Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:1-18)
I love all of the Gospel accounts of the resurrection, of course. Each have their own spin and tell the story in different ways. Mark is short and to the point – the whole story of the resurrection in 8 verses. Just the facts, you might say. Matthew and Luke focus on the empty tomb itself and the stone being rolled away and the angel who brings news of this great event to those who arrived. And then there's John. John focusses on the unexpectedness of the event – on the sheer surprise of it all. There's the women confronted by the unexpected and who have no clue what to make of it, and who run to tell the disciples that Jesus' body is gone. There's Peter and John who race to them tomb and look inside and see the mysterious sight of grave clothes neatly folded and who walk away scratching their head, because they cant make sense of it. And there's Mary Magdalene, who stayed at the tomb in despair, and who sees Jesus. But not being able to make sense of it, she doesn't recongize him, and assuming that he must be the gardener, she says “Where is he? Where did you put him?” Then he speaks one word - “Mary!” And her eyes were open, and she knew. It was as if Jesus had looked at her with a smile and said “Surprise!” A gloomy morning had turned happy and joyous! Jesus had risen!
Welcome, happy morning! Age to age shall say:
Hell today is vanquished, heaven is won today!
Those are the opening words of one of our traditional Easter hymns – actually, it's the hymn we're going to open our 10:00 service with this morning. It's a hymn of victory. Hell today is vanquished! Heaven is won today! Indeed. Easter is victory over all that would oppress us and hold us down and drain the joy out of the lives God has given us. As much as we now – after 2000 years – anticipate its arrival on an annual basis, at its core, Easter is about surprise – because the things over which Easter is victorious are the things that we think shouldn't be beaten. They're the things we can't overcome – ultimately, it's about victory over death itself - which awaits us all, but which has no victory over any of us, because we are in Christ, and the Christ who died lives again – defying all expectations, beating the odds, making possible the impossible. “Surprise” is a great Easter word!
Our God is the God of surprises. Our God is the God who can do the most unexpected things. Our God is the God who can't be held hostage to our expectations. Our God is the God Who can't be contained in the little “God-boxes” we build in our minds to restrict what God is to what we want God to be. So often we doubt, because the things God does in such abundance are the very things that we ourselves can't do, and so they surprise us. God surprises us! There are so many chains that entangle and imprison us that we can't escape from – but God has a way of setting us free, even though we think freedom is impossible. I once heard someone say that if God had a last name, God's last name would be "Surprise." Early on Easter morning, that works!
Today we mark the surprise of the early morning at the tomb on that very first Easter morning. We're a small gathering – but that's appropriate, because it was only a few who could face the prospect of travelling to the tomb that morning. Most were so defeated by the events of the preceding couple of days that it was probably all they could do to open their eyes. How often do the mornings beckon us that way. The day to come holds the unknown; we don't know what to expect; maybe we expect the worst; maybe it's hard to get out of bed. Early morning can be the most ominous time of all, because we have an idea of what the day ahead might hold, just as those who travelled to the tomb probably walked slowly, dreading the duty they were going to perform of ritually anointing the dead body of someone they loved with oil and spices. But sometimes the early morning holds the most wonderful surprise of all.
Early morning held a surprise for the women who went to the tomb. They didn't discover what they thought they would discover. The darkness of night suddenly lifted, and the light that replaced it with the sunrise revealed the most amazing thing – the most unexpected thing of all. They found life where there should have been no life. They found hope where there should have been only despair. They found joy where there should have been only grief. Those are the surprising things still today about the early morning encounters we have with God when we awaken and once again face whatever fears or concerns or apprehensions we have about the day ahead. God suddenly comes to us and drives away our fears and calms our troubled hearts and says “do I ever have a surprise for you!”
Maybe there's not much more than that to be said. After all, it's a Sunrise Service. The light of the sun has replaced the darkness of the night, and we travel on with hope, with joy and with faith, no matter what else might be happening around us. Why? Because Christ died, but now Christ is risen! Surprise!
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