March 23, 2008

Easter Message

The Rev. A Thomas Carlson

 

Scripture:       John 20:1-18

 

            A father was explaining to his five-year-old son how Jesus died and then, on the third day, was resurrected from the dead.  "That's what we believe," the father said, "That's how we know Jesus is the Son of God, because He came back from the dead just as He said He would."

 

            "Do you mean like Elvis?" the boy replied.

 

            Well, no, not exactly like Elvis.  We do live in a world where people believe just about anything, except that which is most true.  So, we have to work a little bit harder nowadays to help people understand what the Good News is all about.  On this, the 14th Easter we have shared together, the challenge is just as awesome as on the first Easter when I began here in 1994.

 

            While the very young and naïve of today might equate the resurrection with an Elvis sighting, the cynics of old times would subscribe to Pascal's conviction that the first believers were either "deceived or deceivers."  On the other side of the coin, there is this band of believers called Christians that keep persisting God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day.  That is why every Sunday (resurrection day) is a "little Easter."  That is why Sunday became Sabbath for the followers of Jesus!  That is why we are called "Easter people in a Good Friday world."

 

            Andrew Greeley, the priest, mystery writer and columnist for the Chicago Sun Times, writes, "The basic theme which runs through all the Easter stories is surprise. . . .  The theme is always the same."  We read about Mary Magdalene in today's Gospel.  The last thing Mary expected when she went to the tomb that first Easter morning was to find the tomb empty.  She expected to find a gray, lifeless corpse already beginning to decay that she was going to anoint because of her great love.  Surprise! 

 

            Even Peter and the other disciple who had been with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry were not prepared for what they found that morning.  Even after they found the tomb empty they were mystified.  As verse nine of today's lesson tells us, "They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead."  Surprise!

 

            Even the religious leaders, who put a guard on the tomb, did not do so because they expected a resurrection.  They did it to keep the disciples from stealing the body.  Surprise.  Surprise is the best word to describe the first Easter.

 

            I'm sure there were those who felt the early Christians manufactured a story to keep their movement alive, but all indications are that no one expected Jesus to rise from the dead.  The disciples were just as shocked as you and I would be if we went to the funeral of a loved one, and suddenly a person who had been dead for three days came back to life.

 

            Even the alternate explanations of today, which focus on myth, metaphor, figurative narrative—they are missing this element of surprise.  Just to say the teachings of Jesus are "immortal" equates Him with the best of the world's teachers.  Where is the element of surprise?  The early Christians had to come to terms with this as Paul did in I Corinthians 15.  Paul's conclusion is that indeed Christ arose and "was seen by over five hundred brethren at once."   (Verse 6).  Paul goes on to say that Jesus' resurrection has implications for what happens to us when we die.

 

            Easter is filled with mystery.  Easter is a day filled with surprise.  Why is it so difficult to accept it for what it is?

 

                                                            SURPRISES

 

                                    When I awoke to a cloudy day,

                                    You sent the sunlight's piercing ray—

                                                God, You surprised me.

                                    When I looked at that gloomy sky,

                                    You sent some seagulls soaring by—

                                                God, You surprised me.

                                    When I was lost, and wandering 'round,

                                    You sent Your Son, that I'd be found—

                                                God, You surprised me.

                                    When I had fears of eternity,

                                    Christ's Resurrection set me free—

                                                God, You surprised me.

                                    When I have lapses in my faith,

                                    And need returning to Your Grace—

                                                God, please surprise me.

                                                                        (B. Bos)

 

            Recently I attended a workshop at Swedish Medical Center Hospital, conducted by its Spiritual Care Department, geared for pastors and chaplains.  The first presenter told us that the most important time in one's life, is the time of death.  None of us want to think that way, especially about ourselves.  But if we were here on Good Friday for the Tenebrae Service, we felt how critical it was for Jesus to die and how His death on the cross was God's way of telling us how much we are loved.  That is why the cross never goes away in the Christian church.  That is why His death on our behalf was at the very core of why He came to live among us.  I cannot say Friday Night is the climax of a life lived for others.  The resurrection validates everything Jesus said and everything Jesus did, including His death on the cross on Calvary.

 

            Having said all of this, we believe the power of the Risen Christ is still loose in our world today.  Based on the scene where Mary Magdalene wanted to hold the Risen Lord in her arms and He said, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father" (Verse 17a).  One preacher notes that Jesus is free of the grave; to hold Him, to confine Him to a single space or place, just won't work.

            Substituting East Bellevue, for East Dallas listen to what Dr. George Mason had to say in one of his Easter sermons:  "Christ is still on the loose in East Dallas.  And this is the thing we have to keep before us today.  We are not here for a history lesson on what actually happened that Sunday morning at the tomb.  You will not believe in the resurrection of Jesus any more than Mary would have if the same thing does not happen to you that happened to her.  Because Christ is free from the grave, He is free to free you from the grave and to meet you unexpectedly along the ordinary paths of your life.  Fear is one of those graves Christ wants to free you from."

            So, we are dealing with more than an Elvis sighting.  We have come across a surprise that defies the enemy of death and is active in the world today.  I can't help but believe Mary Magdalene when she announced to the others, "I have seen the Lord."  Christ is alive.  Alleluia!