Luke 24:1-12, I Corinthians 15:19-26
My wife, when she was growing up, went to a small country church. On Easter morning, they congregation would gather at the small graveyard near the church to hear the story of the women who went to the tomb only to find that Jesus wasn’t there. It was, I’ve always thought, the best place to hold an Easter service. Where else to think about empty tombs and the resurrection of the dead than one of the many places where we are reminded that Christ’s, and our, old enemy has not yet been wiped out.
Perhaps it’s because I’m working on a sermon for my preaching class, but I find myself thinking about another scene among the tombs on this Easter morning. If you look back several chapters in Luke (around chapter eight), there’s the story of the Gerasene Demoniac. Luke tells the story of a man who’s long been possessed by many demons. He has not been home in a long time. And he lives among the tombs and graves like one of the dead. While he is physically alive, socially he is a dead man since no one approaches him, talks to him, or touches him.
Jesus, of course, frees this man—literally saves him in Luke’s words—from the demons. In his right mind again, he asks if he can come along with Jesus. But Jesus tells him no and sends him to a place he has not been in a long time—home. He completes bringing him, in a way, back to life.
On this day we hear scripture and song that reminds us that the sting of death has forever been removed. The grave’s victory has been snatched away in one quiet act before dawn. And this is good news—death is not the end. Death cannot separate us from God. And death will only separate us from each other for a little while.
But it is important to remember that this mighty act of God is not just an overcoming of physical death. It is also a defeat of all kinds of death. It shows us that even the social death that comes from illness, layoff, or other social catastrophe can be overcome. It shows us that there is, no matter how bleak the situation, hope in darkness.
It also challenges us to continue that work of resurrection in the world. You or I cannot raise those who are physically dead, but we can reach out and bring resurrection to those who are dead in other ways. There are those, like the Gerasene demoniac who live a life in the tombs who need our help in finding their way back home.
Risen Christ, resurrect in me the dead parts that have forgotten how to love. And make me an agent of resurrection in this world.