Sermon: “But on The First Day”
I think it was Mrs. Edgar, my Middle School English teacher, who taught me to be careful about beginning a sentence with a conjunction – with words like “and” or “therefore.” Mrs. Edgar impressed on us that you should never begin an essay or a story with these words – with “and” or “but.” Doing so got you the dreaded red pencil mark on your paper - and points off your grade. “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb.” (Luke 24:1) Luke begins his story of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ with this very word – “but.” Curiously enough, none of the other gospel writers begin this part of the story with that word. John’s gospel begins poetically, “Early on the first day, while it was still dark….” Matthew’s resurrection account is similar: “After the Sabbath, as the first day was dawning….” And Mark, whom, you remember, always seems to be in a hurry, using the word “immediately” all the time, Mark begins, “When the Sabbath was over….” But not Luke. “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb.” (Luke 24:1) In fact, in Luke’s telling of the Resurrection story, in 12 verses of chapter 24, Luke uses the word “but” 6 times. In Matthew’s account the word shows up only once, in Mark, twice – but here in Luke – 6 times:
I wonder what Mrs. Edgar would have said to Luke. When Luke or any writer uses this word “but” in any story, it usually indicates that there has been some prior event, some prior happenings in the story – “but” now there is a change in the story – there is a departure from the expected consequences. “But” suggests a change of direction in the narrative, and introduces the possibility of something contrary to what has occurred thus far – as in, “but on the other hand,” or “nevertheless,” or “notwithstanding what you have already heard.” It means there is more to the story – and it is not yet over. Ted Wardlaw, a Presbyterian pastor, who is now the President of Austin Theological Seminary, says this about Luke and this word “but”: “It’s as if Luke is grabbing us by the lapels, stopping us in our tracks and forcing us to understand that no matter what we’ve heard, we haven’t heard the whole story yet.” What we have heard thus far, the story and events before this day – that has all been pretty rough. From Palm / Passion Sunday a week ago, and through this Holy Week, the story has been one of betrayal and an arrest, about denial and judgment. It’s been news about you and me, as part of that fickle crowd, who last Sunday shouted “Hosanna” but by Friday morning we are yelling “Crucify, crucify him.” Had we been there, it would have looked to us – just as it did to everyone else - that this story was over – tragically. It was all over and finished by 3:00 last Friday afternoon - when the sentence of capital punishment was carried out on Jesus, using the cruel and unusual means of the day called crucifixion. That was when Jesus “breathed his last.” And then he died, and was buried. End of story. “But” “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb.” (Luke 24:1) Here is Luke – the gospel writer who wants to make sure that no matter what we’ve heard so far, no matter how sad and tragic this story is - we have not heard it all yet. There is more to it. And the “more” that there is is very good news indeed – news beyond our wildest expectations. It was certainly beyond the wildest expectations of the women – of Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James and the other women – who came to the tomb this morning, bring spices to anoint the dead body of Jesus – to do for him what was customarily done following death – to do what they could not do late Friday afternoon, because of the Sabbath regulations about not working on the 7 th day. So they came early on Sunday morning – today the first day – hoping that together they could roll away the stone – expecting to anoint the dead body of Jesus – cry some more – and then go back home to their routines. But when the got there – oh my! When they came to the tomb they saw the stone was rolled away. No body – but two others appears and told the women news beyond their and beyond our expectations – even beyond our understanding: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? [Why do you look for the living here in a cemetery?] He is not here, but has risen. (Luke 24:5b) You see here comes Luke, with his pushy conjunction, reminding us that no matter how no difficult that situation was – and no matter how difficult our situation might be in the here an now – it is not over yet. Here is Luke, with his “but” resurrection story – reminding us that no matter how difficult our situation is, no matter how heavy our burdens, no matter how troublesome our circumstances – there are never-the-less possibilities for resolution and hope and solutions beyond our wildest expectations. At times the circumstances in your life and in my life may look bad and may in fact be bad, and we may be struggling mightily. “But” Luke says, there is a way forward. “But” there are answers outside of your typical expectations – and we need to look hard for them and expect the Holy Spirit to guide us to them. Despite the difficulties, there are, never-the-less, possibilities. At times too the larger situation of our community and our world looks rather bleak – from wars in Iraq to people starving in the Sudan, from poverty and crime to global warming – and it is so easy to slip into an attitude of defeatism and despair and become cynical about it all. And we could, at times, say and feel the same way about the church – with all of our brokenness and worry and divisions over all kinds of issues.
This does not mean it will be easy. The events of Holy Week were real and awful – Jesus was “crucified, dead and buried.” “ But on the third day he rose from the dead.” “Jesus - he is not here in the tomb - but is risen” – and is here, now, present by the power of the Holy Spirit, to guide and bless - to encourage and empower, to forgive and to love. As we come today to the Lord’s Table, and as we live our lives in this Easter season in the year of our Lord 2007, I hope we can remember that now matter what we have heard or experienced, that now matter how bad or how good it gets, we have not heard or lived out the rest of the story yet. “But on the first day of the week….” “He is not here in the tomb – but has risen – and risen indeed.” Alleluia! And all God’s people said. Amen.
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