Easter Sermon by Father Tom
04/20/10 09:10 PM
I have an Easter story for you. There was a third
grade teacher planning a special spring project. It
was difficult to plan projects for her class because
there was one kid, Billy, who really couldn’t keep up
with the class any more. The teacher wished his
parents would transfer him to a special school so
that Billy could be protected from embarrassment.
When it came to projects or anything out of the
ordinary, the teacher was always afraid that the
other kids would laugh at Billy’s efforts.
The teacher finally thought of an idea which Billy might manage. She distributed to each student an empty Leggs container, you know the kind of package that looks like an egg. “Put something in the egg which represents spring”, she said. “Then bring it to class and tell us about it.”
The next day there were 20 Leggs eggs on her desk. She opened one and out flew a butterfly. “Whoopee”, said the class. “That’s mine”, said Mary. “Very good, Mary”, said the teacher. She opened the next one and lifted out a stone. “Who wants to tell us about this”. Tommy said, “I do. It has fresh green moss growing on it.” “Very original”, said the teacher.
She opened the next. It was empty. She turned it over to make sure and nothing came out. The class started laughing. “That’s mine,” said Billy. “Thank you, Billy, but it’s empty”. And Billy said, “In the spring, the tomb was empty and that brought new life to everyone.”
A few weeks later Billy died quite suddenly of a brain tumor. On his casket, his classmates placed 20 empty Leggs containers, all empty.
I tell that story because it fits with the Gospel we just read. The women go to the tomb and find it empty. They do not see Jesus and certainly do not touch him. All they get is the message that the tomb is empty. And that Jesus will meet them in the future when they get back home. End of story. Not only that, but the most ancient manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark stop right here. Empty tomb. A promise about the future. Nothing more. That’s the end of story.
Some of us are blessed with the kind of faith that convinces us about the resurrection. Some of us have quite dramatic experiences which encourage our faith. But many of us also experience great long stretches of emptiness. Maybe we got up this Easter morning hoping that things would be different, and they aren’t.
If you are in that category remember the Gospel of an empty tomb. Remember the promise that Jesus will meet us in the future. And remember Billy who was a witness to the power of that promise.
The teacher finally thought of an idea which Billy might manage. She distributed to each student an empty Leggs container, you know the kind of package that looks like an egg. “Put something in the egg which represents spring”, she said. “Then bring it to class and tell us about it.”
The next day there were 20 Leggs eggs on her desk. She opened one and out flew a butterfly. “Whoopee”, said the class. “That’s mine”, said Mary. “Very good, Mary”, said the teacher. She opened the next one and lifted out a stone. “Who wants to tell us about this”. Tommy said, “I do. It has fresh green moss growing on it.” “Very original”, said the teacher.
She opened the next. It was empty. She turned it over to make sure and nothing came out. The class started laughing. “That’s mine,” said Billy. “Thank you, Billy, but it’s empty”. And Billy said, “In the spring, the tomb was empty and that brought new life to everyone.”
A few weeks later Billy died quite suddenly of a brain tumor. On his casket, his classmates placed 20 empty Leggs containers, all empty.
I tell that story because it fits with the Gospel we just read. The women go to the tomb and find it empty. They do not see Jesus and certainly do not touch him. All they get is the message that the tomb is empty. And that Jesus will meet them in the future when they get back home. End of story. Not only that, but the most ancient manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark stop right here. Empty tomb. A promise about the future. Nothing more. That’s the end of story.
Some of us are blessed with the kind of faith that convinces us about the resurrection. Some of us have quite dramatic experiences which encourage our faith. But many of us also experience great long stretches of emptiness. Maybe we got up this Easter morning hoping that things would be different, and they aren’t.
If you are in that category remember the Gospel of an empty tomb. Remember the promise that Jesus will meet us in the future. And remember Billy who was a witness to the power of that promise.