Eastering Faith Part 4

 

Today we turn for the fourth time to Matthew’s version of the resurrection.  I hope something today surprises you that even though we are hearing this again (like a repeat of a TV show you’ve seen before) there is always a new detail that was hidden there in plain sight the whole time. 

From the Common English Version

 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the tomb.  Look, there was a great earthquake, for an angel from the Lord came down from heaven. Coming to the stone, he rolled it away and sat on it.  Now his face was like lightning and his clothes as white as snow. The guards were so terrified of him that they shook with fear and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He isn’t here, because he’s been raised from the dead, just as he said. Come, see the place where they laid him.  Now hurry, go and tell his disciples, ‘He’s been raised from the dead. He’s going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.’ I’ve given the message to you.”   With great fear and excitement, they hurried away from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples.  But Jesus met them and greeted them. They came and grabbed his feet and worshipped him.  Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my brothers that I am going into Galilee. They will see me there.”

 

What jumped out as unique in the words above?  What surprised you in this translation?  What felt like sandpaper to your soul?  For me, it was verse 8 because that defines and describes my soul right now.  I have great fear and excitement.  My fight, flight, freeze, flock, fawn have been in overdrive, probably since 9-11.  We continually fan the flames of loathing and the strange exhilaration that goes with that emotion.  Social media, religion, politics, economics, and structures around us feed on the negativity, even as we lament the brokenness to each other, we sometimes fail to see our participation (and benefit) from the status quo of shattered systems.  Rob Bell says that we complain about traffic when we are in traffic, not realizing that we are part of the problem!  Same for negativity, we return to it like a traffic accident we gawk at even as our heart breaks and soul aches.  Eastering our life recognizes that what is broken open (like a tomb) is also the very place were God can enter and resurrect our lives in new ways.  Where is your life been split open by a faith-quake recently?  Perhaps you are frantically trying to superglue the sharp shard pieces back together.  Where have you become frozen like the guards in the story?  Where does fear and excitement stir within you?  How can we share that with each other?  For it is sharing of the good news that we embody and live our Eastering faith in these days.  Amen.