Opinion Column

Roll back the stone for new beginnings

Andy Bryant encourages us to roll back any stones in our lives which restrict our walk with God this Easter time.

It is early on the first day of the week and the women that have faithfully followed Jesus throughout his ministry are making one last pilgrimage.  They are going to his grave to embalm his body with herbs and spices.  It is their last act of devotion, a private and personal farewell.
 
Beside their fear of the religious authorities, which is why they make this journey early in the morning, they face one other very significant practical problem.  How will they remove the large stone that has been rolled in front of the grave to seal it?  But when they arrive the stone has already been rolled back and they discover that the grave is empty.  Something stirs within them.
 
It will take time for them to realise the full significance of these events but the dawning of their awareness of the resurrection of their Lord and Saviour begins with the rolling back of the stone.
 
We all live our lives sealed behind a stone of assumptions that believes that life must be lived in a certain way, our assumptions of how things are ordered, of the priorities that matter most.  On that first Easter Day, the world view of those first disciples was turned upside down, all their certainties are turned inside out.  The end of everything had become the beginning of all things.
 
We all need to allow the stone that limits the love in our hearts, that reins in the imagination of our minds, that shackles our faith and trust, to be rolled back.  Easter says: let the stone be rolled back and start again, begin afresh, take a new path, be open to new possibilities.  Though we have known and endured the darkest hour on Good Friday, with God all things are possible, endings becomes beginnings, love cannot be defeated. 
 
God longs to roll back the stone in our lives, that we may discover life in all its fullness and discover a closer walk with God.

This article first appeared in Good News for Norwich and Norfolk.

The picture is courtesy of pixabay.com

The Revd Andrew Bryant is the Canon for Mission and Pastoral Care at Norwich Cathedral. He was previously Team Rector of Portishead, Bristol, in the Diocese of Bath and Wells, and has served in parishes in the Guildford and Lichfield Dioceses, as well as working for twelve years with Kaleidoscope Theatre, a charity promoting integration through theatre for young adults with Down’s Syndrome.
 
You can read Andrew's latest blog entry here and can follow him via his Twitter account @AndyBry3.

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