I recently heard another translation of this passage which makes complete sense and magnifies what the disciples were saying. "It's bulls**t!!" Not a bad descriptive and makes the point pretty clearly what the disciples were thinking and saying in response to this story the women were telling them. What are other descriptive we could use ... rubbish, crap, gibberish, malarkey, hooey!! All equally through provoking. To them is could only be fabricated and nonsense!
How many today have the same response? As human beings, if we can't understand, explain or prove something like the resurrection of Jesus, then how can we possibly believe it.
Our resurrection faith, though, isn't about knowledge or scientific proof. It is about faith and trust. And, our Easter belief comes from experiencing the power of the risen Christ in our own experiences of life and death when we have nothing else to hold on to that will get us through.
Maybe it's an illness we've been diagnosed with; the death of a loved one; losing a job because of the economy; struggling with an addiction; living with mental health disease; a relationship that has dissolved whether with a spouse, a child, a sibling or a long time friend. Often, through the gift of time and people who support us along the way, we come face to face with the resurrected Christ who inspires, heals, upholds, strengthens and offers us peace.
What a profound gift. And when we've experienced it, we know it is no idle tale. It is the truth that sees us through which we rejoice in and give thanks for.
We are an Easter people; we are a resurrection people with a resurrection faith!
This hymn is written to express our faith in what many see and hear as an idle tale. It is sung to a favorite hymn tune, Woodlands, with the meter 10 10 10 10.
My prayer is that each of us may know and believe the promise of God, that our Easter faith is no idle tail, not rubbish, crap, gibberish, malarkey, hooey or bulls**t. It is the core of what we believe and who we are as a people of the resurrection. Thanks be to God!! Alleluia!!
"An Idle Tale"
tune: Woodlands
meter: 10 10 10 10
An idle
tale, it never could be true
That Christ
was risen and was dead no more
The women
witness to a new world view
Good news of
hope, an answer to their prayer.
God’s message
clear, though challenged human thought
No explanation
could replace the doubt.
Death was
the end, no matter what he taught
This is what
life on earth is all about.
We live, we
die, and that’s what they believed
But God
would open up another way
All grief,
all death and sin would be relieved
Good news of
promise greet this glorious day.
Christ is
alive, he’s risen from the dead
No idle
tale! Alleluia!
New days of
promise wait the way ahead
The tomb is
empty, Alleluia!
Text: copyright, The Rev. Canon Mark Kinghan, 2015. Not to be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express written permission of the author.
