The Witness: The Missing Stone and the Empty Cross

The Missing Stone and the Empty Cross
By V. Gene Robinson
Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Lectionary Reflections for Easter Sunday (B)

Readings for Easter Sunday (B), April 16, 2006

Acts 10:34-43 OR Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 OR Acts 10:34-43)
John 20:1-18 OR Mark 16:1-8

"When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back" (Mark 16:4).

The women approached the tomb to complete a proper burial for their friend and would-be-messiah. Dread and sorrow filled their hearts, but like women everywhere, in every time, they came simply to do what must be done. This One, who had gone beyond merely making the lame walk and proclaimed the forgiveness of sins and a new life under the reign of God, was now dead. The end of a dream -- their dream of salvation and deliverance. And then they looked up and "saw that the stone, which was very large, had ALREADY been rolled back."

This morning, we are invited -- no, compelled -- to look up and notice that that stone has ALREADY been rolled back.

The Good News is SO good this morning that we can scarcely comprehend it. The stones that get in the way of our living a resurrected life are so large, so intimidating, so seemingly final, so frightening, we keep our heads down, assuming that the stone in our path is simply unmovable. This morning, we are invited -- no, compelled -- to look up and notice that that stone has ALREADY been rolled back.

It is no accident that the crosses we display in most of our churches are empty. Christ does not still hang on the cross, but is gone from it. The mighty act of salvation has been accomplished, once and for ALL, by the God who loved us so much, that God's only Son, God's very self, died for us. And now he is risen. The empty cross is not a scandal to us, but rather our declaration that the stone has ALREADY and forever been rolled back.

I believe in resurrection because I have experienced it.

I have recently returned from treatment for alcoholism and emerged into a new life of sobriety. During treatment, I was told that abstaining from alcohol was the easy part -- and that learning to live a truly sober and conscious life, grateful to the God who makes it possible, was the really difficult goal. I am coming to understand that the "sober life" has to do with a daily surrender to God working in my life, doing for me things I cannot do for myself, working in partnership with God to live the abundant life Jesus promised would be mine in God's reign.

I believe in resurrection because I have experienced it. Encountering a stone in my life that I could not remove on my own, surrendering to a God who's power can move mountains (and stones), and then receiving the life God wants for me IS resurrection. But I must, one day at a time, do as those women did on that cold Easter morning: look up, and see and believe that the stone has ALREADY been rolled back.

You'd think I wouldn't have needed reminding. Years ago, my sexuality seemed like an unmovable stone in my way, a burden so huge that it seemed to threaten every thing I held dear. Accepting being gay seemed impossible; affirming and embracing it was beyond comprehension. And then just as surely as Jesus called to his friend Lazarus to "Come out!" of his tomb, Jesus called me to come out of my tomb of guilt and shame, to accept and love that part of me that he ALREADY accepted and loved. If I would only look up and see that that stone had ALREADY been rolled away, I could have a new, more abundant life. That resurrection changed my life. I thought I would never, ever forget.

Jesus called me to come out of my tomb of guilt and shame, to accept and love that part of me that he ALREADY accepted and loved.

But I'm human, and I do forget, from time to time, that God has accomplished the most amazing thing in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Something cosmic, and yet personal and individual. And God is always calling me back when I encounter stones in my way, reminding me to stop, look up, and see that the stone has already been rolled away, if I will only see what God has accomplished, surrender to it, and be changed and empowered by it.

No wonder the women went away afraid. (The male disciples were afraid too, by all accounts.) Dear God, what if it WERE true, that he was alive, that God had rolled away the stone in their paths to the resurrected life? Their lives would never be the same. They weren't. And neither will mine be.

The stone has been rolled back, and now the hard work of living a resurrected life begins for each of us.

Surrendering to the truth and power of the resurrection means embracing the knowledge that there is no good excuse any more for letting those stones get in the way. The stone has been rolled back, and now the hard work of living a resurrected life begins for each of us. Living our lives in that truth means doing courageous and mighty things in Jesus' name. Surrendering to the resurrection means letting go of all the anxiety and fear that can so easily grip and disempower us and experiencing the joy of the resurrected life. It means living our lives with "the peace that passes all understanding" in our hearts. And it means stopping each and every day, one day at a time, to look up and be reminded that the stone has ALREADY been rolled away.

Thanks be to our great God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson is bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. His office may be reached by email at mailto:pbibber@nhepiscopal.org.