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Rev Melissa Krabbe
Wandering Hearts: And I Hope… – Luke 24:1-12
I have a question for you:
What has happened in your life that you previously thought was impossible?
[1]As much as we may struggle to believe it, “With God all things are possible.”
Sometimes I struggle to preach that. But then God surprises me with a reminder that it’s true. It happened at our Good Friday service this week when we were invited to write down the names of people we profoundly love. I wrote down the names of my family, and then as I thought about others beyond that, I found myself writing down the name of a friend I didn’t expect.
Years ago I had been deeply hurt by this friend, and for a long time I had prayed asking God to help me forgive. It seemed impossible to me then that I could, but eventually I did, and I was amazed then to find that I had.
But forgiving can be a far cry from profound love. Somehow, over the years since, love has taken root and grown. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible, honestly. But there it was…that friend’s name on the list of people who came to mind when I was considering who it is that I profoundly love. It might sound like a small thing, but to me it is huge because it means God has changed me. If someone had told me this would happen, I probably would have been as disbelieving as the disciples hearing the women tell about the empty tomb.
Luke tells us that Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women went to the tomb early in the morning. When they got there, they found the stone that covered the opening had been rolled away, Jesus’ body was gone, and two men in dazzling robes appeared and told them that Jesus wasn’t there anymore. Those two angels said, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? 6 He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you…”
So the women hurried back to the disciples with this news. But Luke says,
“. . . the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it.” (Luke 24:11)
Nonsense. Literally Garbage. Twaddle. Balderdash. Codswallop.
We can understand their reaction. Jesus had died an excruciatingly cruel death on the cross. How could he be alive?
Of course, Peter ran to the tomb to see for himself. He’s almost childlike in his response. He was hoping beyond hope that the women were right, that the unbelievable was true. And when he saw for himself, he was amazed.
I imagine he was perplexed, as are we. Even more than two thousand years later, this is not an event that is easily explained. But I don’t think explanation is necessary. It’s more important that we accept our lack of understanding and think instead about what this tells us about God and his profound love for us.
God is able to do more than we can ask or imagine through his power at work in us.
New life is possible. Hope is not lost.
Consider for a moment: What is your deepest hope? I would imagine that some of our deepest hopes involve our relationships. Peter probably hoped beyond hope that he would see Jesus, his friend and teacher, ever again. Maybe one of your deepest hopes is to reconnect with someone who has died, or who is far away, or with whom you have had a falling out.
Theologian Paul Tillich says that this is the real meaning of sin. Tillich defines sin as estrangement or separation . . . from God, from self, and from neighbor.[2] We struggle because not only are we aware of our separation, but we may feel we deserve that separation, that we are unlovely and do not deserve love.
But then God’s grace comes to us like a light breaking into our darkness, as if a voice were saying: “You are accepted…accepted by that which is greater than you . . . Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!” [When] that happens to us, we experience grace.[3]
When we come to church, and especially when we come to church on Easter, we come with hope of connecting with God, ourselves, and our neighbors. We come to find love and acceptance, and to be reassured that we are loveable and acceptable. You are loveable and acceptable.
The resurrection helps us to believe that love and acceptance are possible, that good overcomes evil, that God is greater than all the ways we separate ourselves from one another and from God.
That separation is evident in big ways like the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and in more subtle ways that have become engrained in our culture, like racism, sexism, classism, violence, and the list goes on.
It’s easier to pretend those problems don’t exist, or that the differences between us don’t exist.
Today, as it is on March 31st every year, is Trans Day of Visibility. One of the reasons for designating this day is that we mostly only hear about trans people as objects of hatred and violence. This day of visibility is an opportunity to celebrate and show love and acceptance to those who are trans.
UCC Pastor Rachel Ward explains why the resurrection has extra meaning for trans people. She says, “Christ’s death is brutal, stemming from prosecution of difference, led by empire. And Christ’s resurrection continues to be a place queer folks find hope in their bodies, minds, and spirits, transcending moments of injustice and surges of hate. The resurrection story holds for LGBTQ+ people of faith the ultimate promise and truth: God is constantly coming out for your love and your personhood. And God knows intimately the ways it aches when those around us deny us of our rights to be human and in relationship to each other.”[4]
Jesus’ resurrection gives us hope that God’s love transcends our struggles with our bodies, our mental health, our spiritual health, our emotions and understandings and relationships with the world around us. There is hope for us even if we get it wrong, or do things wrong, or don’t know how to move forward.
In Donald Miller’s book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, he tells about having coffee with a friend named Jason who was deeply concerned about his thirteen year old daughter. He had founddrugs in her room, and she was dating a guy who answered questions with a single word. “Yeah,” “No,” “Whatever.” Jason said they’d tried grounding their daughter, but that only made things worse.
Just before this coffee with Jason, Donald had been at a writers conference discussing the elements of story. He still had this in mind when he said to Jason, “She’s living in a terrible story.” The rest of their conversation that day continued looking at life in these terms, about what makes a good story, and the different ways stories are told in movies and books.
When Donald saw Jason again a few months later, Jason said his daughter was doing better and that his family was living a better story. It turns out that Jason had left their previous conversation thinking about how his daughter was not a bad girl, she was just “choosing the best story available to her.”
So Jason decided to create a better story to invite her into.
“I started researching some stuff on the Internet,” Jason said, “and I came across an organization that builds orphanages around the world. And that sounded to me like a pretty good ambition, something maybe my family could try to do together. It sounded like a good story.”
“So I called this organization,” Jason continued, “and it takes about twenty-five thousand dollars to build one of these orphanages. And the truth is, we don’t have the money. I mean we just took out a second mortgage. But I knew if we were going to tell a good story, it would have to involve risk.”
“So I went home and called a family meeting,” Jason continued. “I didn’t tell my wife first, which it turns out was a mistake. But I told them about this village and about the orphanage and all these terrible things that could happen if these kids don’t get an orphanage. Then I told them I agreed to build it.”
Not surprisingly, Jason’s wife was looking at him like he’d lost his mind, maybe like the disciples were looking at the women telling about the empty tomb. His wife and daughter sat in silence for a few moments and then walked away.
But the next day, Jason’s wife gave him a big hug and said, “I’m proud of you.”
A few days later, the daughter came and snuggled in between them, something she hadn’t done for years. She said she could talk about the orphanage on her web site and maybe people could help. She could post pictures. She wanted to go to Mexico to meet the kids and take pictures for her Web site.”
“You know what else?” Jason said. “She broke up with her boyfriend last week…No girl who plays the role of a hero dates a guy who uses her. She knows who she is. She just forgot for a little while.”[6]
Sometimes our hearts wander and we forget that we are a part of God’s story. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are continuing the story of the resurrection every time we turn to God and return to God, every time we remember that we are loved and accepted by God, every time we make new connections and renew old ones despite the challenges we may face, and find news ways to help others live a resurrected life.
James Baldwin once said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”[7] We need to face the reality that resurrection hope can be hard to understand or explain, and in the midst of life sometimes hard to hold onto. And that’s ok. Because God will never let go of us.
Let the joy of God’s presence be our strength and deepen our hope that resurrection continues in us.
Thanks, God.
[1] Photo by Artem Sapegin on Unsplash
[2] Tillich, Paul. The Courage to Be (The Terry Lectures Series) . Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
[3] Ibid
[4] https://www.ucc.org/commentary-trans-day-of-visibility-falls-on-easter-this-year-and-lgbtq-people-need-a-resurrection-moment/
[5] Photo by Kris Atomic on Unsplash
[6] Miller, Donald. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life (p. 51-54). Harper Horizon. Kindle Edition.
[7] Sanctified Art Wandering Heart Stations Of Peter Liturgy For A Communal Worship Service, as quoted from “As Much Truth As One Can Bear” by James Baldwin. The New York Times. January 14, 1962. nytimes.com/1962/01/14/archives/as-much-truth-as-one-can-bear-to-speak-out-about-the-world-as-it-is.html
[8] Photo by OC Gonzalez on Unsplash
United Presbyterian Church 