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The story is certainly familiar. It should be -- fully one-quarter of the material we have in the gospels is dedicated to it. In the pre-dawn darkness of the first day of the week, some of Jesus' most devoted friends -- women -- made their way to the garden of Joseph of Arimathea, to the tomb where their Lord had been laid after being taken down from the cross. The embalming process had begun on Friday afternoon, but, because of sabbath restrictions against work, it could not be finished until now. So here are the women, ready to complete their somber task.

Foolish women. What about the stone? In front of the opening to the tomb was a groove in the ground; and in the groove ran a huge stone, circular like a cartwheel; and the stone had been wheeled into position to close the opening. In fact, the authorities had actually sealed that stone to make sure that no one would move it. What's that you say? The stone was rolled away? Yes. As we say, the story is familiar.

A church school teacher has told of an Easter pageant she staged with her class. When it came time to assign parts, some children wanted to be soldiers, others the women at the tomb, still others the apostles. One little boy, however, insisted on playing the stone that was used to block the door of the tomb. No speaking part? "No," said the little boy, "I want to be the stone." The teacher asked why. "Because it will feel so good to let Jesus out of the tomb." Smart kid.

Have you ever wondered about that stone? A stone is a stone is a stone. Big deal. Yes, this one was a big deal -- probably a couple hundred pounds ... more than the average woman (or even two or three) could move. The Easter story says many things, and one of them is that our God, in addition to everything else, is in the business of "rolling stones."

Newsweek magazine (3/2/99) reported in a cover story concerning the continuing influence of Jesus, the response to a question posed by a survey: "Do you believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead after dying on the cross?" 88% of Christians said, "Yes"; 32% of non-Christians also said, "Yes"! Almost one-third! What should we make of that? Perhaps that folks who have seen one miracle after another in the world of quantum physics and microprocessors are less astounded at the fact of physical resurrection than we might suppose. The new question then becomes, "So what?" Does Jesus' resurrection have anything to do with me? Can it fill my emptiness and dry my tears? Can it change my life?

The answer may be as near as that stone, the one that is stopping you from really living. That big stone.

Does your stone have a name? Perhaps it is guilt. Something you have done or failed to do is haunting you. The first disciples must have felt it ... they had let Jesus down horribly. But Easter came and the stone was rolled away. Is your stone named guilt? Lord, come again, and roll away the stone.

Perhaps your stone is fear. The first disciples felt it ... cowering behind closed doors. But Easter came and rolled that stone away, too ... opening the path to a fearless faith. Is your stone named "fear"? Lord, come again, and roll away the stone.

Perhaps your stone is weakness, something that has taken control of you that will not let loose. Yes, the disciples felt helpless and hopeless, too. But Easter came and rolled it away and they were remarkably changed. Is your stone named "weakness"? Lord, come again, and roll away the stone.

Your stone may have many names. The good news of this resurrection morning is that our God is a God of rolling stones. Lord, come again, and roll away the stone.