April 8, 2007 ~ Easter Sunday
Luke 24:1-12

“Idle Tales”

I heard that the only reason that Sanjaya Malakar is still a contestant on American Idol is because there is a vast unspoken conspiracy amongst the television public to vote, not on the most talented or even likable contestants, but to keep only those that irritate the judges the most, and Sanjaya does that with flying colors! Sounds like an idle tale to me...

I also heard that the reason that the ratings for American Idol are down this year are either because of how bad Sanjaya is (according to the bloggers) OR because of the shift of daylight savings time to early March (according to the producers), which they say makes people want to stay out later and thus miss their show. Just sounds like an idle tale to me...

If that’s not enough, I heard Tony Bennet begged off of completing the week of American Idol that was, in part, a tribute to him because he felt he was getting dissed by the contestants. They would listen intently to his recommendations in the studio, and then sing with complete disregard for what he said when the show was taped. But, that too just sounds like an idle tale to me...

Idle tales or idol tales? “I-d-l-e” or “i-d-o-l”? Perhaps both!

What is an “idle tale?” As I have just used it, and as it is typically used today, it means “silly speculation,” “a foolish yarn,” or “baseless chatter.” But that’s not how it is used in our scripture today.

You recall that there are different versions of the resurrection account, depending upon which gospel you read. The lectionary offers us Luke’s account this year, and in it a group of women, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary (mother of James), arrive at the tomb to properly prepare Jesus’ body, an act that was previously interrupted because of the arrival of the Sabbath, when, according to religious rules, no more work could be done. Arriving at the tomb on the first morning after the Sabbath, thankful though perplexed that someone had already rolled the stone away, they found the body gone and two messengers, dazzling with light, gently reminded them of the very words of Jesus which predicted that he would be resurrected. Recognizing this to be consistent with what Jesus had, in fact, told them, they ran back to the other disciples, mostly the men, telling them of the good news.

Those who received the news were nonplused. “But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” It took Peter going to back the tomb and seeing for himself the discarded shroud and empty tomb before he realized the women were telling the truth. Leave it to Peter. He’s gotta jump right in, with everything he’s got, to try and get to the bottom of the dilemma. Leave it to Peter to question others until he experiences it for himself.

An idle tale. The Greek word is leros {lay’-ros} and is variously translated as “idle tales,” “idle talk,” or simply “nonsense.” I don’t think the guys actually believed the women were lying or deceiving them, but, rather, they were perhaps just mistaken, ill-informed, misled, or confused.

Thomas Long asks the question, “Why were the women not believed” “Why? The women have come with a revolutionary announcement, ‘He is risen!’ so why did the apostles dismiss the first news of Easter with a wave of the hand? Some have suggested that this initial Easter proclamation was poorly received because the messengers were women. ‘From women let not evidence be accepted,’ reads the [Jewish Commentary called the] Mishna, ‘because of the levity and temerity of their sex.’” (1) Another way of saying the same thing is that women shouldn’t be trusted with the truth because they are frivolous and presumptuous.

But I think this discounting of the women’s perspective is frivolous and presumptuous itself! I honestly don’t think Peter and the guys discounted the women’s report because it was silly or stupid. Rather, they discounted the women’s words as idle, as Luke uses it, because it was simply “too good to be true.” News that is just too good to be true may be dismissed as “an idle tale.” I think the news that Jesus had risen from the dead was just too good to be true. It was news every single one of them wanted to believe, yearned with all their heart, soul, and spirit to believe, had even promised Jesus they would believe, but could not let themselves believe because it would be too much.

What news have you almost missed because it was “too good to be true?”

If this idle tale the disciples were being told were true, it would mean that Jesus was right. If this idle tale were true, it would mean that they could never ever go back to the simple life they had had before. If this idle tale were true, it would mean that new life was possible just when they were beginning to get used to death.

Isn’t that the way it is with good news? We believe the bad stuff with zero evidence and enough spurious elements to make a private investigator go crazy, but we just can’t seem to trust good news – even if it’s staring us in the face.

But the Bible is chock full of news too good to be true. Do you think all of the Hebrew people accepted the news on that first Passover that they would be marching out of Egypt free men and women? Do you think the Israelites in exile in Babylon easily accepted the news that they would be going home to live again? The birth of Jesus was as in-credible as it got, with Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth & Zacharias, Simeon, and Anna all hearing the news with some level of skepticism.

But not just “back then,” but in our day, also. People must have thought it was an idle tale the first time they heard that a cure for polio had been found.

People must have thought it was an idle tale the first time they heard humankind could fly into space, and walk on the moon, and come back in one piece.

People must have thought it was an idle tale the first time they heard that the Berlin Wall was coming down and Germany would once again be reunited.

Why is it, sisters and brothers, that we are so willing to believe in “i-d-o-l tales,” stories that are either negative or stupid and so eager to discount “i-d-l-e tales” about Good News that seems too good to be true. Why is it, sisters and brothers, that are we willing to “idolize” the cynical, the evil, the pointless, the silly, the mean, the inane, the cruel, the bad, the bland in our world which only drags us down to a sad cesspool with it, while at the very same time minimizing and belittling the Good News we long for, the good news of resurrection, renewal, and new life which is God-given and life-transforming?

What keeps you from believing the Good News God has for you?

I think I know why, and you do, too. Probably for the very same reasons the rest of the disciples didn’t want to believe at first the news of Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary. Most of our resistence comes out of our fears: fear of this thing called death that seems to be our constant lot as living beings; fear of what will be expected of us if this good news is true; fear of failure and thus disappointing Jesus; fear of success and thus being in the spotlight; fear of having to leave behind the comfort of misery and friends and family who are stuck in cynicism, negativity, and despair; fear that we will be called to share this Good News with others who are just as stubborn as we were.

But our fears fade away when the resurrected Christ comes back into our lives and lovingly reminds us of the words he told us before he left: we don’t have to do this alone, for he will be with us always.

This is a day of resurrection, beloved, and the women have come from the tomb of death and despair to tell us that something amazing has happened. They speak of something beyond our wildest dreams which has occurred, something which, if we were honest, is the very thing we have hoped for. Jesus is alive, but he will not make it onto television’s “American Idol” nor should we expect news of his resurrection to make it onto any of the countless internet chats, message boards, or blogs. It is, in so many respects, an “idle tale,” but only if we let it be. Only our fears, left in place, unquestioned, can make this an idle tale.

Our idol is Jesus Christ, but stories of his power and love are not idle. Jesus Christ is alive, and with him are raised new hopes for all of us to find new life. Seems too good to be true? That’s okay. It’s true, anyway. We must not let that stop us from living the Good News and proclaiming it to others. Remember: “Every day is a new chance for Resurrection!”

Amen

(1) “Empty Tomb, Empty Talk” Thomas G. Long, The Christian Century, 2001. Religion Online.

Rev. Allen V. Harris
Franklin Circle Christian Church
www.FranklinCircleChurch.org


 

Copyright 2007 -- The Rev. Allen V. Harris

Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

1688 Fulton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113-3096