One Holy Place - Easter Sunday
Author: Pastor Scott Schul
March 31, 2024
Christ is risen! He is
risen indeed! Alleluia! This is the Good News we joyfully shout and
proclaim every Easter. But such was not the case on that very first
Easter morning. Mark’s Gospel concludes
with Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome reacting to the news
of the resurrection with terror and amazement. Mark says they were so afraid that instead of
sharing the news of the resurrection with Peter and the disciples as they were
commanded, “they said nothing to anyone.”
Given all these women had been
through, I hope we can sympathize with their reaction. They had seen with their own eyes how the
Romans had brutalized Jesus. They
watched him being nailed to a cross. They heard his desperate prayers, words, and gasps for air as he hung in
agony for three long hours. They
witnessed his death. After he was taken
down from the cross, they helped to prepare, anoint, bind, and shroud the body,
just before it was placed in the tomb. And they stood there with grieving hearts as that tomb was sealed shut with
a massive stone.
As the women walked to the tomb
that first Easter morning, their only objective was to apply more spices to Jesus’s
body so, as a practical matter, they could keep the usual smell of decay and
deterioration under control. Never in a
million years did they expect what they discovered.
The tomb
was empty. Jesus had been raised from
the dead. And he was already on the move,
out ahead of them. Who wouldn’t be terrified, amazed, and afraid at discovering such a
thing? It’s no wonder they were unable
to say anything to anybody, given all they had endured that week.
Nevertheless, we know there was
more to the story than Mark wrote in his Gospel. The women did overcome their terror, amazement, and fear and preached the very first Easter
sermon, as they shared the astonishing good news that Jesus had risen from the
dead. Christ was alive! That news spread from them to Peter and the
other disciples and then across Jerusalem, north to Galilee, and eventually across the entire globe. Roughly 2,000 years
later, we’re still talking about
it. We’re still marveling at the women’s news that the tomb was empty. Jesus had
been raised from the dead. And he was
already on the move, out ahead of them.
What happened to free the women
from their fear and silence, and transform them into messengers of hope and
salvation? I believe everything changed
for those faithful women because they found a holy place. This is an idea
I’ve learned from David Adam, who was the Anglican rector at the parish church on
Lindisfarne Island, off the northeast coast of England. Because Lindisfarne was the home of ancient
saints like Aiden and Cuthbert, it’s a renowned place of pilgrimage. In the thirteen years David Adam spent at
Lindisfarne, he ministered to thousands of seekers, all of whom were seeking to
find their holy place.
Adam wrote that “we rarely discover
that the world is a holy place until we have found one holy place. Once we find one holy place there is a chance
for all to become holy.” And when that
happens, you discover that God is present with you “no matter where you are.”1
That’s what happened to our three
women at the tomb. It wasn’t
instantaneous of course; they had to ponder, pray, process, and let everything
they’d seen sink deeply within them. In
time they realized that they had been in a most holy place indeed because the tomb was empty. Jesus had been raised from the dead. And he was already on the move, out ahead of
them. Finding that one holy place transformed those three
women, by enabling them to discover that the whole world is a holy place, because Jesus is always on the move, out ahead of us.
Have you found your holy place yet? Have
you discovered that one holy place of
yours that will unlock your heart’s ability to perceive the holiness of the whole world? Because Jesus hasn’t stopped moving. He is out ahead of us as well, bringing holiness and sacredness to all places and peoples, even the ones
others urge us to ignore or avoid.
Ever since I read those words from
David Adam I’ve been thinking about holy places in my life. And I’ve concluded
that the holy place which first unlocked my heart and opened my eyes to the
holiness of Christ in all places was
a dingy little clinic in Mexico. That
was the place 19 years ago where a 10-day old baby was placed in my arms, a
little boy everyone there said was unwanted, unworthy, and utterly undesirable.
For a moment I believed them. But as I held that infant who would become my
son, God spoke to my heart and declared that this little boy was wanted,
worthy, desirable, holy, and beloved. That singular moment would eventually propel me to seminary and a change
of career to ministry. That forlorn,
forgotten clinic was the holy place Jesus used to open my stony heart and clouded
eyes to the holiness of the entire world.
That experience rekindled a flame
in my heart and spurred me to visit more conventionally holy places, places
you’d expect, like Jesus’s birthplace and the tomb where he rose from the dead… Ancient English cathedrals like Durham, York,
and Canterbury… And even the place they
call Holy Island, Lindisfarne, the very place David Adam lived and served.
But that first holy place also opened my eyes and heart to see and
experience the risen Christ in places most people might not initially regard as
particularly holy… like a lonely hospital room as someone is taking their final
breaths, an isolated trail in a forgotten forest, the deck facing my backyard,
and even my morning commute. These are
all places where I’ve experienced the astonishing Good News that the tomb is empty. Jesus
has been raised from the dead. And he
remains on the move, out ahead of me. And because he is ahead of me,
he shakes me from my spiritual sluggishness to the reality that every place I
travel bears his sacred presence, even the places we don’t typically label as
“holy,” even places others might say are unwanted, unworthy, and utterly
undesirable.
Friends, where is your holy place? If you haven’t discovered one yet, perhaps this place, this day, can be that place for you. Perhaps today is the day that you find your holy place and discover, by the
grace of God, that all the world is a
holy place. Because maybe today is the day the resurrected Jesus
kindles or rekindles a flame in your heart.
Today, we rightly reflect on the
miracle of Christ’s resurrection. But a
no less impressive miracle happens when our one holy place enables us to see
holiness in all places, because then we can begin to see holiness in all people. After all, Jesus makes his dwelling in every
human heart, even those that might seem cold. He is always on the move, out
ahead of us, blessing, transforming, forgiving, and filling our empty spaces
with his grace and presence, and ready in his time to set our icy hearts ablaze.
What do you call it when you
realize you’re surrounded by holy places and holy people? I think we call that heaven. It’s not just a
place we go when we die. We can have a taste of it every day, because Jesus
Christ has conquered sin and death forever,
for us. We have his promise of resurrection, his gift of eternal
life, and his assurance that even now he
is with us. So, my holy friends, live in hope and joy in
this holy world of ours… because Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
Citations:
1 David Adam, The Road of
Life: Reflections on Searching and Longing, pg. 9.
Gospel Text: Mark 16:1-8
1When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James,
and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint [Jesus’
body]. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the
sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3They had been saying to
one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the
tomb?” 4When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was
very large, had already been rolled back. 5As they entered the
tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side;
and they were alarmed. 6But he said to them, “Do not be
alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been
raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7But
go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee;
there you will see him, just as he told you.” 8So they went out
and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said
nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Copyright Rev. Scott E. Schul, 2024 All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.
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