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John 20:1-7
Early on the first day of the week, while it
was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been
removed from the tomb. So she ran and went
to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to
them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they
have laid him.’ Then Peter and the
other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran
Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to
look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb.
He saw the linen wrappings lying there ….
Unwrapped
Easter awakens the heart to what it most wants, not just life
eternal but eternal life now.
We ache for a life where our heart flies free, unbound by the
fears, wounds and struggles that keep us from being truly and wonderfully
alive. The soul longs to breathe in full and utter confidence, unconstricted, relishing
the joy of being alive.
Little wonder butterflies became symbols of Easter, new life wrapped
in a cocoon, breaking free to flight.
The resurrection story is not simply about Jesus raised from
death long ago. It is about us, what we long for, what we are intended for … and
what we can truly have and know, here and now.
The linens that wrapped Jesus lay there. His friends pick
them and know: He is no longer bound, no long wrapped in death. Twice the story
tells us about the wrappings, as if to make sure that we know that nothing can
contain the Life, the Love that is in him.
I long for that life that I know only in moments when I know
Love so greatly, so completely that my heart is weightless. I fly. I hope, I
know that Love embraces every earthly thing, fully holding and cherishing all
that is and struggling to bring all creation … and me … to life that is
Life.
It is this unconstricted Life of joy, love, freedom and holy
purpose that is what God intends for each of us.
So I come here to sit in this place, hands on these keys. For
it is here that the light of Easter morning warms the cocoon that binds me and
sets my heart free to breathe, to hope, to love and to become the joy and
beauty that lies within. For it is Christ who lies within, waiting for me to
sit in the warmth of his Infinite Love that he might break through the cocoon and live more fully in me, filling my heart with life that truly is Life.
Easter lies waiting within. All we need do is to sit in the
Love, the Life that shines from an empty tomb.
Pr. David L. Miller
