Rev. George
Miller
April 4, 2021
Luke 24:1-12
Hold Up!
However!
Hallelujah!
Sisters and brothers, brothers
and sisters, we are gathered here today to celebrate God’s big “but.”
And not ‘but’ as in behind,
but as in-
Hold Up!
However!
Hallelujah!
Today is the day we
celebrate Resurrection.
Today is the day of new
beginnings.
Today is the day in which God
says “Heck yeah!” even though on Friday the world tried to say “oh no.”
Resurrection.
What does that mean?
Well, to understand we go
back, back into time.
To Mary, the mom who magnifies
God’s mercy and care for the hungry.
To Anna, the elderly survivor,
sharing how she’s seen the face of redemption.
To Jesus, the prophet who reminded
us of God’s promise of Jubilee, Sabbath rest, and freedom.
He who brought God to the
outcasts, moving beyond walls to the shores and tables were folk were at.
The man who welcomed women,
healed daughters, who encouraged us to turn back from our tragic mistakes.
Jesus, who served by saying “Remember who you are”, met us in our
depravity, and sweetly said “Welcome me in.”
Jesus- the One who embodied
Isaiah 58, Micah 6, the 10 Commandments by showing us how to walk humbly, love kindness,
and be just.
Jesus was a light that the
world could not handle, with a life force that those in power could not understand.
So they thought they could
put him out. They thought they could
simply unplug and silence his ministry.
So the crooked politicians
and hypercritical religious leaders used the tools they had to silence him- armed
force, corrupt court, capital punishment.
But….
But you can not silence, you
can not stop, you can not prevent the work of God no matter what the world
tries.
See- the world belongs to
God, not the other way around.
As Luke tells us, after
Jesus is betrayed by one of his own, he endures a mock trial, public humiliation,
and death.
As chapter 23 comes to a
close, Jesus is left for dead. Just a
body. He is taken down. Wrapped in linen
clothe. Laid in a rock-hewn tomb.
The women who had come with
Jesus from Galilee, who had been there since the very beginning, follow, see
the tomb, see his lifeless body, go home to prepare spices and lotion.
“But…”
“But…”
Hold Up!
However!
But when Mary, Mary, Joanna
and all the other bold woman came to the tomb in the dawn’s early light…the
stone was rolled away and there was no body.
But….
But…
What a powerful word to be used
in the context of this narrative.
Because this is the part of
the movie in which the credits are supposed to role, this is the part of the story
in which you are supposed to close the book.
But the stone was rolled
away and the tomb was empty. Jesus is not there.
Hold Up!
However!
Hallelujah!
How can this be; what does
it mean?
What it means is that God
has said “Yes” even though the world tried to say “no.”
The powers that be tried to put
a stop to a man whose ministry was to make us remember, yet when God raised
Jesus from the dead, it was a “but.”
A heavenly Hold Up. A holy However.
A magnificent “yes” that
validated a servant ministry in which Jesus-
-sat with outcasts
-hung out with sex workers
-healed the children of foreigners
-empowered women
-offered water to the thirsty
-ate with so-called
non-patriots
-said “come home” to those
who had made tragic mistakes.
God’s resurrection of Jesus
Christ is a large “but” to a people that thought that all hope was lost…
…think of us, as a nation.
How many “nos” we have
encountered over the past century?
No- you can not vote.
No- you can not sit as this
counter.
No- you can not work and
have a family.
No-you can not age
gracefully.
No- you can not marry.
No- you can not hand out
water to folks on line vote.
COVID has been one big “no!”
No- you can’t go here. No-
you can’t touch. No- can’t gather in 20 or more.
Yet, the resurrection, the
resurrection is a reminder that through faith, God will find a way to make a
yes.
Through faith, God will find
a way to let justice, kindness, and humility prevail.
Through faith, God can take
the crosses and tombs and work through them.
Through faith, God finds a
way to say “but”, God finds a way to say “Hold up”, God finds a way to say “However.”
And for that, we do not
stop, we do not quit, and for that we can say “Hallelujah!”
Hallelujah and Amen!
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