Below is my Easter sermon, preached on Mark 16:1-8. The text was interwoven with the song “Roll Away Your Stone” by Mumford and Sons (lyrics in italics), performed by our amazing musician, Pete Feltman. In the middle, Session presented a statement to the congregation regarding our future. You can find audio of the whole thing on the front page of our website: www.fvpc.org.
On Maundy Thursday, Session voted to concur with the recommendations of our discernment team, that we begin the process of closure as a worshiping congregation. On April 22nd, we will hold a congregational meeting to vote on our future.
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Let us pray.
Intro
When the Sabbath was over, the women gathered to take care of their own. They followed the rules and stopped grieving to worship God, but now it was time to go to the teacher they loved. To finish giving him a proper burial. To provide him with all the dignity in death that he had given them in life. And so they gathered their spices and the three women set out.
Along the journey, they realized that they had a logistical problem. The stone. Their teacher, their mentor, their friend, their savior, had been buried in a tomb sealed with a great big stone. They were just three women. How would they ever roll away the stone? Who would do it? Who could do it? Roll away your stone, I’ll roll away mine
Together we can see what we will find
Don’t leave me alone at this time,
For I am afraid of what I will discover inside They too were afraid. They had much to fear. What if they were overcome by their emotions? What if they were overcome by the reality of the gruesomely killed body of one they loved so dearly? What if they were overcome by the smell? What if they encountered guards, Pharisees or other authorities that might try to stop them? What if, what if, what if? You told me that I would find a hole,
Within the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal,
And all the while my character it steals They found a hole, but not an empty tomb. The problems they anticipated were not the problems they encountered at all. The young man sitting in the tomb, dressed in white, gave them a whole new set of fears. “He is not here. He is going ahead of you, as he said he would.” What they found, the stone pushed back, the missing savior, Jesus had warned them. They could have seen it coming. It shouldn’t have been a surprise but it was. It shouldn’t have inspired fear, but it did. Bottles of carefully gathered spices crashed to the ground, shattering, spilling. Their hearts dropped into their stomachs, without the noise of the jars but with the same feeling, their emotions and their grief spilling out and over as they broke apart a little more, still seized by fear when they tasted hope. Darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek The women encountered the holy in the tomb, behind the stone. Rolled away, they were invited on the journey of the resurrection, but God’s defeat of death didn’t make anything easy. Where their savior should have been, they found questions. Where the body should have been, they found confusion. Where the end should have come, they found a beginning. It seems that all my bridges have been burned,
But, you say that’s exactly how this grace thing works
It’s not the long walk home
that will change this heart,
But the welcome I receive with the restart Resurrection is not all bunnies and eggs and chocolate and alleluias. New life is not all hope and love and joy and grace. The stone is rolled away, but we continue the journey with everything that happened before. Jesus is alive once more, but complete with the open wounds he took to his grave. The fear is not gone, it has changed. Darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek
Darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek
Darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek Grace is not easy.
Love is not easy.
Compassion is not easy.
Discipleship is not easy.
Rolling away that stone sure is not easy.
Resurrection, re-birth, new life, growth, change, transition…
It is all messy. It is all complicated. At times, even resurrection will feel dark. How can it not when our savior rose again with his wounds intact? Rolling away our stones, entering the resurrected life with our God means looking into our deepest and darkest holes, our fears, our anxieties, our needs, it means standing in the dark, with our wounds in our hands, and letting God call us out onto the journey. And even when the stone is rolled away, even when we are called out, with our wounds and with God, it may be onto a road full or fear, full of silence, full of loneliness. Though these three women were going to get what they wanted–to see their Savior again, to undo the worst thing that had been done–they were still afraid. They ran off and refused to tell anyone what they had seen. This is where we are called to be, fresh from the resurrection, on the road, perhaps afraid, but with God. Stars hide your fires,
And these here are my desires
And I will give them up to you this time around
And so, I’ll be found
with my steak stuck in this ground
Marking its territory of this newly impassioned soul Where is the good news in realizing that the stone, the major problem, has been moved for you, only to find new problems in it place? Where is the good news in finding out that Jesus is not dead but still being afraid anyway? Where is the good news in the deafening silence that keeps our hands and hearts and faith tied up? Our Savior has gone ahead of us. On this road we travel, the one with the open wounds, wounds that are not gone but will not kill him, wounds that are transformed, that is the one that goes before us. He knows our suffering. He knows our pain. He saves us from the isolation of the fear. He saves us from the loneliness of the road. He saves us from alienation from God’s love because we can’t roll away the stone. The stone has been moved. That is the good news. And so, I’ll be found
with my steak stuck in this ground
Marking its territory of this newly impassioned soul But you, you’ve gone too far this time
You have neither reason nor rhyme
With which to take this soul that is so rightfully mine And so, as a community, concerned about our future, concerned about our inability to live as we always have, what are we to do? Where are we on this journey? Can we step out of the tomb, recognizing the ways that God has freed us for a future, that though not easy, will not be one we ever face alone? Or are we stuck worrying about the stone and how it will ever be moved? We have an opportunity. To step with faith into a future that is not our own but God’s. To take our wounds with us and let them be transformed by God’s love. To stop worrying about the stone and start realizing that we are never alone on the way. Statement from Session: As many of you know, about a month ago, we convened a discernment team with to consider our future as a congregation. At the Session meeting this week, we discussed their first recommendations. On Thursday night, Session voted unanimously to recommend to the congregation that we vote to close as a worshiping congregation, as recommended to Session by the discernment committee. We understand that this decision is only the beginning of a process in which we seek to make decisions that allow for the continuing transformational power of the holy spirit and the care of the congregation. Two weeks from today, we will hold a joint worship service at ten o’clock in the sanctuary, followed by a congregational meeting where we will vote on whether it is to time to begin the closure process. In between, both Session and Pastor Abby will work to with you to answer questions, and address concerns. The discernment team will continue to work. We will hold two congregational gatherings, one next Sunday, at the Yee’s house at 12:30 and the other on Thursday, April 19th at the Loera’s at 6:30 pm. These will be opportunities to talk and share about what is going on in our midst. We do not know how long this process will take, but making this shift in our life together will allow us to focus on the quality of our life together, important questions about how to care for each other, and maintaining the dignity of this community. If we believe, truly believe, in resurrection this day, if we honor, truly honor, the resurrection of Jesus this day, then the closure of this worshipping congregation is not a death but a step toward new life, then the closure of this congregation is rolling away the stone and being called out into resurrection. Then the closure of this worshipping congregation would not be the moment when the body is sealed away in the tomb. It will be the moment when God rolls away the stone and calls us out of the darkness into resurrection. Whatever happens, God is here, wounded, compassionate, loving, God is here. Roll away your stone, I’ll roll away mine
Together we can see what we will find
Don’t leave me alone at this time,
For I am afraid of what I will discover inside We don’t have a plan. We do have faith. We don’t know what the future holds, but we do know that our Savior has gone ahead of us, and is making the way for us. We are full of fear, but we are also on the threshold of resurrection. The reality of our life together as a congregation is not that today is a major loss. The reality is, that we have already lost a lot. We have already grieved a lot. We have seen beloved members die and leave and no one take their place. We have put our whole hearts, our whole faith, our whole energy into ministry that does not bear the fruit we so desperately need. We have watched our funds, our attendance and our energy decline, not over many months but over many years. This place we find ourselves at is not the place of death. It is the place of new life–a time for us to acknowledge these very real losses in our life as a community, and to celebrate the true and deep beauty of God working among us over these many years. The tomb on Easter morning was a place of uncertainty and fear. A place of anxiety and wonder. A place of possibility. This is also the place we find ourselves in. We must cling to the hope in the resurrection, as we carry the fear of standing at the edge of the tomb, with the stone rolled away. God is calling us to new life–and with courage and faith, we can explore the questions, discern a plan, care for each other, and honor the resurrection by making room for new life on this corner. Together we will see what we can find. And so, I’ll be found
with my steak stuck in this ground
Marking its territory of this newly impassioned soul What is your stone? What needs to be moved in your life? What do you need to be freed from? Whose help do you need and where are you on the journey? Resurrection is not easy, and sometimes it is full of fear. This Easter, be full of joy, be full of love, be full of grace, but also know that even when you are not, you are redeemed, never on the journey alone. Jesus makes the way for you. Let us pray.
abbykk 