Prepare
The gloom and despair of Matthew 26-27 hangs over the beginning of chapter 28. Those who had followed Jesus, who had been welcomed by his grace, had lost everything. All of their hopes had been cruelly nailed to the cross with violent and stunning finality. Many of those close to him, fearing for their own lives and darkened by unspeakable despair, hid in a room. Three women who had followed him, however, forced themselves to bring honor to Jesus one last time, heading out early in the morning to anoint his broken, scarred, dead body for burial.
Jesus had interrupted their lives with the call to follow him. It was an interruption that took them places they never dared dream possible.
But now, his execution put paid to all of that.
Until…
Opening Exercise:
When you hear the word, “Easter,” what memories/feelings/images/stories does it conjure up for you?
Text Read Aloud:
A Bike Crash and the Empty Tomb
On March 11, 2019, I was finishing up a 20-mile bike ride. I’d been riding the bike paths of Glendale, Peoria, and Phoenix, AZ for over 13 years. To that point I had cycled over 40,000 miles! Starting out the day with an early morning ride was one of the best parts of my day. In fact, it still is!
But that day, about two miles from my house, riding around a corner I had ridden dozens of times, my front tire slipped on some loose gravel and I fell. Hard. My right shoulder and head did battle against the cement path. Thanks to my helmet, my head won. My shoulder, however, lost. Badly.
I wasn’t in pain, but the first thing I noticed, after getting up off of the ground, was that my right shoulder was several inches higher than it should be.
I had blown up all of the ligaments that held my shoulder together. Two weeks later I was in surgery.
That split second interrupted my life for several months. Being right-handed and now in a harness, it interrupted my eating. My teeth brushing. My sleep; I slept in an easy chair for 12 months! My ability to type/text. My bathing habits. My ability to show up and lead worship. My ability to drive and hug my grandkids.
Interruptions are a part of life. Moments that can reset the paths of our lives. Some of those interruptions impact us positively: falling in love; graduating high school; starting a job; gaining new friends; moving to a new city. Others can set us back and negatively impact our lives: cancer; the loss of a loved one; divorce; an injury.
Sometimes those interruptions break us.
Easter’s Interruption
Matthew’s Gospel recounts an interruption that not only changed the trajectory of two women’s lives, but one that continues to reverberate to this day; an interruption that changes everything.
The Women at the Tomb, Novgorod School icon, 15th century. Public domain image via Wikimedia Commons.
2000 years ago God interrupted human history when God’s grace exploded out of a tomb in Jerusalem, interrupting:
- Death with life
- Sin with forgiveness
- Despair with hope
- Anxiety with peace
- Grief with the presence of God
For three years, Jesus made his way throughout Israel interrupting people with the call to follow him; to live as loved and forgiven people; to live as loving and forgiving people. It was a call that changed the trajectory of the lives of all who followed him.
Easter’s Interruption
That mission of interrupting people’s lives with God’s grace, however, was seemingly interrupted itself—and finished—when Jesus was crucified.
But God’s grace interrupted that interruption by raising Jesus from the dead. In the process, God interrupted all those interruptions that rob us of life.
Easter, the interruption of God’s grace, changes the orientation of our lives. It roots our lives in God’s love for us. It holds us steady through all the ups and downs and all the interruptions thrown at us in this life.
And that grace, that unconditional love that God has for you and for me, is the one thing in life we can always count on. It’s the one thing that no interruption can ever interrupt.
Today, Jesus, the crucified and risen Savior comes to interrupt your life with grace. He says to you:
- You are mine
- You’re my child
- I love you
No matter what life throws your way, I will always be there for you. I will always have your back.
So follow me as I interrupt your life with my grace!
Reflection Questions:
- How do you think the women felt when the Angel of the Lord interrupted their visit to the tomb?
- Think back to one or two positive and negative interruptions in your life. How did they affect you?
- Why or how does Jesus’ resurrection change everything?
- How has the call of Jesus interrupted your life?
Closing Activity:
As a group, or as individuals, think about one practical way that you might interrupt the life or lives of someone with a tangible expression of God’s love for them.
Final Blessing:
Choose someone to pray this blessing over the group:
I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19, NRSVue)
Bio
Tim Wright served as an ELCA pastor for 41 years. He and his wife, Jan, have been married since 1979. They have two adult children, five grandchildren, and two dachshunds. They live in Glendale, AZ. You can access Tim’s Reckless Grace Substack at https://recklessgrace.substack.com/ and his Deep-Grace Diving Podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/4WPRRpqMtUzyPeqcqbqrgv
He is also the author of the middle school series: The Adventures of Toby Baxter. https://www.timwrightbooks.com/
