Gordon E. Ellis
March 27, 2005
I FIRST heard the term EASTER PEOPLE back in SEMINARY. One of my fellow students, AS he was leading worship, remarked: What the world needs NOW is MORE EASTER people -- more POSITIVE-THINKERS -- more OPTIMISTS! And THEN, he went on to tell a STORY in order to define what he MEANT by EASTER people. And THIS was the story: Once upon a time, there were TWIN boys whose parents became very CONCERNED about them because ONE was such a PESSIMIST, and the OTHER, such an OPTIMIST. And, no matter WHAT their parents DID, the boys would NOT change and become more REALISTIC. FINALLY, out of desperation, the parents TOOK their sons to a PSYCHIATRIST. Well, it didn't take the psychiatrist LONG to note that, indeed, ONE was an UNBELIEVABLE pessimist, and the OTHER, a DIE-HARD optimist. But he said to the parents, I have a SOLUTION for you! I will make all the preparations, and on SATURDAY, the boys will spend the morning HERE. SO, on Saturday the parents brought the twins BACK to the psychiatrist, who put the boys into SEPARATE rooms. The PESSIMIST was given a room FULL of the NEWEST, BEST, most EXPENSIVE toys on the market. The OPTIMIST, on the other hand, was PLACED into a room FILLED with 3 FEET of MANURE. It came up to the boy’s SHOULDERS. And THEN, the PARENTS and the psychiatrist WATCHED through one-way MIRRORS. Well, for 2 solid HOURS, the little PESSIMIST sat in the MIDDLE of all those toys CRYING his EYES out, while the OPTIMIST spent 2 hours LAUGHING and giggling, singing, jumping up and down, and throwing manure EVERYWHERE!
Finally, the parents and psychiatrist could stand it no longer. They opened the door to the PESSIMIST’S room and asked: WHAT’S WRONG? The boy replied: I’m SO disappointed! I thought that, with ALL these toys, they’d at LEAST have one that I would want to PLAY with, but of course, they DON’T! NEXT, they opened the door to the OPTIMIST’S room and asked: WHY are you so HAPPY? And he shouted: Oh, I’m just SO excited! LOOK at ALL this MANURE! With this much MANURE, there HAS to be a PONY in here SOMEWHERE! And THAT boy, said my fellow student, is one of the EASTER people, because he’s SUCH an OPTIMIST! EASTER people are OPTIMISTS!
Well friends, I disagree! OPTIMISM is NOT what makes us EASTER people. Yes, EASTER people tend to be MORE optimistic than MOST. And YES, EASTER people tend to be POSITIVE thinkers, and even POSSIBLILITY thinkers! But that’s NOT what makes them EASTER people!
Probably the BEST way to describe what I mean by EASTER people is to share an experience. It was a year when the PATRIOTS were doing really WELL. In fact, they were on a MARCH toward the SUPER Bowl. And ONE Sunday afternoon, there was an IMPORTANT game. But I had a PROGRAM here at CHURCH. SO, I decided to TAPE the game. Now, when I TAPE a game, I don’t want to know the OUTCOME before I watch it, because that RUINS it for me and I end up never WATCHING the game. Well, wouldn’t you know, on THIS particular day, someone comes to the meeting LATE, CURSING the Patriots! I shouted: DON’T tell me the SCORE! I’m TAPING it! OH, he said, it’s ONLY half-time, but I got so MAD, I had to turn it OFF! NEVER have I seen so many STUPID mistakes!
Well, that RUINED it for me and I decided NOT to bother watching it. But THEN, on my way HOME after the 6 o’clock service, a RADIO announcer said: WHAT do you think of those PATRIOTS? What an INCREDIBLE second half! I couldn’t BELIEVE they pulled it OUT with just SECONDS left to play! Well NOW, I couldn’t WAIT to watch it, JUST to see how they DID it! But AS I WATCHED it, I NOTICED something. Yes, there WERE a lot of STUPID mistakes, but SOMEHOW, because I ALREADY knew the SCORE, the BLUNDERS didn’t seem so BAD. And they didn’t UPSET me at all.
Well friends: THAT’S who EASTER people are! EASTER people are those who already KNOW the SCORE! And, WHAT a difference it MAKES when you ALREADY know the SCORE! What a difference it MAKES to be able to CONFRONT our PROBLEMS, our TRIALS and our CRISES from a position of VICTORY, rather than a position of uncertainty, or DEFEAT. And Jesus TAUGHT us, and then SHOWED us, WHAT the score IS! Jesus TAUGHT us, and then SHOWED us, that OUR God is a God who transforms DEATH into LIFE, and CRUCIFIXIONS of ALL kinds into RESURRECTIONS! And IF we would just BELIEVE that truth, and see HIS crucifixion and resurrection as an eternal METAPHOR for the way God WORKS, WE would REALIZE that we already KNOW the SCORE!
And THAT means that no matter WHAT we are FACING, whether it’s the BREAKDOWN of our marriage or watching our ADULT child struggle with an ADDICTION; whether it’s facing a LIFE-THREATENING illness or making a difficult CAREER choice; whether it’s GRIEVING the loss of our DEAREST loved one or being CONDEMNED by our TEENAGER for using TOUGH LOVE; whether it’s feeling ALONE because we’re putting our HEART and SOUL into an UNPOPULAR but worthy CAUSE, or enduring some sort of PREJUDICE or INJUSTICE that’s being leveled against US – yes, no matter WHAT pain or trauma, conflict or dilemma, struggle or CRUCIFIXION we are FACING -- we already KNOW the SCORE! We already KNOW that a RESURRECTION, that NEW LIFE, is in the MAKING! We already KNOW that GOODNESS and LIFE, TRUTH and JUSTICE, LOVE and FAITHFULNESS, are going WIN! In the LONG run, WE will be VICTORIOUS, BECAUSE of the REDEEMING power of GOD! And friends: when we KNOW this truth, as JESUS did on the CROSS, it doesn’t make it HURT any LESS, but it DOES allow us to FACE and ENDURE, WORK through and GROW from, EVERY crucifixion that LIFE deals OUT to US, AND to live more FULLY and JOYFULLY in the process!
And THAT is why EASTER people are NOT optimists, even though they TEND to be more OPTIMISTIC than most! And that ALSO is why EASTER people can be such POSITIVE thinkers, and POSSIBILITY thinkers, who REFUSE to be LIMITED by all the NEGATIVE worries, concerns and FEARS that seem to PLAGUE Good FRIDAY people. It’s because EASTER people already KNOW the SCORE! They KNOW and TRUST that God is AT WORK in our INDIVIDUAL lives, in our HOMES and FAMILIES, in our CHURCH and COMMUNITY, and in our NATION and WORLD! And WITH that faith, EASTER people can ALSO have a DEEP and abiding sense of PEACE, EVEN when things seem DREADFUL and THREATENING!
I was visiting a man in the hospital recently, who has had a VERY difficult time of it. And he ASKED me: When your daughter had CANCER, back when she was 13 years old, it HAD to be a HORRIFIC time for your family. Well, HOW did you get THROUGH it and HOW did you keep your faith? And I thought for a moment, and I said: Yes it WAS a HORRIFIC time in our lives, and yet, NEVER has my FAITH stepped UP the way it did then. Somehow, I just KNEW in my HEART that GOD didn’t GIVE her, or us, THAT kind of TRAUMA; and that GOD wouldn’t ZAP a beautiful, LIFE-FILLED 13-year-old with CANCER; and that God MUST be shedding TEARS right along WITH us. Somehow, I just KNEW that! And to those who said: It’s God’s WILL, or EVERYTHING happens for a REASON – to THOSE people, I was downright HARSH, because I just KNEW that the CANCER wasn’t GOD’S doing. The God we see in Jesus is always GIVING life, and HEALING people, NOT zapping people and TAKING life. AND, I ALSO knew in my heart -- in the MIDST of the everyday UPS and DOWNS, because having CANCER is like living on an emotional ROLLER COASTER -- I ALSO knew that God was AT WORK in the MIDST of it; and that REGARDLESS of whether or not it ALL came OUT as we WANTED it to, God WOULD redeem it -- WHATEVER happened -- so that in EITHER case, NEW LIFE and resurrections WOULD come FROM it – and they certainly HAVE! You see: while I DIDN’T know the DETAILS of how it was ALL going to work OUT, I could FEEL my FAITH empowering me to walk THROUGH it with a STRANGE sensation of PEACE. And as I look BACK on it NOW, I KNOW that it’s because I already KNEW the SCORE! Whether Lyndsey LIVED, or whether she DIED, I already KNEW that GOD -- and GOODNESS -- and LIFE -- would WIN! THAT was announced 2000 years ago with an EMPTY tomb and a RISEN Lord! And to ME, that SACRED event was GOD’S way of showing us that God is CONSTANTLY at work in OUR lives, as well as in this heart-breaking world of ours, and that God is CONTANTLY transforming ALL of our CRUCIFIXIONS, WHATEVER they might be, into RESURRECTIONS, that God is constantly WEAVING new life, hope and joy out of death, despair and pain. And THAT knowledge helps us be at PEACE, EVEN through TOUGH times.
Friends, it’s TRUE: this world DOES, indeed, NEED more EASTER people! But EASTER people are NOT optimists! EASTER people are those who ALREADY know the SCORE, and who TRUST in the POWER and GOODNESS of a REDEEMING God, the GOD whose WORK we witness in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And you know: the GREATEST thing about ALREADY knowing the SCORE is that EVERY morning becomes EASTER morning! As St. Paul says: just as Christ was RAISED from the dead by the glory of God, so WE too might WALK in NEWNESS of life. Yes, friends: EVERY morning is EASTER morning for those who already KNOW the score. SO, let’s SING that song together NOW! AND, let’s SING it like we MEAN it! EVERY morning is EASTER morning from now on!
SONG: Every Morning Is Easter Morning!
Now, WAIT a minute! THAT just won’t DO! We need to put a BIGGER ending on that song! Remember: THIS is GREAT news! THIS is something to REALLY get EXCITED about! So, let’s do just the ENDING again. And THIS time: I want you to pretend you’re FRANK Sinatra, or CELINE Dion, or WHOEVER your favorite SINGER is! And I want you to THROW your ARMS out (being careful not to HIT the person NEXT to you) and END it LOUD and BIG, with EVERYTHING you have…. OK? So, let’s DO it again!