Reflections...

 A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Easter 17 April 2022, by Rev.  Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Isaiah 65:17-25; Luke 24:1-12. 

Happy Easter dear friends, sisters and brothers in Christ!

This year we did not have the luck like last year that we were able to celebrate Easter in church by having in-person worship. Our worship today is a  pre-recorded service brought to the congregation through Facebook livestreaming. In the midst of limitations, we are thankful that with the support of advanced technology, we are able to worship together at the same time and proclaim “Christ is risen, He is risen indeed. Alleluia”! 

In the gospel reading taken from Luke 24, the gospel story of Jesus rising from the dead was shared. When the women went to look for Jesus’s dead body, they saw only an empty tomb and two men clothed in dizzying white. 

These two men, believed to be angels or messengers sent by God, announced the mystery of Jesus’ resurrection before these courageous women. 

In the dialogue, these two men asked the first question, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” 

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?

This is a profound question that invites us today to reflect on the meaning of Jesus’s resurrection. 

The resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and saviour of the world, is a fundamental faith to Christians. 

 “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” 

This question reminded me of some people that I have known who always go visit  the tomb where dead persons stayed. I said this not in a literal sense. What I am trying to say is I would think of the tomb as people’s lives of the past. 

When people continue to visit their past life, they cannot go on with their lives with a new start. The past is dead. Life is meaningful and fresh only when it is lived in the present. 

The empty tomb that revealed Jesus’ resurrection reminded the women in the graveyard and us today – we have to be mindful not to go back or attach ourselves to the past as we move on to a new life. Our past, good or bad, could be a hinderance for our life ahead.

I would like to share a story about a man. I will call him James. James has been suffering from psychosomatic problems for a number of years. His ill health has been paining him. But what makes his life bitter and miserable is he always revisit the tomb, the darkness in his past. Whenever he feels pain in his body, he will then complain that he did not take good care of himself when he was young. He missed the chance to get married and so he is living alone now. Because of what he did and he did not do in the past, he thinks there is nothing he can do to make himself better. This thought makes him very depressed and and feeling he finds no hope.

There is another story about a lady called Phoenix. She suffered from heart attack and was once at the brink of death. After the operation, she realized how she had ignored the signs from her body and the food that she took for a number of years was not good for her blood vessels. She has since then started to be more aware of her body condition and try to have more control in her intake of food that may affect her health. She realized how God has saved her life and restored her strength after the heart operation. She then lives a happier and joyful life. She trusts in God and knows that the living Christ, who is resurrected from the dead, is always with her. So she becomes very relaxed and fearless in facing death. Phoenix is my eldest sister. I have been very impressed by her testimony and thus would like to share with you so that we can be encouraged by her as well. I have shared more details of her story in my Easter Message which has been uploaded as a video through the church Facebook and other social media channels. You are welcome to watch it. 

A life of resurrection means “don’t visit the tomb as we cannot find the living from the death”. To translate it to our daily life, here are my recommendations:

1. Stop regretting for the past and for what we have done or undone;

2. Stop complaining about the suffering or even the trauma that we have gone through; 

3. Stop attaching to past glory and success that we have treasured;

4. Stop adhering to old habits and fixed belief that have served us in a certain period of time but are no longer helpful…

All these seem hard, but it is the way to go!

The dead person and the tomb could exist in our lives in different forms. We are all different. But what is important is -  if we are willing to live a life of resurrection that brings us and others new life, hope and joy, we need to make a change.

Resurrection is about change and transformation. 

From death to life. 

From darkness to light.

From sorrow to joy.

From despair to peace.

From hatred to love.

But we all know change and transformation take time.

Let us look at the resurrection story again.

After the two men asked the women the question - “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen”, they further said to them : “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” (v6-7)

 

From the conversation, the women were reminded of Jesus’s word. Today we are reminded too Jesus’s rising from the dead must come after suffering. Resurrection is not something like magic and it comes all of sudden. Before Jesus’s resurrection from the death, he had gone through pain and suffering in the darkness. It’s not an easy path.  It’s a tough and rocky road for him to suffer physical pain with his body nailed on the cross, psychological pain when his beloved disciples betrayed and denied him, spiritual pain during a time he felt God’s absence. 

Resurrection is like a woman giving birth to a new born baby.  Both the mother and the baby have to go through the dark and bear the pain before new life is received. 

Resurrection is like a coin of two sides that entails life and death, light and darkness. The one who is resurrected must go through suffering. It is part of the course. No one can escape from it. Even for Jesus who is the son of God, coming to the world, he had to drink this cup of suffering before he was risen. There is an idiom – no pain no gain. This phrase is a good description for resurrection. 

Not only that – witnessing the empty tomb and hearing someone with special power tell you about Jesus’s resurrection is not the end of the story. The women who received the good news about Jesus being risen did not immediately live a happy life thereafter. 

 

No, not at all. When these courageous women to whom Jesus chose to reveal his resurrection went to tell about this wonderful and amazing news to the disciples, the disciples refused to believe them except Peter, who tried to go to the tomb and fact check. The women were accused of making up a story by other disciples. 

The disciples who later affirmed Jesus’s resurrection after they encountered the risen Lord directly had a very tough life in their journey of following Jesus as his faithful disciples. Many of them like Peter were martyred.

What does this teach us then?

We should never simply take Jesus’s resurrection as a fairy tale. Resurrection is grace through darkness. It is costly and no one should take it lightly.

Resurrection is grace from God that has promised to all who believe in him that new life will be unfolded and new hope will blossom. Resurrection is grace from God that gives to the faithful courage, perseverance and strength to go through darkness and to overcome death. 

In our risen Christ, who is the son of Man, the son of God revealed one important truth - God has the ultimate victory over death. God who is the life eternal will live forever. No tomb, no darkness and no death contain Him. 

Today, on Easter Sunday, we are here to receive the grace from Jesus who had journeyed through the darkness and was risen. With joy we celebrate the eternal life and hope that Jesus brings. 

With strong faith and gratitude for Jesus’ powerful love that overcomes death, let us proclaim: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!