Monday, April 10, 2017

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