The Gospel reading for this Easter Sunday has an important lesson about what it means to be an active Jesus seeker disciple. This lesson is about trust, willingness to take risk, and boldness to overcome our fears. The women in our text decide to go to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body. They did not let the sadness, the chaos, and the oppression surrounding Jesus’ unjust killing to stop them from offering their last gesture of love to their beloved teacher. They trust their instinct and the prompting of the Holy Spirit to perform this act.
Not only that, but they are willing to take the risk to be arrested or even killed by going to the tomb. What a marvelous example of faithfulness and sacrificial service these women offer to us. What it means for us today to truly trust God as we are prompted by the Holy Spirit to extend acts of love, even risky acts of love? As these women trust their instinct, as they are willing to risk their own lives by going to the tomb, they offer to us an example of overcoming our own fears.
I dare to say these women were very afraid, but they did not let the fear paralyzed them, instead, they persisted, they push through and overcame their fear. By this fearless act, these women became the first preachers, evangelists and the first disciples to spread the good news of the Gospel: Jesus has died, but indeed Christ is risen!
God invites us to continue reflecting the next few days of pilgrimage toward Easter on how can we trust God more, how God is calling to offer risky acts of love, and what are the fears God is asking us to overcome?
Dear Lord, our God,
We thank you for your faithful presence. Your love toward us never fails. Your grace is always sufficient for us. We are deeply grateful that you are our Good Shepherd and our most loving Father. You are our greatest Blessing. We want to be with you always.
But it is not always easy to seek you. In good times, we sometimes forget about you while indulging ourselves in earthly pleasures. In bad times, we sometimes lose sight of you while filling ourselves with self-pity. Have mercy on us. Put us back on your way when we go astray. We want to be a people who seek you always and everywhere under any circumstance.
You have promised to be with us. You told us that you would never leave us or forsake us. But we confess that there are times when we sense you not near us but in a far distance. In such times, we feel that we seek you in darkness just as Mary Magdalene sought you at the empty tomb.
Even though you were with her, she didn’t recognize you. She had to seek you desperately with tears. We remember that her eyes were opened to your presence only when you called her name. We ask you to grant us the same blessing that you gave to her.
Just as you called her name, call our names any time we seek you in darkness. Call our names when all we see is divisions; when all we see is greed and hatred; when all we see is discrimination and oppression. Call our names when all we see is hunger and poverty; when all we see is violence and death; when all we see is meaninglessness and hopelessness.
Call our names so that our eyes may be opened and see your light even in our darkness. By your Spirit, empower us to continue to be the people who seek you at all times. We pray these in your name, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Written by Rev. Sunny Limm. Used with permission