20th April 25

Sermon for Easter Sunday – 20.4.25

I read this story recently from Our Daily Bread; A man named Hidesaburō Ueno taught at Tokyo’s Imperial University in the 1920s. Every afternoon, he returned on the 3.00 p.m. train to find his dog, Hachiko (Akito), waiting for him. One day Professor Ueno suffered a cerebral haemorrhage during class and died. When he didn’t get off the afternoon train, Hachiko lingered a while then went home. The dog returned the next day at 3.00, and the next day, and the day after that, for ten years. (Akito's) Hachiko’s loyalty touched the hearts of many people who came to sit with him. Our equivalent in Scotland is Greyfriars Bobby. The title of the reflection was called Good Grief.

Think about those words, good grief…an expression that some people use when they are astonished by something…good grief, what are you thinking of!

Is there such a thing as good grief?

On my last Sunday here at Cadder, should I be speaking of good grief?

Well, today of all days, we can say good grief because as Jesus rises from dead, it becomes good grief in more than one way.

The disciples were astonished at the news of his resurrection and one can hear them say, good grief!

Later on, that day we discover that they were overjoyed as they met together and Jesus appeared in the room coming through a closed door, and suddenly it was good grief. Their sadness turned to joy.

Two men, that same day, were walking back to Emmaus and they were in the midst of dark grief, their hearts were heavy, and they were heart broken, until a stranger walked with them, and then at the end of the walk, as they invited the stranger into the home, they are suddenly filled with good grief, and they said, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as we walked on the way with him”.

What is the common denominator in turning grief into good grief? – it is Jesus who turns their sadness into joy; it is Jesus who turns our grief from darkness to light. It is Jesus who makes us say Good Grief.

One of the privileges that I've had since coming to Cadder, is to be with some of you in the midst of your grief; at your lowest ebb of life, you have said these words, with the disciples, good grief, as you deal with the passing of your loved one; But I've seen your journey and it is a journey of good grief, because like the disciples, you don’t travel alone but you know that God is in your grief.

In our OT reading from 2 Kings 2; we encounter the prophet Elijah and his understudy Elisha and Elisha knew that Elijah was departing from this world that very day, and so he did everything to stay as close to him as he could. He wanted to hold onto him, just as the disciples wanted to hold on to Jesus, as long as they could; but Elijah tries to cut the ties gently, but Elisha was having none of this, and like Ruth who said to her mother-in-law, ¹⁶ “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. ¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

Elisha was similarly committed to his master, Elijah. On the day Elisha knew he would lose him, Elisha refused to let him out of his sight. Then a whirlwind whisked Elijah to heaven. Elisha cried out at what he saw: “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” (2 Kings 2:12). He picked up Elijah’s cloak, the symbol of the prophet’s power that had parted the Jordan moments earlier (v. 8), and asked, “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” (v. 14). He struck the water, which parted as it had for his master. What a bittersweet day!

It's not easy going forward after someone we have loved is no longer with us. We encounter the heartbroken Elisha today who would not leave the side of his master Elijah.

But today we consider the theme of good grief and it comes in the form of what did they leave behind.

Elijah's cloak falls from the chariot to the ground and this symbolic of the spirit of God coming on Elisha. Elijah leaves behind his spirit. He gives Elisha the power to continue and that’s a wonderful thought for us this morning, after grief, what has been left behind; what did our loved ones leave for us?

Today we remember that Jesus came back to the disciples and he leaves with them some wonderful gifts.

Firstly, Jesus leaves his spirit. That same day, he breathes his spirit on each of the disciples. It is a moment just like Elisha's moment, as he picks up the cloak and puts it on – yes, it’s a good fit!

Jesus gives us his Spirit, to cope with life, to go forward without him and to live for his glory. We don’t do it alone!

Secondly, he says, peace be with you and he breathes on them.

This is God's gift to you and me; and of all days, Easter Sunday is a perfect day to receive God's gift of peace.

Let him turn your grief into good grief and let him fill your hearts with his peace, which the Bible tells us, passes all human understanding!

Easter Sunday is also a reminder that things change. Oh, how the disciples would have loved Jesus to stay longer! Three years is not a long time and understandably they were heartbroken. They had left everything to follow Jesus. They had left home, family and business – they had bought into his ministry – caught his vision – and they must have said to each other when he departed, good grief, what are we going to do now, and just like that he appears again, and turns their grief into good grief.

Have you lost someone you love? No words can do justice to your pain. Every sob releases memories of the love you shared. You hurt deeply because you loved deeply. How bittersweet! Thank God for this beloved person, and for your capacity to love. Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak. The disciples received Jesus' spirit, What might you do; what might you receive?

Perhaps today you can also say with the disciples, Good Grief! Jesus is with me!