Easter Day + The Risen Lord is on the Move + 4.5.15

(http://katenixon.theworldrace.org/?filename=aslan-is-on-the-move)

M. Campbell-Langdell+

All Santos, Oxnard

(Acts 10:34–43; Ps. 118:1–2, 14–24; 1 Corinthians 15:1–11; Mark 16:1–8)

Very slowly, very softly, let us creep to the tomb with the women who gather—Here we walk, with Mary Magdalene and Mary the Mother of James, and Salome. Can you smell the sweet and pungent spices in the cool of the dark morning? It is not yet dawn. Their hearts are tight with grief but they know what to do—some women always know what to do somehow, because they are strong and resourceful, even in fear. So, here they come. So brave. So afraid. Stumbling forward.

And behold! In the darkness, we see a light. Instead of solid stone, an open tomb. Which would be a darkness, a gaping sore in the earth, but no, not this one. An angel is there. Sitting as if he was any young guy anywhere, a farmer on the side of the road chewing a piece of straw, a teenager with pants sagging sittin’ on a stoop, just hanging out. Here’s the angel. Here he is. And he says what is obvious. What is not at all obvious.

Christ is Risen!
Last night, we heard “This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell.”

And this morning, the stone is rolled away. And we are free once more. Death and hell no longer have dominion over us. Our grief-stricken hearts are struck dumb by this, as were those of those women who came first to the tomb. What, say you? What can that strange angelic dude mean?
But we know that something special is happening. We can feel it in our bones. Because notice, the resurrected Lord isn’t here! He is on the move.

C. S. Lewis got at this feeling a bit, in the book, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, when he described the children hearing that Aslan the Lion was on the move. Aslan is the rightful King of Narnia in the books, and yes, he is an otherworldly Lion, comforting, but scary. A bit like Jesus Christ.
And the section I have in mind says:

“They say Aslan is on the move—perhaps has already landed.”

And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different. Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone says something which you don’t understand but in the dream it feels as if it had some enormous meaning—either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream again. It was like that now. At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in his inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realise that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.[1]

Can you feel it? That strange excitement. The warming in the heart? The rising of the Spirit deep within? Welling up, like this just might be it! This just might be the answer I never hoped to hope for? Can I let the heart unfurl like a flower into this wonder? I am not quite sure, and yet…. This, or something like it, is what the women might be feeling, what we each might be feeling now. We don’t fully know the resurrected Christ yet, in fact, here, we haven’t met him yet, we will next week. But we know something special is afoot.
So… what do you think? Will you run with the women to Peter? Or perhaps you’re Peter, waiting in the distance, wondering if this is really for you? It is interesting to see that the very first action of the Resurrected Lord is to show forgiveness. Deny me thrice? I love you still. Jesus says to Peter, in a manner. Oh, that love! So constant, so true.

So… do we believe in vain?

Or are we going to spread the good news?

Because the Resurrected Lord is on the move.

Next week, we will see him. But for now, we look for him, a bit stunned, a lot excited. We must be quick.

Because…

He is on the move.

Is he to be found in friend or brother? Sister?  Comadre? Godparent? Grandchild?

The stone has been rolled away.
The gates of hell and now heaven have been thrown open.
And Christ has burst his three-day prison.

Are you arisen too, with the Lord?

What will roll away the stone from your heart?
Help you to understand all this wonder for yourself?

Will baptisms? Or children’s joy?

Will old hymns or a friend’s smile?

But keep awake!
Because the risen Christ is on the move.

And his Spirit is at work in the world,

And he is true to his Word.

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[1] C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, (New York: Collier Books, 1972), 64-65.