- Have you ever heard the cliché, “Life is difficult, then
you die.” It is a very pessimistic statement even if it is a true one.
Life is difficult. We do live in a world where people are cruel to each
other. We live in a world where we lose people we love. Good Friday
makes that point very intensely every year. It would be sad indeed if
the “then you die” part was the end. “Why bother,” would be my next
statement. But the resurrection of Easter tells us that there is more.
- The importance of this message really hit home this week.
One of my parents’ best friends died last week shortly after my father
had a serious operation. As the operation came nearer my family and I
felt his mortality keenly. I must say though he was completely at
peace. My father lives with the assurance of Easter. I have spent time
with many parishioners who are dying. A few fight their deaths until
the end but most have been at peace with the end of their lives because
they too have the assurance of Easter. I remember one man who asked me
to pray that God would take him as quickly as possible. He was anxious
to get to his wife who died a few months before and to be free from the
failing health of his body. I wonder how different his feelings would
have been without the hope of Easter, without the assurance of Christ
that was clearly a part of him. During one of my visits, we spoke of
the Great Mystery of life after death. No one knows what it is like for
sure. Some think they have seen glimpses of it. He eventually did
discover the answers for himself, answers to questions that I for one
continue to be curious about. We can speak of the Great Mystery of life
after death because of the event we celebrate today, Easter, because of
Jesus. Jesus.
- I think most of us believe we are immortal at least until
we reach a certain age. Death is usually not a big concern for me. I
always think about it in terms of happening—to my parents-- in another
40-50 years. I wonder if I will still think that way when I’m in my
70’s, 80’s or 90’s. Anyway, I think part of it may not be just sheer
self-delusion; in truth I don’t worry about it because I trust God. I
believe this resurrection story and I believe that I will be raised to
new life in some form just like Jesus. We, Christians, have this
incredible gift of hope and assurance. It is our Eternal Easter gift.
But is the hope of resurrection just about life after physical death or
is there more?
- I love the song George sang as our Scripture today. The
joy expressed in the chorus resounds in my heart, too. “He’s alive and
I’m forgiven heavens gates are opened wide. He’s alive!” There is a
wonderful movie of the Gospel of Matthew from the Visual Bible. The
portrayal of Jesus is grounded in love not in anger like many of the
Jesus movies I have seen. As I watched him heal people and do all the
things he did, I just fell so in love with him. Watching the passion
was excruciatingly hard. When the scene of Jesus in the garden with
Mary Magdalene came, I was flooded with relief and joy to see him
again. What surprised me was the joy I experienced at seeing him whole
again. He was so full of sores and cuts, bruises on the cross, but now
he looked as he did when he healed people. He is whole, smiling and
full of joy again. Thank God! This is also the promise of Easter after
the passion, there will be wholeness again.
- There are many “little deaths” in this life. It may be the
death of a dream or of a relationship, the death of a loved one or of
innocence or security. Any time there is change, something always dies
or is lost, while the new is gained. As Jesus said in the Gospel of
John, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains just a single grain but if it dies it bears much fruit” (John
12:24). Easter gives us the promise that there will be wholeness and
joy again on the other side of our many losses through this life. It
gives us the hope that our losses can still “bear fruit”.
- If you look around there are resurrection stories
everywhere. I live a resurrection story. You see George went through
the pain of a bad marriage and divorce. He has described the pain of
those experiences to me and at times I still see the scars. The church
that walked with him through his divorce got to see our budding
relationship and witnessed our marriage. They even baptized our first
daughter. In the divorce, he lost a future for his life that he
envisioned, but he received new life and a new future in our
relationship. And we have been blessed by that new life for 20 years
this month.
- I was preparing a sermon series several years ago on the
subject of domestic violence. A friend of mine heard what I was doing
and she called me up to tell me about her experience. Her first
marriage had been abusive and she thought her story might help me. She
told me about holding on to the statement from Philippians, “I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me” as she left her abuser
and struggled to provide for herself and her children. Years later she
met another man and married again. As we were talking about her current
marriage, she told me with tears in her voice, “Nancy, he cherishes
me. It is so wonderful to be cherished by your husband.” Wholeness out
of a shattered life, newness out of loss that is the promise of Easter
that is the joy of this day.
- The evil that humans do will never be the last word. God
will always have the last word; that is the witness of the
resurrection, that is the hope of Easter. The power of the resurrection
is available for our individual lives. It is available for our life as
a church. It is available to our nation, and to our world. Today is
about more than God’s power over physical death, although to use the
words from the Passover Seder, “Dayanu. For this alone, we would
have been thankful.” It is also about the power of God to overcome
death, loss, and evil in all its forms. It is about God’s power and willingness
to turn sorrow into joy, damage into wholeness, and death into life. It
is no wonder we say over and over today, Alleluia which means
“praise the Lord”.
- Whatever comes our way, whatever difficult things this
life throws at us, with God’s help we will rise just as Jesus rose from
the grave. This is the assurance of Easter. We will not rise just to
existence though, even if the nail wounds are still visible as scars,
no we will rise to wholeness, newness and fresh vitality. Being like
Jesus means receiving new life. Because of him, through him and with
him we will rise to new life. Alleluia! He’s alive! Amen.
|
