The Meaning of Easter Sermon for 4-08-07

Scripture: Isaiah 65:17-19, 24, 25 and Luke 24:1-12

He is risen! And let the congregation say, He is risen indeed! What a joyous time in the life of the Christian church—the celebration of the empty tomb. What does it mean to see the tomb where Jesus was laid on Friday empty on Sunday?

I heard this story about a new minister in one of our neighboring towns who wanted to see how serious the members were about Easter. He approaches a young woman and asks the meaning of Easter. She replies that Easter is when a giant bunny brings candy for children and the family comes over for a big dinner. Surprised, the pastor asks someone else, a middle aged man. He says Easter is when all the children color eggs, and the adults hide the Easter eggs and let the children participate in an egg hunt. Ok, how about another member, so the pastor finds a conservative looking person praying quietly, and he hopes she truly understands and appreciates the meaning of Easter. When asked, she describes how Jesus carried the cross and then was crucified, and then his body was put in a cave with a rock at the entrance. Good so far thought the minister, then the woman went on, “Easter Sunday came and the boulder magically rolled away from the cave, Jesus was resurrected ... and stepped out of the cave and saw his shadow, and he knew there would be 6 more weeks of winter.”

Each Gospel has its own story with different details which is what one would expect about a day that was first written about at least 35 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. (Mark was the first gospel to be written, about 70 AD.) In this year’s reading in the Gospel of Luke we are told in the previous chapter that the women had followed Joseph of Arimathea who had wrapped Jesus body in a linen cloth and laid him in a tomb. The women wanted to embalm their Lord’s body with the spices and ointments that they had already prepared; however, there was insufficient time to do so before the start of the Sabbath. So it is on the day after the Sabbath (the Jewish Sabbath being on Saturday) that they went early to his tomb with the supply of spices and found the door open and the body gone. When the two angels in dazzling clothes approach the women, they are terrified. The angels ask, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you…that he would be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” So the women thought back and did remember these words that they had heard Jesus speak, probably not wanting to hear them and certainly not wanting to believe them. When they ran to tell the disciples, we are told the disciples did not believe them. In fact Luke says, “these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.”
Before I talk you about the meaning of Easter, I want to acknowledge that some of you listening believe that Easter happened exactly the way the Gospels describe it, that you believe in the factual description of Jesus’ resurrection. Others of you are more apt to think of the Easter stories as parables. Marcus Borg in his book Jesus has this to say: Parables “can be true, truthful and truth-filled, independent of their factuality. To worry or argue about the factual truth of a parable misses its point. Its point is its meaning. Seeing the Easter stories as parables need not involve a denial of their factuality. The factual question is left open. A parabolic reading affirms: believe whatever you want about whether the story happened this way—now let’s talk about what the story means.” (280)

To me Easter means first of all that Jesus lives. What do I mean by that? I believe that the disciples continued to feel Jesus’ presence among them. Whether the post-Easter appearances of Jesus were visions or something else, the important thing to me is that they were convinced—even doubting Thomas in the end—that they recognized the Spirit that had been with them during their earthly association with Jesus. Any of you that have had a loved one die, know what I mean. Some days I can feel my mother’s presence so strongly, almost smell her fragrance and hear her voice, feel her touch. Can any of you identify? This kind of experience and MORE was what the disciples experienced. Jesus continued to be with them as they recognized his power to heal, to teach, to transform lives.

Easter means to me that Jesus is Lord. Easter is God’s “Yes” to Jesus and his passion for peace and justice, and “No” to the Roman Empire and all domination structures. If we are familiar with the Gospels we know that Jesus’ passion in the world was the Kingdom of God, not in heaven but on earth, a society that would turn the present structures and expectations upside down. It means as Borg has said that God is king and the kings of this world are not, and that Jesus is Lord, and the lords of this world are not. (289) It means that peace and love reign, that the prophesy that we heard read from Isaiah will come true, that God is going to do something really big: “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth…I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight….Before they call I will answer, while they are speaking I will hear. They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.”

What wonderful words of joy! Easter means that it is God, not the powers and principalities of this world, that will have the last word. In fact this was the dominant way that Christians saw the resurrection of Jesus for the first 1000 years. It was much later that a theologian named Anselm put forth the theory of Jesus’ death as necessary for saving us from our sins, usually called the substitutionary atonement theory—a subject I will save for another sermon on another day.

So Easter is the first of God’s new week, a sign of hope—not just for Christians but for the whole world. I believe that as discouraging as the political and ecological situation looks today, there will be light and goodness at the end of the day. Through Easter, God is calling us to assist in this new world, calling us to compassion and justice—which has to come first before peace. Yet on a good day, I believe that peace will come, that there will be healing and reconciliation amongst all people on the earth. This very day, you and I can be part of God’s triumph again in the world.

The men, the word Luke uses for angels, in dazzling clothes, tell the women to remember and so they did; however, what else did they do? They ran to share the good news with others that their friend and Lord lives. The Easter message is not complete if we just keep it to ourselves. We like the women must share it with others. And we can share it in many different ways, using words only when necessary. Let me share a story I read while preparing for this sermon. This story happened in East Germany at the time when these people lived under an oppressive regime, before the wall came down. “A young man deeply involved in the life of a church community was seized by the Communist authorities, and never returned. Sometime later, another young man, well known as a hardened leader in the Communist-organized youth movement, began attending youth meetings and worship services at the same church. The congregation's suspicions were aroused, and the pastor took the fellow aside and asked why he was coming. The young man replied by asking, "You know the fellow from your church who was seized and taken away?" "Of course," responded the pastor. "I knew him well, but we have not heard from him since.""Well," said the visitor, "I saw him when he was being harassed and tortured. Not only did he refuse to betray his friends, but through it all he never showed any bitterness toward his tormentors. Even in the hour of death, there was no anger towards those who were about to kill him. Instead, he spoke of Jesus Christ, forgiveness, and God's love." The young man concluded, "And when I saw him die, I knew I must come, in spite of what it will cost me, to learn of his Christ and the love for our enemies that strengthened him in his last hours."[1]

So my beloved sisters and brothers, there are many ways of sharing the good news, some are very costly. I hope none of you will have to share it in such painful circumstances as in this story. If you love Jesus and want to follow him there are lots of things you can do: You can ask someone to come to church with you. You can show your compassion to those who say bad things about you or treat you unkindly. You can reach out to someone from a different race or religion. You can offer hospitality to strangers, to immigrants, to your neighbor down the street that drives that loud motorcycle. You can visit the sick and the housebound and those in hospitals and nursing homes. You can advocate for the homeless, participate in causes that you believe that Jesus would be involved in if he were here. And isn’t that what Easter is all about, knowing that Jesus lives now in our hearts, that the Holy Spirit never leaves us and that God loves us more than we can ever understand? I wish you all the most joyous and meaningful Easter possible and please come back and worship with us again.


[1] Donald Shelby, Bold Expectations of the Gospel, quoted by Joel D. Kline, “Who's Holding on to Whom?” and came to me on “e-sermons”.

The Palm Sunday Subversive Sermon for 4-1-07

The Palm Sunday Subversive
Sermon for April 1, 2007
Scripture: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Luke 19:28-40

Have any of you ever thought about the Palm Sunday procession as a planned political demonstration? Please stay with me as I challenge you with an alternative Palm Sunday sermon.

The first decision preachers have to make on this Sunday is whether to focus on Jesus’ passion, the events of the week leading up to his crucifixion or the celebratory focus of a big parade. There’s a big difference in mood as Jesus’ passion (meaning suffering) is a very painful, somber story. Luke’s description of the procession—even though it says nothing about palms—is still oriented to celebration with his disciples and other followers, who threw their cloaks on the path that he took on top of the donkey. These cloaks were not the expensive type as these followers were a ragtag group whose garments were “tattered shawls and dusty, sweat-stained rags”[1] Jesus was no ordinary king; he was the king of fishermen, tax collectors, women, Samaritans, harlots, blind men, demoniacs, and cripples, the king of the oppressed and suffering.[2]

Have you ever thought why Jesus rode a donkey in this parade? There are many answers given—some more trivial than others such as because he was tired or wanted to be up high enough for his followers to see him—or the one I’ve heard mostly is because it was foreordained, predicted in ancient prophecy: Zechariah says, “Look, your king is coming to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey”—the explanation in Matthew as he quotes Zechariah 9:9. According to Marcus Borg in his book Jesus, this was a prophetic act. He describes prophetic acts as “provocative public deeds performed for the sake of what they symbolized”…ancient “street theater”—actions performed in public to draw a crowd and to convey a message.[3] Borg goes on to say that the meaning and message of the donkey was: “a kingdom of peace, not violence.”

Jesus has been on his way to Jerusalem for the last 10 chapters of Luke—I mentioned last week in the story of Mary that Jerusalem was seen by Jesus as his city of destiny, the place where he would go and confront the Roman authorities and be killed. The time was Passover, the holy Jewish feast that brought people from all over Israel on a pilgrimage to commemorate God’s mighty work of freeing them from Egyptian bondage during the days of Moses. It was customary for the Roman state to make a show of force during Passover, sending in many soldiers in their own type of military procession. Jesus and the Gospel writers would have been well aware of this practice.

Just imagine for a moment these two processions: from the West comes Pilate, entering Jerusalem with pomp and ceremony, accompanied by uniformed soldiers showing military might, power and glory. And then imagine Jesus’ triumphal entry from the Mount of Olives with his ragtag following, a stark contrast of anti-imperial counter procession, proclaiming “the kingdom of God”. Borg sees the two processions embodying the central conflict of Jesus’ last week: the kingdom of God vs. the kingdom of imperial domination; Jesus versus Pilate, the nonviolence versus violence. So what we Christians refer to as Palm Sunday “featured a choice of two kingdoms, two visions of life on earth.”[4] Jesus and his followers had an alternative vision where the last became first, where the poor were valued and the rich scorned, where peace and love were esteemed over power, violence, and might.

So what were Jesus and his early followers subverting? Jesus’ alternate vision subverted major aspects of the way most societies, both ancient and modern, have been organized to accept political and economic oppression of the masses, often holding up God to legitimize their preferences: “God wants things this way;” “Jesus says you’ll always have the poor with you”, and so forth. Jesus’ kingdom lifted up those who had been discounted by the ruling powers and the patriarchy: women, gentiles, the poor, the marginalized, the mentally ill, the lepers, and the list could go on. Our Gospels testify to this new way of being throughout, starting with the Magnificat at the time of his birth (Lk. 1:47-56). Mary sang that this baby Jesus would bring down the powerful from their thrones and lift up the lowly; that he would fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty. Then at the beginning of his public ministry, remember his first sermon when he read from Isaiah about bringing good news to the poor and proclaiming release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind and letting the oppressed go free (Lk 4:1-19). So the fact that Jesus is our Palm Sunday subversive is really nothing new or unexpected in the Gospel.

My sisters and brothers, this Palm Sunday I am all in favor of praising God. The other gospels are filled with Hosannas a word that means save us. Most of Jesus’s followers in that Passover procession wanted a Warrior King, yet Jesus was a suffering Messiah. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “God allows himself to be edged out of the world and onto the cross. God is weak and powerless in the world, and that is exactly the way, the only way, in which he can be with us and help us.”[5](Letter of July 16, 1944.)

Are you willing to join Jesus in his subversive counter-procession into all the world? Our Statement of Faith has the phrase “You call us into your church to accept the joy and cost of discipleship, to be your servants in the service of others, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil…” If we follow Jesus, there are many times that we may have to be subversive, treating all people with dignity and advocating for their human rights whether it be —the Muslims, the immigrants, the gays, lesbians, and transgendered, the poor, the homeless, the fundamentalists, the atheists, the Jehovah Witnesses, to name a few of the oppressed groups. It also means that we humble ourselves and die to self , that we love our enemies and promote peace and love wherever we find ourselves. To be subversive is to become aware of and to act in a way that we participate in liberating justice for all, remembering Jesus’ words, “As you do it to the least of these, you do it unto me.”

In closing please consider with me Dr. Martin Luther King’s words, “Even if they try to kill you, you develop the inner conviction that there are some things so precious, some things so eternally true that they are worth dying for.” Let us help each other to be subversives for Jesus. Amen and amen!


[1] Culpepper in The New Interpreters Bible, Vol IX, p. 390.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Marcus Borg, Jesus, p. 231
[4] Ibid. 232.
[5] Letter of July 16, 1944.

EXTRAVAGANT LOVE SERMON FOR 3-25-07

EXTRAVAGANT LOVE


Scripture: Isaiah and John 12:1-8

Once upon a time, a long time ago when Jesus was still walking on this earth, just before his crucifixion and resurrection, there was a young woman named Mary. She lived in Bethany, a small village on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, less than two miles from Jerusalem. She lived with her brother Lazarus, whom Jesus had just recently raised from the dead, and her older sister, Martha. The whole family was very close friends with Jesus.

Mary, like most young woman, had many dreams and thoughts about her future. She may well have dreamed about marrying a wonderful man, one who was kind and recognized her as a person in her own right. Since she was already past the age of 13, and her parents were not around, she could have some autonomy about whom she married. As many unmarried women would do, she wanted to be prepared when this time came; she wanted to have something of value to offer to the marriage. (Do you older folks remember how single women would get a cedar chest and call it a Hope Chest and place in it things that were saved up for marriage?) Whenever Mary was able, even as a child, she would carefully save any coins that came her way. As the years passed and no marriage was arranged, Mary became more and more wealthy. One day she found an alabaster flask, a flask so delicate and beautiful that she knew she had to fill it with something very, very special.

About this same time her brother Lazarus fell sick and died. She and Martha had asked Jesus to come so he could heal Lazarus; however, Jesus did not get there until after Lazarus had been dead three days and was already placed in his burial tomb. Then this wonderful man Jesus, this friend that was always doing amazing things, this man with great compassion and love, this man that was so intelligent and so holy, this man Jesus actually brought Lazarus back to life. What joy! What happiness! Mary had always loved this friend Jesus and now she loved him so much that she thought her heart would break. Their were rumors that Jesus might be off soon to Jerusalem and that many of the authorities were suspicious of him. She wondered if it were true that he might even be crucified. She knew she had to do something special for this friend. She loved him more than she could even begin to express. Suddenly she knew what was necessary; she would use her coin collection, her 300 denaris, her life’s savings to buy some nard, a very expensive and very fragrant perfume. She would put it in her beautiful alabaster flask and go to find Jesus. She was pretty sure that Jesus would be at Simon’s house next door where a big party was going on. She entered the home and went directly to Jesus and poured out all of her precious oil on his feet. And then she did a most outrageous thing, she used her hair to wipe his feet. Jewish women in those days did not even let their hair down in public to say nothing about using it to wipe a man’s feet. Such an expression of devotion would have been seen as extremely improper and somewhat erotic. Have you ever loved so much that you wouldn’t even think twice about the consequences of your actions in showing your love. I believe that Mary poured out all the love in her heart along with her perfume. Judas got angry and started talking about waste, about how the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus defends Mary and tells us she will always be remembered. As I retell this wonderful story I think about how Mary’s action filled the whole house with love. She threw aside all caution and practicality. She gives everything. You know this is how love acts; it is uncaring of expense. And I don’t mean just financial expense. It is okay to be extravagant in our gratitude.

This reminds me of a story I received by email that was told by Pastor Victor Shepherd about a missionary surgeon he met who was rather gruff and to the point. On one occasion the surgeon was speaking to a small group of university students about his work in the Gaza Strip. He was telling them that North American "fat cats" knew nothing about gratitude. Nothing! On one occasion this surgeon had stopped at a peasant hovel to see a woman on whom he had performed surgery. She and her husband were dirt poor. Their livestock supply consisted of one Angora rabbit and two chickens. For income the woman combed the hair out of the rabbit, spun the hair into yarn and sold it. For food she and her husband ate the eggs from the chickens. The woman insisted that the missionary surgeon stay for lunch. He accepted the invitation and said he would be back for lunch after he had gone down the road to see another postoperative patient. An hour and a half later he was back. He peeked into the cooking pot to see what he was going to eat. He saw one rabbit and two chickens. The woman had given up her entire livestock supply—her income, her food, everything. He concluded his story weeping unashamedly as he reminded the audience about extravagant gratitude.

Mary in my story based on John’s gospel certainly demonstrated that she was willing to give her very best to Jesus. Her actions affected Jesus deeply. Today, 2000 years later as we approach this same Passover season, what ways are we willing to extravagantly pour out ourselves to God? In what ways do we hold back? In what ways do we behave like Judas when it comes to extravagant giving? In doesn’t matter how much we have; what matters is that we give to God the best that we have to offer. Remember that Christmas poem about baby Jesus: “What can I give him, poor as I am. If I were a shepherd, I would give him a lamb. If I were a wise man, I would do my part. What shall I give him? I will give him my heart.” …

Who here this morning is willing to give the very best of themselves to Jesus? Do you love him that much? How will you show it? Will you take a week off and go rebuild a house in Mississippi or New Orleans? Will you spend a day every week helping at the Food Pantry? Will you go beyond loving your neighbor to loving your enemies and praying for those that persecute you? Will you stand up for the oppressed? Will you call your congressmen and women to advocate for the poor, for peace and for economic justice? As I’ve said many times, many of you in this congregation are extravagantly generous and I thank you. As you think about what extravagant gift you are willing to offer, I would like to close with some poetry from Seasons of your Heart by Macrina Wiederkehr:

A jar of perfume
Poured out over Jesus
And a question is born
What is the point of such extravagance?

Why this waste?
I don’t know.
I honestly don’t know.
But if this shocks you so,
Get ready, for you’ll see more
More than costly perfume poured out.

You’ll see lives poured out
Given freely, used up, spilled out, wasted
For no reason at all!

Extravagance unlimited!
Lives poured out
Handed over, lost, thrown away
For Jesus!

What is the point of such extravagance?
Why such waste?
Beautiful questions with no answers.

And how sad if no one has ever asked us:
Why this extravagance?
Aren’t you wasting your life on Jesus?

So who among you is willing to be as bold, as reckless, as extravagant as Mary? Are you willing to give away what is most precious to you? Can you say with Isaiah in our morning’s Hebrew scripture lesson, “I’m going to do a new thing, now it springs forth, do you perceive it?” (Isa. 43:19a) What will you pour out for God?