Empty Tomb, Full Faith

ODD FELLOWS REST, TOMB WITH FERN, Sandra Russell Clark

John 20:1-9

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

In her photography series Elysium Sandra Russell Clark explores the cities of the dead. The title comes from the Ancient Greeks' notion of an afterlife abode that was separate from Hades (sometimes referred to as Elysian Fields). It was a place reserved for mortals "chosen by the gods, the righteous, and the heroic." Sandra Russell Clark's Elysium refers to a place more personally familiar to me. She and I both share our birthplace in the city of New Orleans. New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana holds fast as a center of Catholicism embedded within the overall Protestant stronghold of the Deep South, while simultaneously flirting for tourists with its historic connections to the folk religion of Voodoo. It is a city that has its seasons of devout religious fervor and secular hedonism. In the midst of this city life of contrasts is set the reminder of death and the question of the afterlife: our historic cemeteries. Since New Orleans is below sea level our graves are traditionally not underground but rather above ground. Our cemeteries are ornate white wash neighborhoods for our ancestors: cities of the dead. Walking through the rows of domiciles of the departed you can chart three four centuries of our former residents form the great and notorious to the humble. The deceased are not interred into the ground but rather into tombs, like Jesus was. The scripture reading for this Easter Sunday doesn't feature Jesus. It doesn't even feature Jesus' dead body. It actually features the absence of Jesus and evidence that he  had once been in this scene: linen burial cloths and a handkerchief. It costars three followers of Jesus: Mary Magdalene, Peter and an unnamed disciple whom Jesus loved. But the star of this scene is the scene... the setting. The star is the tomb. It is an empty tomb, yet it is full. Jesus no longer resides there but one by one we encounter his followers in this scene. They too were like this tomb, empty shells that once housed death. The thing that the tomb lacked to fulfill its purpose is that which the followers of Jesus would receive. These early Christians would go on to see Jesus and after he ascended into Heaven they would later receive his Holy Spirit. Jesus would come to reside in their heart but never again in the tomb.

Death to Sin

Art is not forgiving of people's past... especially religious art. You are forever depicted in each painting or sculpture bearing a symbol of what you are most famous for. It is a tool to make the image easily identifiable for the viewer and cue their memory of the narrative surrounding them. For some it may be that of a prophet, beggar, king, soldier, martyr or virgin. For Mary Magdalene it is that of a prostitute. In most imagery she is clad in the scarlet red of harlotry. Not far from the Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1 is the are near French Quarter and Basin Street where Storyville once stood. Famous for being one of the birthplaces of Jazz, it was also New Orleans' turn of the century red light district where prostitution was legal. Just like in the case of Mary Magdalene its historic reputation has stuck. Still today much of the city's gentleman's clubs and illegal sex workers can be found there. Although society is slowly drifting towards removing the stigma associated with people who work in this industry, the physical, emotional and spiritual damage that can come to those involved in these trades still remains. All to often it is a lifestyle of sin that those who become engaged in to make ends meet become trapped in permanently by the threat of physical violence. This is the life that Mary Magdalene once knew. Prostitution was a tomb that she lived in, risking physical death from disease and spiritual death through alienation from God. Even if she knew that her life was in spiritual death, who knows if leaving it meant risking physical death by the hands of her employer? It appears to be a risk that she was willing to make. In Christ she saw life eternal and a new start at the present life. Christ had risen her from the shame of her past life and she would soon encounter him as he stood victorious having bought her eternal life. It all started because Mary Magdalene chose to leave spiritual death by putting death to sin in her life. She forsook her former life and took up the life that Christ had for her. She is an example to us all that no matter the risk deciding to follow Christ is the most life giving decision. It is an act of faith that removes spiritual death from sin and replaces it as a life of holiness. 

Death to Self

The way that you can recognize the tombs in New Orleans and learn about the life of those that are interred is by reading their tombstone. Simple enough because it is the same way the world over. The tombstone tells you the deceased name, lifespan and maybe something about their vocation, death or a revealing quote. All of these collectively reveal the person's identity but the greatest of them is the person's name. Ironically that is what is left out of the description of the first Disciple that entered Jesus' tomb. He is only revealed as "The other Disciple." Yet we do know a few things about what he did. Apparently he was a fast runner, he was a good reader of real life context clues, he had faith and Jesus loved him. The greatest part of his identity has been hidden from us... or is it? In the end what is the most important thing in life: who we are or what we do. Doesn't what we do reveal who we really are? Doesn't it reveal our character? While our surname that goes on the top of our tombstone reveals who our family was our character is a better portrait of us as an individual. There is yet another revealing detail that the author of this Gospel has left us in saying that he was the "disciple whom Jesus loved." Most scholars see this as a sign that this is referring to St. John, but it even tells us more than his identity it tells us his relationship to God. While it is good to uphold your character so that your fellow man may know who you truly are, only the virtues of faith and love can reveal who you are to God. Sure God is omniscient and knows who everyone is, but can he consider you a friend? Can he consider you his child? He can if you put to death your identity and take up the identity of Christ. That is the paradox of Christianity. You become your true self (the one that you were designed to be when you put death to the "self." That does not mean that all Christians become the same straight laced, eurocentric, 1950's cornball. Your diversity, quirks and individual gifts are needed. Don't shave off your mullet! It means that you deny your self and take your cross daily and follow Jesus. It is lining your will with the will of God and pursuing less of your whims and more of the general good of those that God has called you to serve. It is the death of selfishness and the birth of Love. It is decreasing our selves so that Christ might increase in us. It allowing space for love and action for others in our lives. It is doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. It is not just abstaining from sin against others but actively pursuing works of righteousness that would benefit others. It is an act of faith that puts to death selfish love but opens up your life to selfless love. It is what Jesus did out of love for us and it is what he loves to see in others. After all, God is Love.

Death As Service

Besides being a resting place for the dead the cemeteries of New Orleans are tourist attraction. Most things in New Orleans are a tourist attraction. After losses in the Gulf of Mexico oil industry in the early 1980's tourism took over as main engine of the economy in New Orleans. This became complicated in the early 1990's when violence started rising in the city. Just like much of the late 80's/early 90's violence in America it was mostly due to the illegal drug trade and easy access to firearms. The surge in violence spread crime to those who were unconnected to the drug trade and often normal robberies turned into murders. Things were at their worse when tourists started to be attacked while visiting the cemeteries. The sad irony was that people were killed in the area set aside to house and honor the dead. For sometime after that everyone was on guard while in cemeteries since they had now been deemed dangerous neighborhoods. Walking in the midst of this area surrounded by death made one consider his own demise. When Peter entered Christ's tom he was not considering his own mortality. He was just looking to retrieve the body of his rabbi. When Peter first encountered the risen Christ he was not considering his own mortality. He was just celebrating that Christ was risen from the grave. But then Jesus stuck around... for forty days. While Jesus was around for these forty days Peter was not considering his own mortality. Why should he? He had just experienced Jesus defeat death! But Jesus had a conversation with Peter where he asked him to consider his own mortality. He actually spelled out the way that Peter would die: he would one day be crucified. Then Jesus said that Peter's martyrdom would glorify God. Peter was a great Disciple/Apostle that was called to many great things that would give God glory. He would preach the sermon on Pentecost day that would ring thousands of souls to Christ. He would write portions of Scripture. He would perform miracles. He would act as a missionary. Tradition holds that he even founded the first church in Rome and served as its first Bishop. Even amongst all of these accolades Jesus highlights his suffering and death as his greatest service to God. Now most Christians have not and will not be called for martyrdom (that's just math). However, all Christians must be willing to make a sacrifice in their service to God. At times it may be something that you have proven weak in the past. That was the case with Peter (who had previously denied the Lord to escape danger). Yet we must remember that whatever the Lord calls us to, he will equip us for. My personal wish is that the Lord has called me to eat ice cream to his glory... but I doubt that this is the case. Whatever we discover it is the Lord is equipping us for we have faith in God that in the end His will is for the good. I imagine that Peter faced his martyrdom with courage because he knew from meeting the risen Lord that this death was not an eternal one. This death was just a doorway to eternal life. Peter chose an act of faith that put death to death and left room for eternal life.

Jesus was not from New Orleans. He could not be held in any tomb despite its Antebellum charm or no how Anne Rice-beautiful and Gothic it may be. Jesus was not a Greek nor did he share spiritual ideas with the Greeks. He was a Hebrew who worshiped the God of Israel. Yet the idea of Elysium is parallel to a notion that he preached. Yes of course their are the obvious parallels of Hades/Hell and Elysium/Heaven but I wonder if you notice another element to this analogy that may be a little more subtle. The city that Jesus focused his message on was not just a city of the dead. It was a freedom from the city of the living dead. It was a kingdom that was not just set aside for the after life but one that offered a new life for the reborn. This place that housed citizens from both the land of the living and dead is the Kingdom of God. You may know it as Heaven but the truth of it may be contrary to some of your preconceived notions. God's kingdom is not just a place for good dead people. It is more than a geographical place, it is a reality that God's children live in: be they in this part of life or the afterlife. God's kingdom is where God's reign is. It is the king's domain. It is not just a future designated time or separate space from where you are now. As Jesus put it "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Or later when he said "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." In other words the Kingdom of Heaven is here, now, within your very body. Yes the kingdom of Heaven is also where a bunch of good dead people are, if those good dead people (just like you) have received Christ. That is the key: the kingdom of Heaven is Christ. The kingdom of Heaven is the Body of Christ, which is all believers across space and time that worked out the grace, faith and mercy that they have received from God. Similar to Elysium the Kingdom of God is a gathering of  mortals chosen by God, the righteous. Our righteousness resides not in any great gift that we naturally posses but rather through the great gift of Grace that God has given us. It is subsequent gifts of mercy and love that we receive daily from this loving God that empower us to work the works of Jesus in our own age. The hope of all of the followers of Jesus that originally encountered his empty tomb that Sunday morning was that they would find Jesus. The hope of all current followers of Jesus this morning is the same. How overjoyed Mary, Peter and the unnamed disciple must have been when they encountered a living Jesus and not a dead one. How overjoyed we will be when we encounter a living faith and not a dead one. It is that faith in a living God that dwells within us through his Holy Spirit that allows us to die to sin, make sacrifices and die to self. God has cleared the death out of our mortal shells and renovated us into temples of the living God. In the end we as believers are all empty tombs full of faith displaying evidence of a risen Lord.