this first day of the week, the first day of the new creation.

Perhaps you will meet him in the business of the railway station, in the crush and press of the real world we live in - as you walk the streets of this city, look for him in the faces you meet.

Perhaps you will meet him today in the Eucharist, as he gives himself to us in bread and wine, and in the body of Christ gathered round his table, as we proclaim, 'The Lord is here, God's Spirit is with us.'

Perhaps you will meet the risen Christ today in the worship and music of this sacred space, in the beauty of the flowers and windows and the dossal hanging proclaiming the risen and glorified Christ.

'Why do you look for the living among the dead?' Where will you seek the risen Jesus today?

For the joy and good news of the Easter message is that the risen Jesus comes to us first, and seeks us out, calls us by name, and calls us to follow him into life, life abundant and eternal.

Lo, Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb; Lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom.

Thanks be to God! Alleluia!