Well, welcome to this second Sunday of Easter as we continue to wonder and celebrate the events of that first Easter Sunday. What a treasure we have in our Gospel reading today as we continue to celebrate the wonder, joy and hope of Easter.
John 20 is a chapter not to be passed over quickly – it encapsulates the Gospel. There is a danger that we may well miss this because of all the drama that is otherwise going on. The chapter begins in the morning, but our reading is later in the day. John writes: 'It was on the evening of that day, the first day of the week.' A verse which echoes Genesis 1. John means here, not just that the 'old week' is over and a new week has begun – but much more wonderfully - a new era has begun.You remember in Genesis- on the sixth day, the Friday, God created the animals with humankind in "his own image". John tells us that on the Friday, the 6th day of the week, Pontius Pilate has Jesus brought before the crowds and says: 'Here is the man!' By the evening of that Friday, Jesus has declared what God declared at the end of his 6th day of creating. 'It is finished. It is done! Just as God the Father finished the work of creation, so God the Son has finished the work of redemption.
Then, on the seventh day – the Saturday, God rests, blessing the seventh day and making it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done – and God Incarnate rests in the tomb on the seventh day, his work also complete. 'On the first day of the week, very early, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb' and found it empty! Empty because Jesus had risen from the dead heralding the first day of God's new world, God's new creation a new era.
Let's stop and reflect for a moment – because what John is saying here is so powerful and so relevant to our whole church life and witness today, tomorrow and every day.... He is saying that that first Easter – is the beginning of God's new creation, the Kingdom - and that means we have a job to do! Both the completed work of the Father in creation and the completed work of the Son in redemption flow directly into the ongoing work of the Spirit in mission. That is what verse 19 onwards is all about.
Just imagine the scene again – the disciples huddled fearfully together in a locked room because they are afraid the authorities who arrested Jesus and handed him over to be killed, will come for them, too. But we learn very quickly that in the Kingdom of God, there are no locked rooms. "Jesus," we read, "came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. "The marks showing not only that it is really and truly Jesus, standing in front of them, but also showing that immense love – of the love right to the end, for them, for us, for you and for me.
The resurrection is certainly not easy to fathom. We know only too well that death is irreversible – they knew that, too. But that is only because our world is bounded by the old creation, and Easter is the beginning of God's new creation. If only it wasn't so difficult to grasp the fact that we are so totally loved. The Easter message is of unbelievable, inexhaustible love for us and for the whole of creation. John writes: the disciples were overjoyed – well that's an understatement if ever there was one!
Jesus rising from that cold tomb reveals God's powerful love in all its glory and as it does, so it brings our hearts out of their own winter into the fresh spring of Easter. But Jesus said more than 'Peace be with you!' He said, 'As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you' – with that he breathed on them, 'Receive the holy spirit'.
During passion week I read Tom Wright's little book: The Way of the Lord. It was written with pilgrims and pilgrimages in mind but lends itself ideally to Holy Week as it leads people along the Way of the Lord to and then from Damascus, through the Holy Land to Jerusalem, the Way of the Cross and finally the way FROM the Tomb. The final destination of the pilgrimage Wright describes with such insight, is not the empty tomb itself, although that is of course central. And it is at this point Wright asks the question: HAVE YOU GOT YOUR PASSPORT? No not this kind of passport (uk passport) "As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you" - we are well advised to take the passport with us on this journey. 'God so loved the WORLD" those who first heard these words would have instinctively understood the word 'world' to mean EVERYTHING that God had created. 'God so loved the World, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.' Tragically, over the past 3-4 hundred years the true original meaning and power of this verse has faded, due amongst other things to the advent of science and certain philosophies in our western world. (mis)Leading often to the belief that we humans are the most important thing on this earth.
As we know, God, on the 6th day made the animals and one of those made was ADAM (meaning made from earth or 'earthling'!) a man. God had a particular purpose in mind for these 'humans' and made them different to the other animals in that he made them 'in his image'. The reason God made them 'in his image' was that he intended them to look after and care for his creation, in the ways that He Himself would. Knowing this, it is not surprising then that humans need to be redeemed, renewed, restored for their original purpose and role. Only through God's love and forgiveness could they once again learn to carry out their God-given role in caring for God's world. Not an overnight transformation – it would be a life-long process as Paul says – a transformation by the renewing of our minds'. A long, tough process, learning to think and ACT again as God's people. The way we think about things directly affects how we behave.
The Christian journey is often hard, the road windy and rough. We need a map to check often that we are actually going in the right direction. St Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, writes about the meaning of the resurrection. Almost at the end of what is quite a long argument, Paul doesn't finish by saying – 'and so therefore we can be sure of life after death.' No, he says something completely different. He says: 'be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, since you know that, in the Lord, your labour is not in vain.' The map which the resurrection now spreads out in front of us is the map of God's NEW WORLD - the Kingdom that Jesus came to proclaim and usher in with his death and resurrection. We are guided on our way FROM the tomb along the road that leads from the place of Jesus's victory into every corner of the world. And it's for this journey Wright says, we need a Passport.
If we look up synonyms for 'passport' we find: 'Something that allows someone to achieve a desired goal – gateway, key etc.' Or 'the means or right of entering or participating in – Access, admission, door, entrance, key, etc. As Wright says, the passport of Jesus' bodily resurrection declares that we are free to travel; the map of God's new world declares that all our travelling in faith has value. What was begun with the resurrection of Jesus will be continued until it is thoroughly finished; every act of faith and love, of justice and mercy, of beauty and truth in this present world will be part of God's eventual new world. What we DO here in faith will stand. Will last. Failure, cynicism, deconstruction and despair do not have the last word.
The passport is the Easter story itself – the good news of the risen Lord! Wright gives us two illustrations of what he means about having the passport: first Peter – who went into the tomb, saw the graveclothes lying there and was struck dumb! And secondly, 'the other disciple who went in, saw, and believed!' Peter also believed soon afterwards but just for a moment we will let both of them stand for those who've got their passports with them and those who haven't. You will all know that when you arrive at the airport or ferry port to travel to another country, it's no good telling the customs officials that you do really possess a passport, but that it happens to be on the kitchen table at home. You need it with you. All Peter could do was to stare dumbfounded. But the other disciple saw and believed and with that faith a new country was opened, a new possibility appeared before him, as it would for someone whose confiscated passport had at last been returned.
How many people in our society stand and stare at the Christian message but don't know what to do with it? And so, they remain imprisoned in their country of limited possibilities. But those who go in and see and believe – find a passport in their hands which declares that all things are now possible. No country is barred to them; all roads are open. The passport allows us to start on that journey that Jesus is sending us on. But we also need a map to check and confirm often that we are actually going in the right direction. The map which the resurrection now spreads out in front of us is the map of God's NEW WORLD -the Kingdom that Jesus came to proclaim and usher in with his death and resurrection and into which we are being sent to witness to Him by our care for it in all its different facets. When Jesus came out of the tomb on Easter morning, in his transformed, renewed body, he gave the world the first sighting of the fact that God is in the business, not of abandoning this sad old world and taking us off to some disembodied heaven but that he is in the business of redeeming, renewing, transforming this world so all that has been good, lovely, just, holy, beautiful is enhanced, purified, ennobled, raised to new heights of glory. Just as in Jesus' restored, physical body even the scars and wounds from his suffering became signs of glory to the disciples. Easter offers us a map of that new world, a map for explorers, a map to encourage us to get out there and get on with the task. Paul is adamant that what was begun with the resurrection will be continued until it is completely finished. That's why he encourages us to "always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain." Every good thing we do, every act of faith and love, of justice and mercy, of beauty and truth - will be woven in o God's eventual new world. There are many roads away from the Tomb.
The way of personal meeting with Jesus, like those on the road to Emmaus Or the way back to the city, that place of fear and failure – but an invitation back to discover Jesus coming to meet us bringing forgiveness and a new energy to unlock the doors and go out in faith and hope and love. Easter is about facing our fears and discovering hope. About looking at failure straight on and discovering forgiveness and new possibilities
Then there is a third way, like the one we read of in Acts where Jesus' followers went out into a hostile environment torn by hatred and suspicion and huge divides between rich and poor – the way to Judea and Samaria - that territory which today is officially known as the Occupied West Bank – where hatred and suspicion are still rife. But the way from the tomb is precisely to this kind of country – taking the message of new life and new beginnings – the gospel of reconciliation and forgiveness. We have examples of where this has taken place – Northern Ireland, South Africa.
The Easter passport declares that the door to reconciliation is not locked shut and that past bitterness and anger can be dealt with. And we don't have to go that far from home either.... we all need to work toward replacing suspicion with deep respect and affirmation of one another. Every act of justice and reconciliation, every time a politician votes with conscience rather than party; every step towards a truly caring society; every decision, every choice, individual or corporate, that has the stamp of God's love and peace on it, is something that will be enhanced and ennobled in God's new world. Nothing will be lost – all will resound to God's glory.
Yet another way is the way across the sea to the ends of the world. It didn't take long as we can read in Acts – for people to want and to go out with the good news beyond their own local communities. They knew this was something the whole world needed to hear. We might wonder why God chose this part of the world and this time in history to come to earth. But this was the centre of the world at the time – routes went out far and wide into the world. The followers of Jesus were led out into the market-places, seaports, into mountain ranges and council chambers of the whole wide world and they took with them the news that there was indeed another way of being human, that there was another King and Lord, a different God, different possibilities.
And what happened – the whole world became the Holy Land! Christianity declares in the name of the risen Jesus that the whole world is his domain, that at his name, one day, every knee shall bow.
With Calvary and Easter, Jesus himself, who goes ahead of us into all the world, to the places of pain and despair, calls to us to follow him and work for reconciliation and hope. And don't forget the passport and the map. The passport which says that God has opened up new possibilities in the world, bringing light out of darkness and life out of death. Every step away from the tomb to announce Jesus' lordship to the wider world is marking out territory on the map of God's new world. 'In the Lord, your labour is not in vain.' When God's new world is finally revealed, what we have done to bring healing to the earth, to our fellow humans and hope, beauty and joy to our bit of the world will shine out as a glorious part of the rich tapestry of the new creation.