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”.
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”.
posted by Sermons given at Deering Community Church @ 1:40 PM
<< Home