Who has the last word in your household? When there’s a disagreement or a decision to be made, whose voice is the last to be heard? Is it yours or another? I have to say in my house this is an easy question to answer. With two vocal and strong-willed children, it is hard enough to get in a word, let alone to have the last word. And then when I do, my five year old tends to put her hands over her ears and to say: ‘Dad, I’m not listening!’

Well, I share this with you, not because I’m in desperate need of parental help, not yet anyway; but because today, Easter Day, is all about the last word.

You see, a couple of days ago some of us were at St Ronan’s. It was Good Friday, God’s Friday, and there we experienced a service that left many of us speechless. Having entered the darkest of days, the day when the violent cries of the crowds shouted ‘crucify him’, we watched as a Bible was lifted up high, and we heard the words, the last words, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was crucified.’

Then the Bible, that sacred text bearing witness to the Word, was wrapped in a blood-stained cloth and placed on a cross. And we left the church in silence.

It was a powerful statement to make, but even more so when you consider how it was not so long ago we celebrated Jesus’ birth, the Incarnate Word. On that occasion, John’s Gospel was again read: ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’. And in one most vulnerable, a babe born in a stable in Bethlehem, we dared to say that God had come among us; and we made the claim, a bold claim, God, whose nature is inexpressible, who is beyond all human description, spoke in a language we could now understand.

In Jesus, we said, the Word became flesh, and the fullness of God’s life, God’s love, was revealed to all… at least to those who have ears to hear!

Then, just the other day, on Good Friday, we heard the Word was crucified!

A quick search of the Scriptures shows God is seldom lost for words. In Genesis, God speaks and the world comes into being. ‘Let there be light’ God says, and there’s light. ‘Let there be dry land amidst the waters’ and the earth appears. ‘Let there be people made in God’s image’, and we’re formed.

And it’s not only in creation we hear God’s voice. In the Old Testament God speaks to individuals; God speaks to Moses and David and the prophets. And when God speaks, things happen; a people is called into being, laws are inscribed on stone, and judgement is pronounced on those who act unjustly.

But it’s because of this, because the Word of God makes things happen, the thought of the Word crucified is one I find frightening. When God’s Word is silenced does the world cease to be, does a sense of morality and justice disappear, and does the darkness of the night and of our own lives consume us? Is Jesus’ death the last word in God’s story, or is there more to come?

I think we’re all aware of the destructive power of words. A coded word on a radio station led to the slaughter of thousands of Tutsis and the division of a country. The misunderstood words of a religious leader led in recent days to the fears and prejudices of English society being exposed. And the careless words of an adult can scar a child for life. But we also know words can bring life. One has only to think of words spoken by a friend in a time of despair or crisis; or those encouraging others to give of their best; or of an agreement signed between nations enabling people to move forward in peace.

So, yes, we know well words do have the power to give life and to take it away. The problem is on Good Friday, the last word seems to be that of the world. The violent and destructive words of a crowd led to an innocent being hung on a cross. The Word was crucified. And we are left lost for words.

But let me tell you the good news. That was Friday, it is now Sunday. And on this day, Easter Day, we recall how a woman named Mary, a friend of Jesus, went to his tomb. She went in the silence of the morning and finds the stone rolled away. She’s confused and distressed; and like many of us, she tries to rationalize what has happened. She runs to the disciples. ‘Someone has taken his body’ she says. And later, on seeing a person she thinks is the gardener, she pleads with him ‘please tell me where you have laid the body’.
But then the risen Christ speaks. The Word crucified speaks her name and she recognizes him. In the beginning God speaks and the world comes into being. Now the Word speaks again and life is restored. The last word is God’s. In the resurrection of Jesus, God speaks one last time. Shattering the deathly silence of the cross and the empty tomb, and all the powers of darkness and death and destruction the world can muster. The Word is out.

And what’s left is our response. Will we raise our hands to our ears and try not to hear, ‘Dad, I’m not listening’, or will we let the life and love of God penetrate our innermost being, etching a new song on our hearts, a yes to a life that cannot be exhausted? For today the risen Christ speaks our name, your name. He calls us into being as a people of God; a people whose way is the cross of Christ, whose word is love, and whose hope is in God alone.

John tells us Mary doesn’t cling to Jesus. Instead she does what Jesus commands. She returns to the disciples and is the first to declare her faith in the risen Lord. The message gets out. And in doing this she sets an example for us all. Having heard our name, spoken by the one who loves us without condition, and trusting in the one who gives us life, we too must not be silent.

We must speak out and bring life to our world.

Let the last word be God’s…
Alleluia! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

A sermon preached at St Alban’s on Easter Day 2008 by The Ven. Damon Plimmer
(Acts 10:23-34; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-18)

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