GOOD THINKING: WHO WILL ROLL THE STONE AWAY?

It was crisp and cold as they hurried along. The sun was peeking over the horizon, painting the fleecy clouds shades of orange and pink and violet. The cemetery was just over the hill; dark shadows still filled this place of death. The women were talking, faster and louder than usual; they were cold, they were nervous, they were afraid. One they loved had died a tragic, horrible death. Now they must do their duty and embalm his body. But Roman soldiers had rolled a huge stone across the front of the tomb; it had taken six burly men to move it. So, how were they going to move that stone so that they could enter the tomb and finish their task? "Who will roll away the stone?"

Life is full of stones, huge, heavy boulders that block our way, keep us from living the good life, that smother us and bury us beneath their weight. "Who will roll away these stones?" Like the women, we are powerless to move the stones from our lives; we feel helpless and hopeless.

Life is full of stones!

One of these huge stones has FEAR written all across it. The women were afraid of the dark; the shadows seemed like monsters reaching out to grab them. The women were afraid of failure. How could they face the others; how could they admit that they had failed to finish their task? The women were afraid of being hurt. "What if the soldiers are still there? What if they harass us and hurt us? Worse yet, what if the Jewish authorities are there and threaten us? What if ..." Finally, the women were afraid of death. Death means the loss of everything we treasure, everything we've worked for; death means the loss of life. Death is an unknown. Death terrifies us.

A second stone, just as large, is labeled UNCERTAINTY. When Jesus was with us, we knew that they would protect us and guide us, and help us. Now they're dead and gone. Nothing is certain any more. There's no one we can depend on, no one we can trust. And everything we've believed in is being questioned. We're afraid! We're not sure of anything!

Another insurmountable stone is the stone of LOSS. We believed that Jesus was the Promised One, the One who would save us. Now he has lost his life; and we have lost our hope. If I lose this job, I don't know what we'll do? If I don't get that scholarship, I have no future. If I lose her love, I can't go on. If I lose him in death, I don't want to live either.

Finally, we must face the stone of ANGER. How could Jesus build up our hopes and then let us down? How could a loving God allow such a tragedy? If I had only said something or done something, maybe he would be alive. I'll get those Romans if it's the last thing I do! I'll find a way to get even with Pilate and Caiphas and the rest!

Who's going to roll these stones away? We can't! Like the women, we are too weak. We feel so helpless. We feel so hopeless. There's nothing we can do.

Who's going to roll away the stones from our lives? It's already been done! The women found that the power of God had already removed the stone! What they could not do, God had already done for them! God will do the same for you and me! The power of God will roll away the stones of FEAR, UNCERTAINTY, LOSS, and ANGER. And once the stones are rolled away, we are free to live life to the fullest. All praise be to God.