What to Reach For

"What To Reach For"--April 20, 2017

"After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him. This is my message for you.' So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, 'Greetings!' And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me'." [Matthew 28:1-10]

It's funny what people run to grab when they are surprised.

Take this scene, for example.  It's the day of resurrection--in fact, the moment of the Big Reveal that the tomb is empty!  And in the wake of that most world-shaking of surprises (literally--Matthew says there was an earthquake!), notice that two different groups respond in two different ways. 

There are the soldiers--who shake with fear and fall the ground when they see the wonder before them.  And then there are the women--who are just as surprised at the news and then the presence of the risen Jesus.  But the women don't reach for one another... or a tree to hide behind... or the guns in their purses.  They reach for Jesus.  That is kind of odd, but also exactly right--odd, because Jesus is the one who is startling them in the first place, but exactly right because he is the one who can ease their fears, too.  These two women named Mary run to take hold of Jesus' feet, as Matthew tells it, and to them this is the most natural thing in the world they can do. 

Funny, isn't it, how the same surprising turn of events makes one group of people reach for Jesus and grab on to him, thereby finding peace... and another group of people (the guards) have nothing to reach for but their pathetic, useless weapons in cowardice.  I suppose like all Roman soldiers they have been trained to think that their swords and spears could solve any problem or make them feel big and tough... but they now realize in the actual moment that their weapons cannot do a thing to banish fear.

Isn't that funny--the ones in the Easter scene who are armed to the teeth and trained for shooting first (well, stabbing first) and asking questions second are the ones who fall down to the ground petrified with fear until they "became like dead men," and meanwhile in the very same turn of events, the ones who find their confidence, their hope, and their strength are the unarmed women of the scene.  Maybe it is only in that moment when the angel speaks and the risen Jesus arrives that it becomes clear: a Roman sword, or any other weapon for that matter, can't give you any actual peace of mind in this life. And meanwhile, it's the empty hands of the women who are free to reach out for Jesus--and who find peace because they do.

And while we are drawing comparisons, notice, too, that it's only these women who have the courage to move when the scene is over.  The guards are still traumatized and curled up in a ball on the ground after seeing the angelic messenger--they can't even get up to report back to their commanding officer that they've blown it and let the dead rabbi out of his grave.  But the women--again, who had literally NOTHING to defend themselves with--are the ones who end up with the courage, not only to bear going to the tomb in the first place, to face down the guards in the second place, and to talk face to face with the angel who has made the trained soldiers wet their pants in the third place...but then beyond all that, the courage to go out and bring the news of the empty tomb to the disciples.  As the old line puts it, if it weren't for women preachers (that is, for Mary and Mary, bringing the news on Easter morning), there would be no church or gospel!

Look at the immense difference that Jesus makes for us, ones who are in some way standing in a long line of continuity with those first women at the tomb.  In the face of life-changing surprise and wonder, there are two kinds of responses: either the paralyzed cowardice of soldiers who have nothing to clutch but their impotent weapons, or the empty-handed courage of two women named Mary, who get all the resolve they need for a new mission by reaching out for the risen Jesus.  Almost makes you feel sorry for those sad, pitiable guards.

So here's the question for the day: which are you?  Which will you be in this day?  Look--the world is going to startle you and catch you off guard.  Life is going to surprise you, maybe even shock you.  That's how it is, and there's no point in pretending it's otherwise.  But when it happens--when you find your world shaken like an earthquake in the dim light of early morning--what will you reach for?  What--or whom--will you turn to?  And will you have empty hands able to take hold of real peace, or will they be too busy shaking as you fumble for your spear?  Will those moments of shaking leave you collapsed and immobile, or will you find that Christ is speaking peace to you in the turmoil and sending you out on a mission?  Will you and I let the news of the resurrection, and the presence of the Risen One, move us beyond the prison, the tomb, of fear?

Dear Jesus, thank you for the witness of real courage in women like Mary and Mary, and for offering us the same courage for our fearful lives into our empty hands, too.