"God's love rolls away the Mother of All Stones" Easter Sermon 2017
Sermon for Easter Sunrise, 16 April 2017
Mt. of Olives, Jerusalem
Lutheran Church of the Redeemer,
Jerusalem
English-speaking congregation
The Rev. Carrie Ballenger Smith
God’s love rolls away
the “Mother of All Stones”
Alleluia, Christ is risen! Christ is
risen indeed, Alleluia!
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| Preaching at the Easter sunrise service, Mt of Olives 16 April 2017 Photo by Ben Gray/ELCJHL |
On Maundy
Thursday evening, after walking to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray in the spot
where Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back in its sheath! For those who
live by the sword will die by the sword”, I saw that a news alert had arrived on
my phone while we were at prayer. My country, the United States of America, had
just dropped what is called the “Mother of All Bombs” on some caves in Afghanistan.
The “Mother of All Bombs” is the largest non-nuclear bomb in my country’s
arsenal, and it had never been used before. It is 21 times larger than the
missiles we dropped on Syria the week before. This weapon is so large it needed
to be transported in a massive cargo plane and, according to a military source,
“Pushed out the back end.”
This “Mother
of All Bombs” was still on my mind on Friday morning, as a large group of
Anglicans, Lutherans, and Church of Scotland believers (among others) gathered
just after dawn to walk the Way of the Cross. I couldn’t stop thinking about the
feminine, maternal imagery evoked by this bomb’s nickname. As professor Steven
Salaita tweeted on Thursday, calling a weapon of mass destruction ‘mother’ “envisions
murder as a form of birth, the progenitor of sustenance and new life.” The
irony of this was almost too heavy to bear as we moved from station to station
along Jesus’ long walk of sorrows, especially as we came to Station 4: “Jesus
Meets His Mother” and Station 8 “Jesus Speaks to the Women of Jerusalem”, and
of course Station 11: “Jesus is nailed to the cross”.
Because, of
course, we were gathered to remember how Jesus was nailed to a weapon of the
state, and executed by means of a human invention designed to cause maximum
pain and suffering.
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| Redeemer English-speaking congregation gathered on the Mt of Olives for the Easter sunrise service Photo by Ben Gray/ELCJHL |
And still, here we are today. A band of faithful
believers, early risers, bold disciples, gathered not only for the view from
the Mt. of Olives or for the tasty breakfast to come, but for another reason:
We are here to celebrate how an angel
of the Lord, by the power of God’s love, rolled the “Mother of All Stones” away
from the tomb of Jesus.
God’s love
for us rolled away the Mother of All Stones, and our presence here two thousand
years later is a direct challenge to the news out of Afghanistan, out of Syria,
out of Egypt, out of every place where death and destruction claim to be our “mothers”.
Our presence
here is a witness to Jerusalem and to the world that the “Mother of All Bombs”
has no authority over us, parental or otherwise—for we serve the God of life.
We serve the
One who was born among us in Bethlehem.
We serve the
One who carried the cross of suffering in solidarity with us.
We serve the
One who on the third day walked out of the tomb, to the surprise of the guards,
the women, and even his own disciples!
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| Easter, just before dawn Photo by Ben Gray/ELCJHL |
Hallelujah,
we serve the One who is Father of Creation, Brother of the oppressed, Friend of
the poor, Savior of the lost, and whose Mothering Spirit leads us into the Way
of peace, justice, reconciliation, and new life.
Alleluia, Christ is risen! Christ is
risen indeed, Alleluia!
Yes, the
stone has been rolled away, and Christ is alive!
Goodness is
stronger than evil!
Love is
stronger than hate!
Life is
stronger than death!
And for this
reason, the chance that the “Mother of All Bombs” will bring peace, justice,
and security to the Middle East should be filed with the rest of the “fake
news” being fed to us on a daily basis.
It is
perhaps no surprise to hear that the phrase “fake news” was voted “Word of the
Year” in 2016. Certainly, we have become painfully aware of its presence and
influence in recent months. But Scripture tells us there is “nothing new under
the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) and this
applies to “fake news” as well. The powers and principalities of every age have
promoted lies and falsehoods, and we have all too often accepted them without
challenge.
Of course, it’s
one thing to challenge and resist the lure of headlines like “Pope Francis
endorses Donald Trump for President”, or “Free plane tickets to Africa and
Mexico being offered to Americans who want to leave.” A few minutes of research
and a little internet etiquette can save us all from the embarrassment and
annoyance of sharing “alternative facts.”
But it’s
another thing entirely to challenge the most dangerous fake news, because some
assumptions, ideologies, ethical compromises, and sins against God’s good creation
are so familiar we don’t recognize them for what they are. Some are
foundational to our cultures, our governments, or our belief systems. We don’t
see them. We don’t hear them. We don’t even smell the stench of death emanating
from them, because the flowery language of preachers, politicians, and pundits
cover the scent.
So this
morning, at the entrance of the open tomb, and in the presence of the Risen
Christ, let’s clear the air:
Bombs and
guns do not bring real and lasting peace.
That
unhealthy or abusive relationship you’re in? It’s not the best you can expect,
and is certainly not what you deserve.
Depression,
grief, addiction, and brokenness are not death sentences.
Walls do not
create security.
Checkpoints
are not justice.
The Occupation
will never last another 50 years!
And death
never, ever has the final word, for by Jesus’ dying and rising, God has
defeated the Mother of All Lies: death itself.
The truth is, that stone never did
have the power to keep Jesus in the tomb. They could crucify Jesus. They could bury Jesus. But
they could never bury God’s love for us. They could never bury the Mother of
All Headlines, the Good News the whole world was waiting for:
Alleluia, Christ is risen! Christ is
risen indeed, Alleluia!
Thanks be to
God, the Good News of the resurrection triumphs over all the fake news the
world can publish or promote. And this news is not just a matter of belief. In
fact, the angel’s message of resurrection is verifiable. It can even be “cross-checked”! Amen!
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| Redeemer church members, gathered to hear the Good News Photo by Ben Gray/ELCJHL |
On that
resurrection morning, the angel came to the tomb to give the women the message:
“Do not be afraid!” But like the Marys, we know there are very good reasons to
be afraid. There are earthquakes and storms all around us—world-shaking events,
heartbreaking horrors, and frightening political trends. Terror strikes in new
cities every week. Chemicals take away
the breath of innocent children—and leaders try to solve it with missiles. Within
every religion and every nation, the voices of extremists are louder and have
even become normalized.
And on Palm
Sunday, the beginning of this Holy Week, innocent Egyptian Christians were
bombed while peacefully praying and celebrating Jesus’ triumphal entry into
Jerusalem. Sadly, we know this is not
fake news. This is all too real.
And still,
the angel of the Lord comes to us on Easter morning to say, “Do not be afraid!”
Do not be
afraid! If the angel’s message had stopped there, we would have no reason to
celebrate today. If the angel’s message had stopped there, it would be just one
more voice telling us to calm down, to go home, to pay no attention, because
there’s “nothing to see here”. Of course, this is the message we are accustomed
to hearing. This is the message of the media, of politicians, and of preachers
of prosperity. This is the message of the powers and principalities who want to
operate in the darkness, who want us to look away, who want to continue to
control, to oppress, to occupy, to destroy.
This is fake news.
But this is
not the message of our loving God. This is not the message of the empty tomb!
My fellow
disciples, what I want you to remember as you go down from this holy mountain
and into the world today is this:
After the
three days,
After the
earthquake,
After the
lightning,
After the Mother
of All Stones was rolled away and the tomb was revealed to be empty,
Then the angel
said to the faithful women:
“Do not be
afraid—for Jesus is raised! And he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.”
Alleluia, the
Risen Christ goes before us, and appears to the faithful! After all, the Good
News is not really about the emptiness of the tomb, but about the One who
walked out of it! Amen!
During times
of fear, of confusion and doubt, of trial and tribulation, we do see him, as
the disciples did. In fact, like the Marys who ran from the tomb in fear and
great joy, we may discover he’s closer than we imagined!
We know him
in the breaking of the bread, as the disciples did on the way to Emmaus.
We know him in
the lives of the suffering, as Thomas knew Jesus by touching his wounds.
We know him as
fiery passion for justice, and as the strength to follow the winds of change,
as the disciples knew the Spirit as fire and wind on the Pentecost.
We see him
in the stranger, in the prisoner, in the outcast, and in the refugee, all those
Jesus has taught us to call “neighbor.”
We know him
by the embrace of the Christian community, wherever we are in the world.
We know Him
by His love.
Therefore, dear
friends in Christ:
When the
darkness of the tomb overwhelms you,
When the
stones and the bombs seem too large to defeat,
When the prophets
of war seem louder than the angels of mercy,
Be assured
by His risen presence among you:
The Gospel
of Resurrection and new life is not fake news, but Good News!
This news
has been verified.
This news
has been cross-checked.
This news
has been empty-tomb-certified.
This news
has been Holy Spirit guaranteed.
This news
has been confirmed by the saints and the martyrs of the ages.
Therefore,
we will not be afraid. From Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, we will
proclaim the Good News to all who long to hear it:
Alleluia,
Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia!
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