Easter
March 23, 2008
Rev. Patricia L. Liberty
Resurrected in Us
No one knows for sure what happened on that first Easter long ago. Even the Gospels don’t agree; each has a nuance to the story that leaves just enough of the mystery intact that we can hear the stories year after year and have a sense of wonder about it all.
One thing they agree about is that women were the first witnesses. Women were the first visitors to the tomb and women were the ones who spread the word.
In John’s Gospel it is Mary Magdalene and she comes alone. Considering what a terrible disservice history has given Mary, this is a pretty good way to level the playing field. There isn’t one scintilla of evidence to back up the persistent whisper of the ages that Mary Magdalene was a woman of questionable character. History does bear out, however, that she was one of the first one to arrive at the tomb.
She goes to pay her respects and say good-bye to the dreams and hopes that rose and fell with the brief life of the prophet Jesus. And grieving is always a combination of holding on and letting go. It means saving and sorting memories. It is that long and painful process of changing the present tense to the past tense when speaking of a loved one.
And when she arrives, she is prepared for one thing only, death. It has not occurred to her that anything else was possible. And so, understandably, she doesn’t recognize him. It’s a common theme of the resurrection stories. When Jesus appears his followers don’t recognize him.
Sarah Dylan Brueur notes, “The gospels have different ways of getting it across, but there's something different about Jesus after God has raised him from the dead. He is the same person, but there's something different about his appearance; his friends don't realize immediately who he is when they see him.
And it isn’t until Jesus calls her name that she realizes it is he, and that the other scenarios her mind creates are not what is true at all. “Do not hold on to me,” he cautioned her, “because I have not yet ascended to the Father.” It’s a rather peculiar comment to make, since there is no evidence that Mary is actually holding on to him.
Many commentators emphasize that Jesus in his resurrected state could not be physically touched for some reason, but I don’t think that is the true intent of the text. The NRSV is correct in interpreting that Jesus' reticence is not about being touched but about being held on to.
Barbara Brown Taylor writes, “When she discovered Jesus she called him by his Friday name, but it was Sunday, an entirely new day in an entirely new life. He was not on his way back to her and the others. He was on his way to God, and he was taking the whole world with him. This may be why all the other gospel accounts of the resurrection tell us not to be afraid-because new life is frightening. It is unnatural. To expect a sealed tomb and fine one filled with angels, to hunt the past and discover the future…none of it is natural.” (Barbara Brown Taylor, Home By Another Way)
Sometimes we have to let go of the Jesus we think we know in order to embrace the Christ who is. And the risen Christ says he is out ahead, going on to God…as for Mary she is to get on with the work of spreading the good news. Jesus’ resurrection appearances are always a call to action. A reminder that there is work to be done and now it is up to those who claim his name and receive his life to do it. And thousands of years later, that means us.
Showing up for church on Easter Sunday is not about marking a moment in time long ago, it is an annual pep talk that reminds us of the promise and purpose that are at the heart of the Christian life we share.What is significant about our gathering begins when we walk out the door and bear witness to the truth that Christ is resurrected not because we have heard glorious music and listened to a familiar story, but because we bear witness to his resurrection in our own lives.
The world depends on us to live the difference that Easter makes. The world depends on us to bear witness to the truth that Christ has gone on before us and is continuing to show a new way in the midst of this world’s brokenness and pain.In the fragmented lives we live, the risen Christ is ahead, calling us to wholeness
In sadness and grief, the risen Christ is ahead, with the promise of healing
In the midst of all that comes to an end, the risen Christ is ahead, with the promise of unending love
In the midst of the world’s persistent passion for judging and dividing, the risen Christ is ahead, reminding us that we are one people regardless of race, color, creed, sexual orientation, possession, poverty, age, ability or intellect.
In the struggle for peace, the risen Christ is ahead, offering courage to live in a radically new way.
In the yearning for justice, the risen Christ is ahead, calling us to repentance.
In our fear of death, the risen Christ is ahead, calling us to the hope of eternal life in Jesus Christ
In our fear of life which is more persistent than our fear of death, the risen Christ is ahead, saying follow me.
Resurrection is at once deeply personal and totally communal. It is for us and for the world. It is in us for the sake of the world. It is among us, calling us to the community we so desperately need to live a life of faithfulness.
Christianity is a communal religion. You can have faith on your own, but to be a Christian you need a community. It’s the blueprint for the kingdom. Jesus didn’t tell Mary to head off on her own and have a nice life. He said go and tell the others…
Albert Schweitzer wrote, “To those who would follow the risen Christ, whether wise or simple, he will reveal himself in the conflicts and the sufferings which they shall pass through in his fellowship. And as an ineffable mystery they shall learn in their own experience who he is.”
And so, from this day, we go forward with Christ resurrected in us, to learn in our own experience who he is, and to bear witness to the world for the sake of the world. Thanks be to god and amen.