…they came
to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared... (Luke 24:1)
…they left
the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell… (Matthew 28:8)
Have
you started to think about what you will wear to worship on Easter Sunday? How
about what you will bring with you? Who will you bring to worship that day?
And
what will you take with you when you leave?
Many
of us spend a good bit of time deciding that to wear to worship on Easter
Sunday. It makes sense that we want to dress up a bit on this great day, using
bright colors and new clothes to celebrate the good news that Jesus has, indeed,
been raised from the dead.
I
wonder, however, what would happen if we spent as much time reflecting on what
we bring with us to worship on this great day. Offerings, I hope. A worshipful
spirit, yes. But I am thinking more about the “spices” of grief and struggle,
disappointment and discouragement, sin and sorrow that we carry around in tightly
tied bags buried deep in our hearts. Do we dare to gather them up and bring
them with us to worship on Easter Sunday?
The
gospel writers Mark and Luke tell us that on that first Easter morning the women
brought spices along with them to the tomb. In my mind’s eye, I can see those
first witnesses of resurrection so shocked, so surprised, so overwhelmed by the
realization that Jesus is risen that they drop the bulging bags on the floor of
the tomb. I can see the bags burst as they hit the hard floor. I can smell the
place of death filling with the sweet aroma of frankincense and myrrh, like the
spices first laid at the cradle of the infant Christ. “He is not here, but has
risen.” No need for the spices now.
Is
it possible this Easter Sunday for us to be so shocked, so surprised, so
overwhelmed by the news that Christ is risen, that we drop our own “spices,”
watch the carefully woven bags burst, and smell the sweet aroma of new life rising
from the open tomb of our spice-bound days?
I
wonder, too, who will you bring to
Easter Sunday worship?
I
mean this literally, of course. Who needs to hear the good news, but might not go
to worship if you don’t invite and bring them? But I also wonder about all
those people and communities who are wrapped up in spice bags in the chambers
of our hearts. These are the ones who have hurt us or disappointed us, or whom
we have hurt or disappointed. These are the people and broken relationships
that we can’t bring ourselves to talk about or reconcile or heal.
Do
we dare to gather them up – at least one or two of spice-wrapped people or
relationships – and bring them with us to Easter Sunday worship? Is it possible
that this Easter Sunday we will be so shocked, so surprised, so overwhelmed by
the good news of Christ risen that we will allow the bags we’ve so carefully
wrapped around our broken relationships to be torn open and replaced with
reconciliation or healing?
None
of the gospel writers mentions the women’s spices once they hear that Jesus is
risen. It’s as if the spices and their burst bags are left on the floor of the
tomb as the women run back into the world carrying the lighter load of awe and
joy and a life-changing story to live into and tell.
What
will you take with you from Easter Sunday worship? I pray that you will be
taken by and will take with you hope, healing, and new beginnings. I pray that
you will meet and be carried back into your daily life by the awe and joy of
resurrection life. It might not happen finally and fully this particular Easter
morning. But I trust that you will find your grip on those bags loosened, if
just a bit. You will receive a foretaste, a sign, a glimmer of hope and healing
and the joy and freedom of new life in the risen Christ.
So, dear sister, dear brother, gather up those
spice bags and all those people you’ve wrapped in them. Tuck them into your
pastel purse, clip them to your Easter bunny tie. Bring them along to worship
Easter Sunday…and every Sunday. Look for the crucified and risen Jesus to
surprise you just enough that you find your grip loosened. Then leave the bags
on the floor of the tomb and go. Go in awe and joy. And with that lighter load,
run and tell others the good news: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Alleluia!
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