Keeping the tomb empty.

Pk’s Corner

April 2016

Mark 16:6 but he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has been raised; he is not here.  Look, there is the place they laid him.” (NRSV)

I can only imagine the fear, surprise, joy and sorrow that was felt when the women first came to the tomb.  In the four gospels, we have similar accounts of the event, and they all lead to one conclusion; the tomb was empty.

We celebrate the new beginning that this action means.  Death has been conquered and is no longer to be feared.  We have a risen savior who has died for our sins and then came back to life to bring us to him.  We have hope in the risen Christ, and that hope gives us strength to face the trials of life.

But, we also tend to hang out at the tomb.  God empties the tomb, and still we want to fill it up.   The tomb is meant to be empty, and we insist on keeping it full.  You see, we tend to gravitate back to world views and thus we come back to the tomb.  Death is abolished, yet the world seems set on living in death.

Now you are probably thinking, “Gosh Kent, what has gotten into you”, all I ask is you bear with me.   The reality is this, any time we turn away from Christ we go back into the tomb.  Every time we do not love our neighbor, we fill the tomb.  Every time we stop loving one another, we fill the tomb.  Every deaf ear turned to those in trouble, fills the tomb.  Every time we ignore a hungry person, every time we refuse to shelter the homeless, every time we have not shared the word of God, we fill the tomb.

The empty tomb is meant to stay empty.  The only way to keep it empty is to be the people God has called us to be.  Not the once a year Christians who think about following Christ during Lent, but the 24/7, 365 followers of Christ we are called to be.

You see, the empty tomb moved the bar up.  We are not called to be white washed tombs, but children of the Risen Son.  We are not meant to be among the dead, but to live with the living Christ.

So, are you keeping the tomb empty?

Amen