Sunday, April 08, 2012
John 20: 17

Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them he had said these things to her. NRSV

Oh how we love a bearer of good news! And oh how sweet it is to hear good news. Good news just puts us on a euphoric level that words cannot describe. We all want the happily ever after ending. Stress and worry and anxiety makes us sick but happiness and joy release endorphins, relax us and put us the right frame of mind. We crave an existence free of worry. When my spouse called me and told me that his nephew was critically ill and that I should pray for him, he was still hoping for the best. When he called shortly thereafter to tell me of his passing, there were no comforting words that I could tell him. As frantically as I may have sought, there were no good news to tell. In the not so distant past, my parson laid an important word on my heart about the importance of the ministry of presence. Sometimes all we have to do is to be there to give support. If we show up not just physically but also emotionally and spiritually, sometimes that is all the support we need to give. I have come to understand the importance of the ministry of presence. When another close relative of mine lost her young son tragically a decade ago my aunt turned up at the home and took charge. Who knows what to do at times like those? All I can think of are the words in the tragedy of Macbeth: ‘Confusion hath made his masterpiece.’ Someone who is an anchor is invaluable and every family, thank God, has at least one of those. Those of us of the family of faith believe there is a brighter day. There will come a day when the story will indeed have a happy ending because the resurrection of our Lord Jesus clearly points to that. We know we will live again! We know we will see our loved ones again! Every now and again I get a tingle through my body when I think of the time when we shall see our deceased loved ones again and all things are made over! New all over again! And so the message this Resurrection morning is ‘our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.’ We thank God that our hope is secure in Him and that all is well.