Never Forget
Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come; see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. Lo, I have told you." So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Hail!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." - Matthew 28:1-10
Once, when he was traveling by car in the south of England, William Willimon discovered that his car was in the process of breaking down. As he waited for the arrival of the mechanic, he wandered into the cemetery of a nearby village. He writes:
“Over in the corner of the cemetery there was a beautiful, low, brick wall enclosing fifty graves. The grass had nearly choked the plot. A large granite slab, set in the wall, bore the words, ‘We shall never forget your sacrifice.
“Here were fifty graves of young men from New Zealand – ages 17 – 25. There was no explanation as to why these men were buried in that small village cemetery so far from home. I found the town museum and inquired there. The attendant there said, “Strange that you should ask, I have no idea. If you give me a few days I could no doubt find out.” As I was not going to be there for a few days, I asked several other people who I met walking around the village. No one knew.
“‘We shall never forget your sacrifice.
“Was the impressive inscription a lie? No one could remember.”
I wonder if, as they made their way to the tomb, the women were speaking of Jesus, trying to recall for each other the way he phrased things, the sound of his voice, a certain look in his eye. I wonder if they recall how he ate and the way he greeted his friends. I wonder if, for them, as for so many of us, they found that Jesus’ memory was already starting to slip though their fingers. Sometimes we forget – not because we are faithless – but because our lives become so full of the demands and expectations of living that we forget the love and grace of the Author of Life. There is more to this world than we know.
In the midst of a Good Friday world, I would ask you to remember your Easter faith. It is a day when we, formally, declare our belief in the Resurrection and the Living Lord! Today we remember and share in a common belief and hope in Jesus rising from the tomb. The Easter faith – the Risen Christ – means that death does not and did not and shall not have the final word for us! Easter faith means new life! Easter is the miracle of our faith!
Today I hope that you will pledge yourself to struggle to live out of your Easter faith. I hope that you will remember and continue to struggle to move beyond the explanations of Easter to the experience of the Living Lord.
Let us remember. Let us celebrate. “The Lord is risen. The Lord is risen, indeed!”
Submitted by Rev. Bob Wright
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