Whitestarhaven's Ramblings: Roll Away Your Stone

An empty cave, in and of itself, is nothing to write home about. But emptiness, in the place of death, is big news. Drawing out that imagery, there are many ways to explore how our context leads us to seek life in places of death. We may dwell in that which “once was” or might have been; we place our faith in fallible systems; and/or we attach too much value to things that aren’t alive (like electronic devices . . .).

It leads me to ask this question: how long will we seek life in the places of death? How long will we continue to explore the cultural “narrows” of our society that do not lead to life. How long will some of our churches explore the narrows that have been dismissed as non-life giving like some theories from the Reformation such as Zwingli’s which added to a form of Puritanism is passed off as Evangelical by some here in Sydney.

Ultimately, it seems to me that it is a human nature things that will lead us to cling to things like outdated theology that can’t give us life. Easter is the reminder to shed the empty shells that weigh us down and embrace the emptiness itself. In that darkness, in that mystery, miracles happen. That is the true story. I find the lyrics of the song “Roll Away Your Stone,” by Mumford & Sons, helpful and sums up what I want to say well. The words are as follows:

Roll away your stone I will roll away mine

Together we can see what we will find
Don't leave me alone at this time
For I am afraid of what I will discover inside

You told me that I would find a home
Within the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal
And all the while my character it steals

And darkness is a harsh term don't you think
And yet it dominates the things I see

It seems that all my bridges have been burned
But you say 'That's exactly how this grace thing works'
It's not the long walk home that will change this heart
But the welcome I receive with every start

Darkness is a harsh term don't you think
And yet it dominates the things I see

Stars hide your fires
For these here are my desires
And I won't give them up to you this time around
And so I'll be found
With my stake stuck in this ground
Marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul

And you, you've gone too far this time
You have neither reason nor rhyme
With which to take this soul that is so rightfully mine

Further, if we were to hear Acts 10: 34-43 in the context of the resurrection scene, it would be like a cinematic flash forward from the empty tomb. We would go to the moment that Peter addresses the gathering at the home of Cornelius. This scene would be an address that points to Peter’s revelation that God does not pick favourites. Peter, despite his Jewish context, has reached the epiphany that even the Gentiles can be included in this new thing God is doing among them.

What journey led him from the first glimpse of the empty tomb to proclaiming such a radical truth to this little band of “church,” gathered in a friend’s home? That would be an interesting path to explore. That is an interesting path for us all to explore as we celebrate the Easter message and move forward in our lives.