We’re here this morning, in the midsts of a global pandemic. COVID-19 has swept over almost every country in the world, with some countries not having any cases, simply because they have no way to test for the virus.
Rumors of wars, both in the military sense, and the economic sense swirl around us. Shortages of certain supplies, and the need to distance ourselves from each other, reek havoc on our normal routines.
I’ve recently heard several commentators say, “We will never go back to the way things were. This virus, is a 9/11 moment, where the world will forever be changed.”
But throughout history we have seen that humanity always returns to a mundane existence even after great change. Life goes on living, and we adjust to what now becomes common place, to the new normal.
This same return to a mundane existence was with the women as they approached the tomb of Jesus that first Resurrection Sunday. One week prior, there were shouts of Hosanna in the streets. A new king was bringing an everlasting kingdom to the world. The Jews would finally be freed after centuries of being trampled underfoot.
But four days later, the Romans put an end to that hope. Jesus, the one who was celebrated as this new Jewish king, was killed in the most vicious and isolating way possible. Crucified as a thief and mocked as a king.
Now, as the women approached Jesus’ tomb, the mundane of Roman oppression, the mundane of lost hope, the mundane of waiting for another Messiah, hung on their hearts. We might think, “No, they were waiting for his resurrection.” But that’s not the case. We’re told in Luke 24:1 that, “they went to the tomb with the spices they had prepared.”
Those spices, were to finish the burial ceremony of Jesus, that was so rushed just three days prior. The mundane reality of death and loss, hung heavy on them. Mundane, not that death is something we talk about flippantly, but mundane in the fact that it is the only constant of life.
The glorious change that they expected to happen when Jesus was made king, gave way as the women were making their way to the tomb. The mundane reality that they had come to accept their beloved Jesus to radically change, lay dead before them in the tomb.
But as they approached the tomb, the mundane began to break yet again. The stone was already rolled away. The Roman guards seem to be gone. The tomb was empty, Jesus’ body was no where to be found. And then, two magnificently robed beings stood by them. The very presences of these two, sent the women into fear, fall down at the beings’ mercy.
Yet again, as one of the dazzling men spoke, the mundane shattered because of Jesus. “5 Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again (Luke 24:5-7).’ ”
The words shattered the women’s mundane world. Death had not won this day. Jesus, who was crucified, had indeed risen from the dead and now walked among the living. The words of Jesus, as spoken by these magnificent men, roared in their ears, and they returned to the other disciples.
But these disciples were lost in their own mundaneness. Their hope, as was the women’s, shattered and the world around them returned to it’s regular paces. Even when the women entered the other disciples’ presence, the mundane was more real, than the experience that the women had. In fact, the disciples looked upon the women and their talk of Jesus raised from the dead, as ramblings, as wishful words of hysteric women.
All but two. Peter the one that had betrayed Jesus, by denying him three times, and John, who understood the love that Jesus had for him, but was powerless when Jesus was taken to the cross.
These two men ran out of the room towards the tomb. John got their first, but it was Peter who entered in. There in the tomb was the burial cloth of Jesus. Peter and John were amazed (Luke 24:12 & John 20:3-8). Could the mundane truly be broken? Could Jesus truly have been raised?
Later, Jesus would gather his disciples together and send them out to carry his gospel to the world.
We are gathered today, because the mundane was broken almost 2,000 years ago. See it’s really easy for us to look around with an expectation of the mundane. Even in this time of social turmoil, we desire the mundane. Where we can just back to our regular schedule. Back to doing things like we’ve alway done them.
But Jesus calls us out of the mundane. Jesus calls us away from the things that are ever present in our view. Things like worry, distrust, anger, fear, self-focus. These things lead to the most mundane act that happens in this world, death. A tragic and horrendous occurrence that rocks our world, but then life goes on. Every generation before us, has gone on to the grave, and even when we’re confronted with the rattling of our mundane world with the reality of death, we still just accept it. We still continue in our mundaneness.
Yet, God calls us away from the acceptance. God calls us into the breaking of the mundane world, and into his life. A life that throws off the sins of this world. The focus on self, the worry that calls to us, the anger we hold towards others. God calls us to experience the resurrection daily in our lives.
And we can only begin this journey, by accepting Jesus’ as our Savior. His death and resurrection are not a passing blip on human history. The world did not just keep moving forward as it always had. Kingdoms and nations were radically changed by this event. Jesus stands in the course of time, as the crux of everything. There is nothing in this world that hasn’t been touched by the work of Jesus.
He calls us out of the mundane and into the work he has for us. The work of God that tells us that there is more to this world than the mundane. More to experiencing the creation, than we could ever imagine. More to loving others than we have ever done. More to ourselves that we could ever realize, because we are called to a relationship with our Creator. But it all begins at the empty tomb, because at the empty tomb the mundane is shattered. The one common event for every person, death, is broken and every day after it, the mundane can never truly be the same. Because Jesus is risen!
So where are we right now? Are we trapped in the mundane of life. Are we trapped in worry, anger, uncertainty, fear? Jesus has come to break through the mundane of these trappings, but we must come to the tomb. We must come to a realization of why there was a crucifixion, that we are sinners. We desire ourselves over others. We desire our life over God’s. And we follow what makes us happy, rather than God’s will. This is why Jesus had to die, because we have created a gulf between ourselves and God, that we cannot cross. But God can, Jesus came to us to build a bridge through the cross back to God. Back to the life that we were created to live. And the exit point of that bridge is the empty tomb. The empty tomb which leads to new life in God, where worry, fear, selfishness, and even death has no power over us. And the mundane things of this life, are renewed in the light of God’s work around us.
All we have to do is accept the empty tomb. Last year, I took time and gave all the reasons why the tomb wasn’t empty on that first Resurrection Sunday. But all of them fell short. The tomb was historically empty, looking at the evidence, no one can deny that. So now we must make a choice, do I accept that Jesus is risen, or do I not? Do I accept the mundaneness of this life, and my ultimate destiny of everlasting death, or do I accept that Jesus shattered the mundane and that I can live a life that breaks every facet of the mundane?
The empty tomb lays bear before us, calling us to make a choice that has eternal ramifications. We must deal with it. I have accepted that Jesus left that tomb. I accept this because of historical evidence, of philosophical evidence, and personal evidence. And each of us must ask ourselves what happened then?
If the tomb was empty but Jesus isn’t risen, then the mundane of this life will continue until the earth passes away into cosmic dust, as a mundane event that has no reason behind it.
But if the tomb was empty because Jesus is indeed raised, then there will be a day, when Jesus returns and calls us to account of what our choice was with his empty tomb.
To the Christians hear today, are you living in the reality that the empty tomb shattered the mundane. That you are called to share the gospel with those around you, before it’s to late for them? That no virus, or war, or anything else holds fear over you? Let today spur you onto praying for people to receive the gospel and to share it with them in the coming weeks. Stand firm in your trust in Jesus, and let it show to the world around you.
To the one who isn’t following Jesus, I want to call you to repentance. That means that you come to an understanding that you are, what the God calls, a sinner. That means that you have fallen short from God’s perfection that you were created to uphold. You’re not alone, I am there with you. Each of us has fallen short of God’s perfection, because we go after our own wants rather than God’s. And by doing so, our lives reflect the destruction it brings. Even if one lie, or one angry thought passes from us, we have put ourselves away from God’s perfection. But that’s why Jesus had to come and die for us. God himself coms and dies for us, to bridge the gulf between God’s perfection and our sinfulness. Jesus took all our sin on himself, even thought he didn’t deserve it, just so we could have the opportunity to come back to God. And this is that opportunity, and all we have to do is bow our heads and say something like this, “God I’m a sinner, and I am undeserving of the gift Jesus offers me through the cross. Jesus I accept the empty tomb, that you are risen, come and save me, and guide me as I follow you the rest of the days of my life.”
If you prayed that prayer, then the mundane has shattered in your life. I would love to pray for you to be used by God as he created you to be used. To work with him to shatter other people’s mundane lives. Let us all look back at the empty and no longer live this life as if it’s simply mundane, but in the reality that God truly changed the world and there is no going back. Amen.
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