This Tomb…..Not Somewhere To Linger

Matt 28:1-10

I have stepped into the empty tomb on four occasions now and like the disciples of old, I was not permitted to linger.

The queues are long you see and the guards are there to make sure you come in and out as quickly as possible, so there are no hold ups.

Don’t imagine there’s time for a prayer or an Easter hymn or even a moment to reflect as to whether this could actually be the place where this wonderful thing happened.

Come and see – by all means – but then be on your way.

The story of the first Easter morning in Matthew’s Gospel is spectacular, fast moving, and over very quickly.

It must have been frightening to have been there and witnessed the earthquake, the thunder and the lightning, the rending of the rocks and the sudden dazzling appearance of the angel.

It must have been impossible to take in the immensity of the news that Jesus who was crucified is now risen and to be told that there is no time to linger in this place of ultimate miracle.

“Come and see” quickly, if you must – but then “go and tell.”

Then as you make haste to do as you had been told, there is Jesus right in front of you for a brief second. They take hold of his feet and want to stay worshipping him forever – but he echoes the command of the angel. “Go, go to Galilee”

This empty tomb which changes everything turns out to be no place to linger.

The reality of the resurrection is not something to be kept under wraps, whether found in an Easter Garden, inside a vast church, or in the hearts or men and women who know it to be true.

The resurrection is something that propels you into action.

Come and see quickly – but then Go and tell.

The proof of resurrection lies not in its historical remains, but in the difference it makes to the lives of people.

This morning we step into this large empty space to once again “come and see”.

To find out the truth of it for ourselves.

That this is not about the happy ending to some tale but assurance of “God with us” through every experience, even death itself, and that this is a hope for every person of every generation.

But at the 8am service we are true to scripture and we do not linger long.

We go from here nourished by the living bread and the cup of salvation.

In that fleeting Eucharistic moment we are like the women who meet him suddenly along that garden path. Like them we worship for a second before we “go into Galilee.

Before we “go and tell”

“Come and see” “Go and tell”.

These are two instructions we must hold fast to.

Remember when the disciples first met Jesus, back when they were still fishermen.

How there was a sort of chain reaction going on.

“We have found the Messiah” one would exclaim to the other “Come and see”

And when they had met Jesus for themselves he told them he would turn them into fishers of men. That he would send them out, even from day one of knowing him, sending them out to “Go and tell”

I loved the Holy Land and visiting all those places was so very special.

I really wish it was safe enough to go there again with all of you.

But on each of the pilgrimages I have made – I’ve heard the same voice in my head as that of the angel on this first Easter morning.

Yes, “come and see” if you wish to – but make it quick – for the real work is to “Go and tell”, and to do that you don’t need to be in Jerusalem.

Let the resurrection propel you from this place this morning as if there was again an earthquake at your feet and an angel by your side.

Take the good news into the routine, ordinary places of your daily living – for it is there that the resurrection has to be made to count.

A sense of hope and purpose in you and your way of being that speaks of eternity amidst the concerns of the day.

So that people will know that “alleluia” is your sort of word, before you’ve even opened your mouth.

RH 23.3.08