Walking into the Unknown, Together (1) And I Hope

John 12:12-16
Sometimes, it’s hard to hope that it will be good. You know what I mean? 

Sometimes, when we look at all the broken bits and pieces, the clutter, the sorrow, the grief, the news, it’s hard to hope. 

When the women came running back, telling their story about how Jesus had been liberated from death and was alive, you know what the men said? The men told the women that their words of witness were garbage. That’s what it says in Greek. Garbage. 

Sometimes, when your stomach is full of sadness and your heart feels like a stone, it’s just too hard to hope for the good.

There are all sorts of reasons why we shut down hope. What are yours?

Peter responded differently. It was the possibility that made Peter run. The possibility that beyond the violence he had witnessed and the shame he felt and the horrible sadness in his stomach, Jesus was alive. He runs. He runs towards… hope. 

Have you ever let the possibility of something make you run towards hope? Can you think of a time when instead of shutting off your longings for life, you let them lead you towards life? 

“Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened”. Luke 24:12

That’s where we leave Peter today…wondering.

It’s a lovely pause in the storyline of Peter’s journey, his permission to not know, to just be in a place of wondering. His wondering was like a tiny green sprig of possibility, growing amidst the stones and sorrows of  his heart.

Peter’s wondering would one day become deep knowing. But today, in the early morning of Easter, Peter is in liminal space, walking away from an empty tomb, wondering. And that is enough for today. 

What might be waiting, beyond the sorrows we witness, beyond the sadnesses you carry in your heart? Even if you don’t want to run to the tomb yet, can you find wonder growing, a tiny green sprig amidst the stones and sorrow of your heart?

Deep peace and blessing,
Anne

Rev. Anne Baxter Smith
Pastor, Church at Southpoint