Heavy Lifting at Easter
Easter Vigil
April 11, 2009
Mark 16:1-8
I started out Holy Week a little under the weather, which is not the way you want to start Holy Week if you’re a priest.
Deacon Stan, who quietly keeps an eye on what I’m up to around here, gently suggested that perhaps if I didn’t try to do too much and do it all single-handedly, then maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t wear myself out and be so susceptible to every little bug that comes around.
Well I say that clearly the man’s a lunatic and can’t be trusted.
Or maybe, just maybe, he could have a point there.
Do you know someone like that? Are you someone like that? Someone who thinks you have to do all the heavy lifting, all alone, without help?
Many of us reach that point, but from different approaches. Some give a theatrical sigh, say “Oh don’t worry, I’ll just take care of it myself” and then do alone what we probably could have gotten others to help us out with. Sometimes that comes from getting insufficient help one too many times.
But sometimes it comes from drawing the wrong conclusions from one or two bad experiences– you’ve probably heard someone curse how badly a delegated task was performed and declare, “Well, I guess if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.”
That’s a pretty wrong-headed conclusion, but one that folks often come to. It comes from a lack of trust, sometimes from an inability to communicate well, and very often from an overdeveloped sense of self-worth.
Then there are those who simply don’t get around to asking anybody to help, who just dive into things and take on too much and– well, somebody eventually ends up unhappy. It’s not always intentional with folks like this, but the result is the same– we put ourselves, our own needs, and our own powers at the center of our lives. Other people, their talents and the offerings of their lives – not on our radar.
We want to do the heavy lifting ourselves. All by ourselves.
A friend recently talked to me about a situation in her life and said she’d been advised to pray about that situation. She said to me, “Praying is fine, but it seems like I ought to be doing something about it.”
I told her, “Well, you are doing something about it..”
I said, “By praying, you are keeping it on your agenda – spiritually and logistically. Every day, when you say prayers, you raise it up to God and to yourself.
“And remember that prayer isn’t one-way; it’s a conversation with God. By inviting God into the process, you’re taking responsibility, but you’re also admitting that you cannot do this 100 percent by yourself.”
She said I was starting to make sense, which surprised her! But it wasn’t enough. It didn’t sound enough like real action.
So I said, “I don’t know about you, but when I’m facing a hard issue in my life, I’d much rather pray about those hungry folks overseas and give thanks for beautiful weather and just about anything other than what I’m facing. I’d rather clean my room and pay my taxes and wash the car than sit down and work through the hard things in my life.
“But if I’m praying about it– and I mean really praying about it, entering into an honest face-to-face with God about it– then I can’t duck it. It’s right out there to be dealt with. If you think you’re really praying about something, but then find yourself just letting it lie once your prayer time is over … well, then you’re just playing at prayer.”
She was quiet a minute and I asked her if she’d been praying about her issue. And she said yes. And I asked her what else she was doing, and she started listing all the things she was doing – calling this person, compiling that information, checking off her possibilities and to-do list.
We decided that maybe all that praying was informing those things she was doing, what she considered “real action.” It was real action all right, but action that followed prayer – it came out of that prayer, it was a result of that prayer.
I think she was getting it. She was getting it right. She was getting her priorities in order by asking God directly for help in her life. By wrestling with an issue with God on her side. By telling God, “I’m going to work on this, but I can’t do all the heavy lifting by myself.” She was getting it right.
I sometimes get it right, but not nearly often enough. My friend won’t always get it right. You won’t always get it right.
When we fail, we’re probably trying to do it all alone. When we get it right, we’re asking someone else to help take up that load– asking Jesus to walk beside us, to be in conversation with us, to remind us that we are not alone.
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother James, and Salome brought spices, so that they might go and anoint the body of Jesus.
I’m gratified to see from Scripture that one Mary or the other had not sighed, rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t worry, I guess I’ll just take care of it myself.” They were together
As they walked on that morning toward the tomb, they began wondering aloud, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”
That strikes me as important. Maybe it’s just a throwaway line, meant to set up the reader for the coming surprise. But I’m struck by what they say: “Who will roll away the stone for us?”
This is something important, don’t you think? It’s a bit like heading off to the cemetery with the casket and saying, “Hmm, I wonder who will dig the grave for us?” This is a major effort, not something these three women could handle themselves. Perhaps in their grief, they simply didn’t think of such details.
Have you ever seen a picture of an ancient Middle Eastern tomb and the stone that would cover the entrance? One method was to cut a large stone wheel– taller than a man– and position it so that when you pulled out the block, it would easily roll down across the entrance. Moving it again– well, that was easier said than done.
But on they went, Salome and the two Marys; on they went to the tomb, assured that it would work out.
I don’t know if they prayed on it. I do know that in the time after the crucifixion, they would have been in prayer. Prayer for understanding of what had happened to their beloved friend. Prayer for the power to make it through this horrible time of grief. And prayer that they would– somehow, someday – be reunited with Jesus.
All I know is that St. Mark the Evangelist tells us that these women did not make this particular problem a stumbling block. He says they knew what needed to be done, would do it together, and then– if there were any problems, such as that large stone, they would seek help.
They would not do all the heavy lifting themselves. To their surprise, and perhaps in response to their prayer, the stone had been rolled away. Had it been rolled away by the young man in the white robe? By Jesus himself?
It didn’t matter. Not really.
The stone had been rolled away. The heavy lifting had been done. Jesus was there once again, to walk and talk with them, to guide them on their way. To continue their conversation – now face to face, tomorrow in glory.
A conversation in prayer. Prayer that will help to lift our burdens today, and tomorrow, to lift us up to see him face-to-face in glory.
Amen.
April 11, 2009
Mark 16:1-8
I started out Holy Week a little under the weather, which is not the way you want to start Holy Week if you’re a priest.
Deacon Stan, who quietly keeps an eye on what I’m up to around here, gently suggested that perhaps if I didn’t try to do too much and do it all single-handedly, then maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t wear myself out and be so susceptible to every little bug that comes around.
Well I say that clearly the man’s a lunatic and can’t be trusted.
Or maybe, just maybe, he could have a point there.
Do you know someone like that? Are you someone like that? Someone who thinks you have to do all the heavy lifting, all alone, without help?
Many of us reach that point, but from different approaches. Some give a theatrical sigh, say “Oh don’t worry, I’ll just take care of it myself” and then do alone what we probably could have gotten others to help us out with. Sometimes that comes from getting insufficient help one too many times.
But sometimes it comes from drawing the wrong conclusions from one or two bad experiences– you’ve probably heard someone curse how badly a delegated task was performed and declare, “Well, I guess if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.”
That’s a pretty wrong-headed conclusion, but one that folks often come to. It comes from a lack of trust, sometimes from an inability to communicate well, and very often from an overdeveloped sense of self-worth.
Then there are those who simply don’t get around to asking anybody to help, who just dive into things and take on too much and– well, somebody eventually ends up unhappy. It’s not always intentional with folks like this, but the result is the same– we put ourselves, our own needs, and our own powers at the center of our lives. Other people, their talents and the offerings of their lives – not on our radar.
We want to do the heavy lifting ourselves. All by ourselves.
A friend recently talked to me about a situation in her life and said she’d been advised to pray about that situation. She said to me, “Praying is fine, but it seems like I ought to be doing something about it.”
I told her, “Well, you are doing something about it..”
I said, “By praying, you are keeping it on your agenda – spiritually and logistically. Every day, when you say prayers, you raise it up to God and to yourself.
“And remember that prayer isn’t one-way; it’s a conversation with God. By inviting God into the process, you’re taking responsibility, but you’re also admitting that you cannot do this 100 percent by yourself.”
She said I was starting to make sense, which surprised her! But it wasn’t enough. It didn’t sound enough like real action.
So I said, “I don’t know about you, but when I’m facing a hard issue in my life, I’d much rather pray about those hungry folks overseas and give thanks for beautiful weather and just about anything other than what I’m facing. I’d rather clean my room and pay my taxes and wash the car than sit down and work through the hard things in my life.
“But if I’m praying about it– and I mean really praying about it, entering into an honest face-to-face with God about it– then I can’t duck it. It’s right out there to be dealt with. If you think you’re really praying about something, but then find yourself just letting it lie once your prayer time is over … well, then you’re just playing at prayer.”
She was quiet a minute and I asked her if she’d been praying about her issue. And she said yes. And I asked her what else she was doing, and she started listing all the things she was doing – calling this person, compiling that information, checking off her possibilities and to-do list.
We decided that maybe all that praying was informing those things she was doing, what she considered “real action.” It was real action all right, but action that followed prayer – it came out of that prayer, it was a result of that prayer.
I think she was getting it. She was getting it right. She was getting her priorities in order by asking God directly for help in her life. By wrestling with an issue with God on her side. By telling God, “I’m going to work on this, but I can’t do all the heavy lifting by myself.” She was getting it right.
I sometimes get it right, but not nearly often enough. My friend won’t always get it right. You won’t always get it right.
When we fail, we’re probably trying to do it all alone. When we get it right, we’re asking someone else to help take up that load– asking Jesus to walk beside us, to be in conversation with us, to remind us that we are not alone.
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother James, and Salome brought spices, so that they might go and anoint the body of Jesus.
I’m gratified to see from Scripture that one Mary or the other had not sighed, rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t worry, I guess I’ll just take care of it myself.” They were together
As they walked on that morning toward the tomb, they began wondering aloud, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”
That strikes me as important. Maybe it’s just a throwaway line, meant to set up the reader for the coming surprise. But I’m struck by what they say: “Who will roll away the stone for us?”
This is something important, don’t you think? It’s a bit like heading off to the cemetery with the casket and saying, “Hmm, I wonder who will dig the grave for us?” This is a major effort, not something these three women could handle themselves. Perhaps in their grief, they simply didn’t think of such details.
Have you ever seen a picture of an ancient Middle Eastern tomb and the stone that would cover the entrance? One method was to cut a large stone wheel– taller than a man– and position it so that when you pulled out the block, it would easily roll down across the entrance. Moving it again– well, that was easier said than done.
But on they went, Salome and the two Marys; on they went to the tomb, assured that it would work out.
I don’t know if they prayed on it. I do know that in the time after the crucifixion, they would have been in prayer. Prayer for understanding of what had happened to their beloved friend. Prayer for the power to make it through this horrible time of grief. And prayer that they would– somehow, someday – be reunited with Jesus.
All I know is that St. Mark the Evangelist tells us that these women did not make this particular problem a stumbling block. He says they knew what needed to be done, would do it together, and then– if there were any problems, such as that large stone, they would seek help.
They would not do all the heavy lifting themselves. To their surprise, and perhaps in response to their prayer, the stone had been rolled away. Had it been rolled away by the young man in the white robe? By Jesus himself?
It didn’t matter. Not really.
The stone had been rolled away. The heavy lifting had been done. Jesus was there once again, to walk and talk with them, to guide them on their way. To continue their conversation – now face to face, tomorrow in glory.
A conversation in prayer. Prayer that will help to lift our burdens today, and tomorrow, to lift us up to see him face-to-face in glory.
Amen.
posted by Michael+ at 5:09 PM
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