The Stone Was Rolled Away
let's not pick up stones that Jesus has rolled away
Friends.
I want to leave our “Drop the Stones” series of posts with a short and simple idea for this Easter Sunday.
Now.
I used to be a preacher way back in the day (as if I’m so old, HA!); and so I would stand up in front of a crowd every Sunday to give a talk I spent 20-30 hours preparing the week before.
And, yes - I would spend 20-30 hours.
I had a professor in seminary who said every minute of a sermon requires 1 hour of study and so I took that quite literally and loved every minute of it, really. I would sit in Starbucks or Barnes and Noble with my books or sit in the seminary library digging through commentaries.
As hard as my pastoring days were (read more about in my new book!), I absolutely loved diving into the Bible, coming across some nugget of wisdom to share, and crafting a message that would (hopefully) challenge, inspire, and help make the world a better place.
Now.
Sometimes today I will look back on some of the things I preached about and cringe.
After all.
Back then?
Yeah. I still believed in hell, was kinda on the fence about “the Rapture”, thought being LGBTQ was a sin, etc.
But.
Sometimes? Sometimes today I’ll read a passage from the Bible and my brain will immediately go into “sermon mode” where I’ll start to put a sermon together in my mind and think about what to say and how to say it in a way that will inspire, challenge, and help make the world a better place.
That happened to me last week when I re-read the story of Jesus’ Resurrection.
As the story goes, Jesus was crucified on Friday and dead in the tomb on Saturday only to roll away the stone on Sunday to re-enter the world anew.
That phrase, though.
That idea?
Of … “rolling away the stone” to “re-enter the world anew”.
It struck me because over the last few weeks we’ve been talking about different “stones” we tend to throw at people who are different than us or think, believe, vote, etc. differently than we do …
… and as I thought back on these stones and thought back on the story of Jesus’ Resurrection, I got this image in my head of Jesus or God or the Divine or the Universe or whatever picking up all these stones that you and I have been trying to drop over the course of Lent and “rolling them away” so that you and I can “re-enter the world anew”.
And so my challenge for myself today (and you, if you’ve been traveling this road with me) - my challenge is for us to not pick up stones that Jesus has rolled away.
Let’s quit being so certain about absolutely everything.
Let’s quit seeing ourselves as separate and different from those who think differently than we do.
Let’s stop being so quick to cancel people who say something, believe something, or do something that doesn’t align with our values.
Let’s stop assuming the absolute worst of “those people” who think or believe or vote so much differently than we do.
Let’s stop expecting everyone to think, believe, vote, and live like we do.
We spent 5 weeks dropping these stones and now as we enter into the months of Spring and Summer, let’s imagine Jesus reaching down to roll the stones away and inviting us to live our lives anew, as people who …
Are curious of ideas that are different than our own.
Are connected to everyone and everything.
Don’t feel the need to be swept away by cancel culture.
Aim to see the best in people.
Embrace diversity - not just diversity of skin color or sexuality, but diversity of thought, religion, belief, voting choices, etc.
… and maybe (just maybe?)? Maybe this will help make our small part of the world a little bit of a better, more gentle place to be.
Thanks for joining me over these last 5 weeks.
Much love to you.
Glenn || SUPPORT / ART STUDIO
PS - here are some books I’m finding helpful for these moments:
Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Nhat Hanh
The Tears of Things by Richard Rohr
The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism by Bernard McGinn
Thanks, Glenn. This series is challenging and so helpful. 💜
So good Glenn! Thank you!