In the name of the Risen Lord. Amen.
I
have been looking forward to this day for a while now. The days are getting
warmer and the flowers are beginning to bloom. With the return of spring, it
seems as if new life abounds. This is the chance for a fresh start, when
anything is possible, I’m really excited about it. Of course, I’m speaking of
the fact that the first game of the baseball season will be played today,
alleluia. Though, there is another reason why we gather today. Easter is the queen
feast day of the Church. And so my first word to each of you is welcome.
As St. Peter says in
Acts, “God shows no partiality.” So whoever you are, whatever your story, I am
so glad that I get to celebrate Easter with you. Welcome to you who believe,
without a doubt, in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Welcome to you who
are skeptics and aren’t even sure why you’re here. If you are here against your
will, but decided it was easier to come than to fight it, welcome. Welcome to
you if this is the first time here; welcome to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, we
are so glad to have you join us today. If you haven’t been here since Christmas,
it is good to see you again. Welcome back to all of our college students who
decided to come home for the weekend and make their parents happy. In the name
of the Risen Lord, welcome to each and every one of you. I want to suggest to
you that wherever you are this morning is fine. I want to encourage you to
believe in as much of Easter and God as you can today.
There is a story that
comes from the Jewish tradition about a Jewish grandmother who is at the beach
with her grandson. He is swimming in the ocean and is carried out to sea by a
strong undertow. This woman wasn’t particularly devout in her faith, but as we
all know, in a moment of crisis that changes. She begins to beg with God, “O
Lord, I know I am not very faithful, please forgive me. Save my grandson and I
will attend all of the worship services at the temple, I will give all of my
money to charity. I’ll join the women’s group, even the men’s group. I’ll do
anything, just please bring my grandson back.” There was then a huge wave, and
the grandson was lying on the sand. She ran over to him, saw that he was still
breathing. He then stood up, and everything appeared to be fine. She then
looked up at the sky and shook her fist at God saying, “He had a hat, you know.”
One of the great things
about our Jewish brothers and sisters is the way in which they have a very open
and honest relationship with God. And it is only through this sense of humor that
we can make sense of a day like today. In the Orthodox tradition of
Christianity, they often celebrate Easter by telling jokes, calling it “holy
humor.” Easter had been viewed as the greatest practical joke of all time. The
Son of God takes on the sin of the world and dies, descending to Hell. The
Devil was elated, thinking that the battle had finally been won. But then, God
raises Jesus from death and plays the trick of all tricks on the Devil.
Did you hear about the
guy who asked God “how long is a million years to you?” God says “oh, about a
minute.” “And, how much money is a million dollars worth?” “A dollar.” The man
then says to God, “well then, can I please have a dollar?” God replies, “sure
thing, just wait a minute.”
A man walks off the street
into a church and stumbles into the confessional booth, but doesn’t say
anything. The priest on the other side coughs a few times, trying to try to get
his attention, but there is no response. So the priest finally knocks and says “Is
there something I can help you with?” The man says “not unless your side has
some toilet paper.”
A priest, a minister, and
rabbi are meeting and debating who is the best at their job. So they decide to
have a contest to try to covert a bear to their faith. The priest walks into
the woods, finds a bear and reads the Catechism to it and proudly reports that
next Sunday will be the bear’s First Communion. The minister finds a bear by a
stream and preaches the word of God to it, and proclaims that the bear let him
baptize it right then and there. They then look at the rabbi, who was laying on
a gurney in a full body cast and ask him, “How’d it go?” The rabbi said, “maybe
I shouldn’t have started with the circumcision.”
Only with this laughter
in the air can we properly understand what happens in Mark when then the angel
at the tomb says “you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He
has been raised; he is not here.” This is preposterous, ridiculous, impossible,
unbelievable- there is no other explanation than this being a joke. And that is
exactly what it is. St. Paul in one of his letters writes that we are to be “fools
for Christ,” and if we’re going to take Easter seriously, foolishness is
required.
In The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri writes about the journey through
Purgatory and Hell. Towards the end of this work, Dante is approaching the
celestial sphere. And as he gets closer, he stops upon hearing something unlike
he had ever heard before; he hears un
riso del universo – the laughter of the universe. Yes, our world has pain,
rejection, war, disease, famine, but on Easter we loudly proclaim that the Lord
is Risen, and that our fears are transformed into joys. Easter says that God
conquers, but not with the sword or gun; God redeems, but not with coups or
violence; instead, God subverts the order of the world through humor. As we all
know, laughter really is the best medicine. A good laugh, even if momentary,
can help us to forget about anger, frustration, pain, fear, doubt, or embarrassment.
The triumphal shout of “Alleluia!” is God’s last laugh.
Though Mark is the
shortest of the four gospels, there is no doubt that he is the best story
teller. This Resurrection story has embedded in it its own sense of holy humor.
The way our translation this morning ends is “and they said nothing to anyone,
for they were afraid,” but that’s not quite right. The actual translation of
the text is “And to no one they said nothing, they were afraid for…” The sentence
ends with the Greek conjunction word gar
which means “for,” and this word is never used at the end of a sentence. This
is horrendously bad grammar, and Mark knows that. Ending a sentence, let alone
a gospel, with the word gar makes no
sense and it doesn’t follow the rules. This is grammatical holy humor. The Resurrection
even defies the attempts of language to control it.
The Resurrection is a
subversive event that changes everything. As the prophet Isaiah wrote, “When
God sets a feast before the people, destroys death, and wipes away our tears, it
will be said on that day- Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that
he might save us. This is the Lord
for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” The language
of the Resurrection is the language of transformation. The absurdity of today
allows us to proclaim the transformation that there is no doubt so certain that
faith can never come. No pain so severe that there can be no healing. No
injustice so insidious that there can be no reconciliation. No war so fierce
that there can be no peace. No hatred so strong that there can be no love. No
sin so bad that there can be no forgiveness. No night so dark that there can be
no new dawn. No death so final that there can be no Resurrection.
But in reading Mark, we
see that the first reaction by those who hear of the Resurrection is fear. Mark
doesn’t tell us what they were afraid of. Were they afraid that now that Jesus
was alive that it meant that he was serious when he told them “take up your
cross and follow me?” Was it fear of facing the Jesus that they had been
rejected? Fear of what it means that the dead now are living? Or was it, as we
all know to be true, that some people just don’t get a good joke. It doesn’t
matter how many times you explain it, some people just won’t get it until they
experience it. Mark, though, doesn’t leave us with fear. Rather, Mark leaves us
with a dangling conjunction and an incomplete story.
So what is the faithful response
to this Easter story? Get up! Get up because Jesus got up. The Lord is risen,
so get up. The angel tells the women “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that
he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told
you.” As we’ve seen throughout the gospel of Mark, Jesus is always on the move.
Just when you think you’ve got Jesus figured out and pinned down, he’s moved
somewhere else. Being a follower of the Risen Lord means that we will always be
on the move.
Christianity is not an
agreed upon set of conclusions about God, it is the response to the God who
refuses to stay dead. So get up. Don’t be stuck in the mud, but get up. The
Resurrection is about the unexpected becoming a reality, it is about changing
the way you see the world. So it might be that in order to follow the Risen
Lord, you will need to change the way you think. You might find yourself giving
more time and money. You might find yourself having a mind that is more open to
new possibilities. Your heart might be more ready to love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus is not a static Messiah, he is always on the move. So get up and follow
him.
The first words spoken in
this Easter gospel by the angel are “do not be afraid.” The message of Easter
is that you have nothing to fear, because Jesus has gone on ahead of you. He
has already gone through death, preparing the way for us to follow after. He
has already gone to Galilee, the place where the disciples called home. You will
find Jesus wherever you are, because he has gone on ahead of you. So get up.
What the Resurrection
shows us that there is a power loose in this world that gives us the boldness
and grace to live not in the shadow of death, but in the light of the
Resurrection. Far too many Christians mistake Christianity for a religion that
is concerned about what happens to you after death. But Jesus’ Resurrection
shows us that the true emphasis is on life before death. The message throughout
the gospels is that “the Kingdom of God is among you.” So get up. Get up and
laugh because it’s Easter. Get up and serve those in need, because in them you
will find the Risen Lord. Get up and pray, giving thanks for God’s love and salvation.
Get up and get more involved in our youth group or children’s program, because
we need you. Get up and stand up for justice and equality. Get up and shout “the
Lord is Risen” so that everyone will know the Good News. Get up, because the
story of the Resurrection doesn’t have an end.
There is no way to make
sense of today. The Resurrection is not an event to explain or understand, but
rather a reality in which to thrive. Today celebrates the laughter of the
universe. Regardless of where you are on your journey of faith, get up and listen
for God’s divine laughter all around you; smile more; love more; laugh more; serve
more. Because the Lord is Risen, going on ahead of us. I’ll leave you with one
last joke. Did you hear the one about the peace loving, rebel rousing, Gospel
preaching teacher in the Middle East that they thought they could silence with
the cross?
