He Blew the Doors Off That Place!

The Holy Gospel According to St. Mark, the 16th Chapter

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone

for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Icons are an amazing gift we have from the Orthodox Christian tradition.  They are wonderful pieces of art for sure, but they’re way, way more than that.  In fact, icons are much, much less concerned with accurately representing what an event might have looked like and are way, WAY more concerned with communicating the deep, powerful meanings inside the stories of the faith.

For me, what a story MEANS is SO much more interesting and way more helpful to me than worrying about any one story’s literal details.  The details don’t really help me that much when I’m trying to make sense of my sometimes strange and sometimes wonderful and sometimes painful life.  Debating whether there were two angels at the empty tomb or just one doesn’t do anything but give me a headache.  BUT... looking deep into the powerful MEANINGS of these stories DO make a real difference in my life.  I know for me and for many others, the meanings of these stories of the faith have even meant the difference hope and despair or even the difference between life and death.  It’s the MEANING... the TRUTH inside of these stories that really matters!  

A Native American story teller once said, “I don’t know if it really happened this way or not, but I know that it’s TRUE!”  That’s what the writers of icons are concerned with as well.  What does this crazy, strange, wonderful story MEAN?  What is the TRUTH inside that will make a difference for my life?  How is this story going to help me make sense of this crazy world and my hectic life in the here and now?

Take out your bulletin and look at the picture on the front cover.  It’s an Easter icon... an icon of the Resurrection.  It follows a very traditional and ancient structure.  Clearly, they didn’t make it to pretend to be a photograph of the event.  Instead, it is painted, or “written” as they say in creating icons, to convey deep TRUTHS... to convey what the story of the resurrection MEANS!  

The big guy in the center of the picture... that’s Jesus.  He’s bigger than all the others and he’s robed in heavenly white and surrounded by that almond shaped oval that represents the Glory of God.  What all that MEANS is that Jesus has received God’s Divine stamp of approval!  What Jesus taught, how he lived, his faithfulness to his mission, his dedication to making this world work the way God wants it to work where everyone has enough... enough food, peace, shelter, self worth, and meaning... All who Jesus was and all who Jesus now IS has received God’s full, super official, holy, heavenly endorsement.  

The people Jesus is pulling up out of those two coffins on either side are Adam and Eve.  What this MEANS is that in Christ’s resurrection Jesus has pulled, not just Adam and Eve, but all the people Adam and Eve represent.  Jesus has pulled ALL of humanity... you, me, nutty uncle Joe... EVERYONE... past, present and future... out of death and into new life!  Now, look close and see HOW Jesus is pulling them out of death and into life.  He’s pulling them out of death by their wrists.  That’s really important!  You see, THEY didn’t grab hold of Jesus.  Jesus grabbed hold of THEM!  JESUS DID ALL THE WORK... Neither of them were even able to help... even just a little tiny bit!  Salvation, heaven, resurrection, new life, abundant life, life everlasting whatever you want to call it, is something that God in Christ has done TO us!  We play no part in getting our new life at all!  We can be thankful for it, we can respond to it and spread the joy that we get from it… and in the picture, Adam and Eve seem to like where they’re being pulled, but the choice, the work, the effort is none of ours... it’s ALL done by Christ!  To me, that's an amazing gift… because frankly, if it was left to me, I would no doubt, screw it up!  

Now, take a look at what Jesus is standing on.  Those are the doors to death... the doors to hell.  Notice that those doors are no longer on their hinges.  In some icons like this, there are even images of broken hinges and hardware scattered all over the place.  What this MEANS is that in Jesus’s death he went down there and on his way out, in Jesus’s resurrection, he blew the doors off of hell!  Those doors are now permanently broken, the hinges no longer work... this means that there is nothing keeping anyone, ANYONE trapped in hell, trapped in death, trapped in a place apart from God’s infinite and unconditional love any more! 

Now, look down at the bottom of the icon, into that hole in the ground.  In this icon there’s a dragon wrapped in chains, in other icons of the resurrection it’s a man bound in chains.  Either way, that’s the image of death, wrapped in chains and made powerless by Christ.  It’s interesting that even though death is powerless and the doors of hell have been blown off their hinges, hell still exists... the hole is still here.  For me the MEANING of this part of the icon is a painful truth.  That hole is the ground acknowledges that there are times and there are days where I find myself choosing to spend time in hell.  God doesn’t send me there.  There are no doors keeping me there and there is no power that can overcome me there. BUT, some days, I walk down there, sit in the pit and churn and burn and pout and spout.

We’ve all had those days... some of us have had those years!  Times when we find ourselves stewing in hate, bitterness, anger and resentment... that’s hell.  Times when we’re anxious and worried and filled with fear, that’s hell.  Times when we exclude others, tear people down or bully others to get our way, that’s hell.  We aren’t sent there, but the sad MEANING and the terrible TRUTH of that hole at the bottom of that icon, is that all too often we choose to go there and refuse the live the life God has pulled us out to live!  

The Good News is that is NOT where God wants us to be!  God WANTS us to LIVE out of that hole!  THAT is what God intends for all of creation… to really live, FILLED with LIFE... ALIVE with Christ, out of the pit, THIS is where God wants us to be and in this icon, nobody’s left in the hole!  Everyone is free!  Everyone is alive and living an abundant life filled with meaning, purpose and worth, completely and forever gathered into God’s infinite, loving embrace. 

THAT is the MEANING of Easter!  We ALL have been given, not just life, but ABUNDANT life!  It’s better than bunnies, baskets and even Cadbury Creme Eggs!  Each of you, and all of creation has been set free with God’s infinite love to really, really live!  May you embrace the TRUTH that you are completely and deeply loved by God, no matter who you are, what you've done or where you've been… you have been loved by God from death into LIFE!  May you go and spread the JOY of that… the MEANING of Easter in every place you go!  Amen.