Sermon for Easter Sunday 2022 - The Last Spike

GOSPEL: Luke 24:1-12

The holy gospel according to Luke.

Glory to you, O Lord.

1On the first day of the week, at early dawn, [the women] came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they went in, they did not find the body. 4While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. 6Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” 8Then they remembered his words, 9and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

About 7 years ago, 

my family and I went on a vacation to Kelowna. 

We went for a leisurely hike 

at the Myra Canyon Kettle Valley Trail.

It is a glorious place up in the mountains

where the railroad used to be. 

The location of the railroad moved, 

but the trail was salvaged, 

and turned it into a walking/hiking/biking trail, 

with many trestles to walk across. 

My son, Toby, and I found this railroad spike. 

This was a rare find, 

at least according to the people we asked about it. 

What a souvenir! 

It is rusty and dirty, 

but I’ll never forget that trip because of it. 

As we walked along the trail, 

holding this heavy, rusty spike, 

I started thinking about Jesus.

I began to wonder about the cross. 

I wondered if this was about the size of spike 

they drove into Jesus’ hands. 

I took the spike, and began pressing it into my hand. 

Harder, and harder I pushed, 

and you can’t just push this kind of spike 

through your skin. 

It’s not like a COVID vaccine needle 

that effortlessly glides into the arm.

It takes serious violent force 

to pound a nail like this through bone, 

let alone flesh. 

On Good Friday, we held nails in our hands,

not this big,

but big enough,

sharp enough,

uncomfortable enough.

We joined the crowds in shouting Crucify, Crucify him!

And we left our nail at the cross,

for we too are guilty.

As I held the nail, I wondered,

Could I pound a spike or nail like this 

into someone’s hand? 

Could you? 

But the Roman soldiers did this all the time. 

They would be practiced. 

They knew how much force it would take 

to drive the spike through

without hesitation. 

It was their job to nail rebels and zealots to crosses 

to warn others not to cross the empire. 

When the soldiers drove spikes like these into Jesus, 

it was such a warning. 

This Jesus of Nazareth would be silenced. 

His followers and his enemies 

would see his suffering, 

they would see his blood, 

they would see his laboured breathing 

and cries of agony, 

and the Jesus movement would stop dead in its tracks. 

His followers would leave and go back to fishing

and tax collecting. 

The people would move on, 

Pax Romana would rule once more. 

The sting of death would silence this Jesus movement. 

And to be doubly sure, 

Matthew’s gospel tells us that extra guards 

were sent to guard the tomb. 

There would be no trickery, 

no tomfoolery, 

no deception. 

Jesus of Nazareth, 

with spikes in his hands 

and a crown of thorns on his brow is dead. 

“Hail, king of the Jews.”

But our God had other plans. 



You can drive a spike like this into the flesh of God, 

but it wont hold God down.

You can kill love and vulnerability 

and healing and truth on a Roman cross,

but it wont hold God down.

You can lay Jesus of Nazareth in a sealed tomb 

roll a giant stone in front,

secure it with a Roman Guard

but it will not stop 

God from doing what God does.

Our God does not quit despite contrary evidence

My friends - today is the day the Lord has made,

the eight day of creation,

the third day that Jesus promised,

after the long night,

the Son has risen.

Jesus rose from the grave. 

The tomb is empty. 

The Jesus movement is not over. 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! 

Christ is risen, indeed! 

No amount of violent force, 

nor rusty spike, 

nor Roman torture device 

nor armoured guard and giant stone

can stop our God.

We are baptized into Christ. 

We are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. 

We have the gift of new life. 

We have the hope that our death is not our end. 

What dies is our old sinful selves, 

and what rises is new life in Christ. 

We are God’s beloved children - now and always

because God says so. 

Oh Death, where is your sting?

Oh Hell, where is your victory?

For Christ is arisen and we shall arise, 

Give God the glory, alleluia! 

This particular vacation was a memorable one. 

But it had to end. 

I remember the drive home well, 

even though we had driven it many times before.

Each time we have driven along the Trans-Canada highway, 

I notice a spot called “The Last Spike” 

at Craigellachie - not far from Revelstoke. 

It was November 7th, 1885 

that the last spike was driven, 

completing the Canadian Pacific Railway. 

It is a symbol of national unity for Canadians

amidst a backdrop of natural disaster, 

financial crisis, 

and the hard work and deaths 

of many immigrant workers.

Driving past the monument, 

I picked up the railroad spike:

I had left it in the cup holder. 

I held it tight. 

That last railroad spike is symbolic. 

Canada was connected from coast to coast,

the railway was finished!

But that last spike did not end the work on the railroad. 

I used to live close to a very busy railway line

in Stony Plain,

I had many long waits at the rail crossing,

and, let me tell you:

The railroad is always under construction. 

There’s always ongoing work to keep the railroad running.

As I held the spike, 

I thought again about Jesus.

That last spike driven into Jesus’ hands 

did not end the Jesus movement. 

The empty tomb 

was not the end of God’s work. 

It was a new beginning.

God is still bringing about resurrection. 

God is still bringing people from death back to life;

and this is no idle tale!

Let no one fear death, 

for the Death of our Saviour has set us free.
Christ has destroyed death by enduring death.
Christ destroyed Hell when He descended into it.

He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.

O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!

We can drive a spikes of hate, shame, and guilt, 

into God’s people

but it wont hold God down.

We can roll a giant stone of bitterness and anger

between us and others,

but it wont hold God down.

We can suffocate love and vulnerability 

and healing and truth 

in the lives of God’s people

but it wont hold God down.

We might find ourselves feeling 

dead in a tomb of emptiness and fear,

but it will not stop our God 

from doing what God does.

Our God does not quit despite contrary evidence

The Jesus movement is not dying,

despite evidence of the opposite.

The empire that coerces and violates

does not win,

Christ has won the battle, victoriously. 

The work on the cross is finished,

but our God is not done.

God is still bringing about resurrection. 

God is still bringing you from death back to life.

Thanks be to God! Alleluia!