Easter Monday

The problem of potholes has placed a plumber from Kent in a spot of bother. Incensed by what he saw as his local authorities inability to patch up the potholes in his road he placed a homemade sign above the pavement to warn drivers of the dangers below. The police didn’t take too kindly to his initiative. Responding to a complaint they called on Ted the Plumber and instructed him to take his homemade sign away. It was, they said, a distraction to motorists. Ted did as he was told but pointed to the potholes and said that they were the real distraction.

The gospel reading today deals with distractions. The women are rushing away from the tomb to share their discovery with the disciples and there, coming to meet them, is Jesus. It seems as though they almost stumble across him. He greets them, reassures them and arms them with instructions for the disciples for them to move on to Galilee. They will see him there. It’s time for the disciples to get up, get on. It’s time for another journey, another road. Watch out for potholes! Meanwhile the soldiers are on their way, too – in another direction to set about their distraction techniques. They come up with a story to distract people from the truth of Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead. They concoct an ingenious plan. ‘Let’s say Jesus disciples stole the body during the night while we were asleep.’ They are willing to put their reputation as soldiers and guards on the line in order to cover up what has happened: so much for security. Yet they are paid a pretty price to keep their silence.

Many people, of course, (including ourselves) are distracted by so many things: distracted away from the truth of the Risen Lord, distracted away from the good news, distracted away from the message of God in Christ. Sometimes, there are just so many other signs and potholes, distractions and disturbances. So, too, does the Church, in its own clumsy and clown-like way distract people away from the gospel rather than, as you would expect, draw people closer to Christ. But to concentrate only on those things would do us a disservice and it would fail to acknowledge the wonderful ways in which God’s grace triumphs in the lives of so many people. To dwell only on the things that have been a distraction does not acknowledge the power and majesty of God whose love overcomes all things. Sometimes, of course, it’s while we are distracted away from following Jesus that we can be suddenly over awed by his presence: we can be surprised by God who is in all things and above all things. He is never distracted from the world he has created. So, like the disciples it’s time to get up and get on, to move on and move forward. We need, of course, to watch out for the signs and the potholes and keep our eyes on the road ahead because there, coming to meet us, is Jesus the Risen Lord.

Easter Monday

So there’s a bit of bother at Downing Street. David Cameron wants an apology from the Prime Minister concerning the recent e-mail slurs that an adviser, David McBride, had sent, back in January. He quit his job after his unfounded claims about Mr Cameron and shadow Chancellor George Osborne became public knowledge. Mr Cameron is said to be ‘absolutely furious’ about what he claims are blatant lies made about the Tory Party. The Tory Party want an investigation and a guarantee that such material will never be written again from Downing Street. Lies, slurs, dirty tricks, dirty words, stories and tales. Another day in politics!

The gospel reading today is filled with a slur too. The news that the tomb of Jesus is empty and the claims that he has risen from the dead provoke the chief priests and elders to begin their own slur campaign, and the news soon goes around that the disciples of Jesus have stolen the body. There are bribes involved, and a considerable amount of money crosses hands. Not so much Cash for Questions or Cash for Honours but Cash for Lies. This is the beginning of conspiracy. For there have always been people who deny what we believe about Jesus, and there have always been people who, beginning from the very day of resurrection, have denied the resurrection of Christ from the dead. After all, it is a bold claim, a courageous claim, a dangerous claim. Yet is a claim that we continue to make. It is the central tenet to our faith. Without the Resurrection, our Faith would be very different indeed.

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after that Day of Resurrection, Peter speaks boldly in the streets of Jerusalem. ‘God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to that,’ he says. He and the others disciples have been transformed from a timid, hopeless, broken hearted group of individuals who hide themselves in fear – to bold, hopeful, courageous people, filled with the Spirit of God, who cannot hold themselves back in sharing the message of Christ raised from the dead. And so we must move on too. For our lives are changed now. There is no looking back. As the apostles move on to Galilee, where Jesus will meet them, we too must move on, for the Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Readings: Acts 2:14. 22 -33; Matthew 28:8-15