In the name of the Risen Lord. Amen.
Many of us have likely had those moments where there is a clear before and after, where something happened and we knew that from that moment onward, life would never be the same. I once heard a smoker say that they saw a picture of what a smoker’s versus a non-smoker’s lung looked like that is was a turning point for them and they never touched another cigarette. In the work that I’m proud to be a part of with Racial Equity Rowan, I have experienced it myself and seen it in many others: they attend the two-day workshop and come away with a completely new way of understanding the concept of race in our society. It’s as if, in the vein of St. Paul, scales have fallen from their eyes. For many of us, the first time we saw our children, whether on an ultrasound screen or in the flesh in the delivery room, it was one of these trajectory-shifting and outlook-changing moments. What’s that expression? There are some things that once you have seen them, you can’t unsee them and some things that once you have known them, you cannot unknow.
Well,
in an even more intense way, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the epitome of
such transforming moments. What St. Luke has to tell us about Easter in this
morning’s reading is nothing less than a depiction of what is deepest and truest
about reality. One theologian has written about the life of Jesus as being
something like a tree. As we all know from trees, they have rings that run all
up and down along the trunk, but you can’t see them until you cut into the
tree. And where you cut the tree doesn’t matter as much – the rings 2 feet up
are going to look nearly identical to the rings 12 feet up. Well, in this
analogy, the life of Jesus is where we see the tree cut so that the rings are
visible. What Jesus shows us about God was just as true in 500 BC as it was in
33AD when Jesus entered that room and said “Peace be with you,” and it was just
as true in 4th-century Turkey, as it was in 12th-century
Egypt, as it was in 16th-century England, and as it is in 21st-century
Salisbury. And it will remain just as true in 24th-century Tokyo or
on some colony on another planet in the 27th century. When we talk
about Easter, we’re talking about a reality more pervasive than gravity, more
foundational than atomic forces, more enduring than the universe itself.
The
Resurrection is the fulcrum on which all of history, creation, and our lives
pivot. As we heard in the Pascha Nostrum that was sung earlier in this liturgy,
it was the case that humanity was trapped by death and plagued by sin – this is
what it means when we hear “Adam’s sin had doomed all flesh to die.” That was
our story – sin had corrupted our relationship with God and one another and
death was the inevitable end of that story. But something changed on Easter. In
the Pascha Nostrum there’s an important word: though. “Though Adam’s sin had
doomed all flesh to die, in Christ’s new life shall all be made alive.” The
story has been changed and the New Creation of eternal life, forgiveness, and
grace has been inaugurated. The Resurrection is the reality that changes
everything.
Now,
maybe you think I’ve overselling things at this point – after all, don’t I have
a vested interest in this being true? My financial and professional livelihood
is sort of riding on this, so might I be a bit biased? But just think about how
we got to this very moment. Jesus, a Jew from the Roman-occupied backwaters of
Nazareth, who lived briefly and died violently, was reported to have also risen
unexpectedly. And what does Luke tell us the disciples’ reaction was? Sheer joy
and exuberant celebration? No! He tells us that they were startled and
terrified. They thought they were seeing a ghost. How many times Jesus told
them that this would happen, I don’t recall off-hand. We could go back through
the narrative and count, but it was more than a few times. And yet their
response is disbelief. Looks like we’re not the only ones who need to be
convinced of the Resurrection’s claim on reality.
As
they come and see this Resurrection reality though, something changes. They’ve
seen those tree rings and know that God’s mercy is everlasting, they trust that
life in God is eternal, they live as if death has been overcome, they have a
hope that is rooted in something beyond themselves. They heard that word from
Jesus, “Peace be with you,” and knew that he was speaking something that is
ultimately true – that God had given them the peace that passes all
understanding and deserving. Though they had betrayed, denied, and abandoned
Jesus in his greatest hour of need, he comes to them not wagging a finger, not
with scolding words, not even with an offer of a second chance – but with
nothing but the words of grace: Peace be with you. These disciples knew that
the Resurrection was a clear sign that they are forgiven people, that they are
no longer defined by their worst deeds, that they are God’s beloved children, that
they are at peace with God.
Just
as Mary Magdalene proclaimed earlier on Easter morning, “I have seen the Lord,”
they too have seen the risen Lord. And Luke makes it quite clear that this
Jesus who stands in front of them is not a figment of their wishful
imaginations, it’s not as if “it really feels like he’s still with us,” it’s
not a ghostly manifestation of Jesus. No, before them is Jesus in the flesh.
“Here are my hands and feet,” he says to them. And then, to really drive home
the point, he eats some broiled fish – something a ghost or a wistful yearning
would not do. These disciples have witnessed that the Resurrection is bodily.
In other words, the Resurrection is a reality that impacts all of time; it does
not lie locked away in the future. Those tree rings of grace are just as true
at this very moment as they are at any other moment.
Jesus
opened their minds to understand the Scriptures – showing them that this
Resurrection of the Crucified Son of God has been the trajectory of things from
the very beginning. Now, it often takes time for this reality to sink in. Luke
records that these disciples “in their joy were disbelieving and still
wondering.” Faith takes time and the opening of our minds to this Resurrection
reality is a process, not an instantaneous change. Just as you have to grow
into parenthood or any other life-altering reality, we have to grow into faith.
Don’t worry about where you are on the journey of faith, maybe you’re more on
the disbelieving end or perhaps the wondering side. The Resurrection is the
deepest reality there is, so we’re never going to our minds completely around it.
Give yourself time and patience. But we can still enter into this Resurrection
reality through the doorways that God has given us: faith, hope, and love.
This is what the
disciples did, they took a step in faith. That terrified and uncertain band of
disciples become evangelists and apostles and they carry the Good News out to the
whole world. They tell others about the power of the Resurrection and this
power is demonstrated by God in their lives. So churches, that is, gatherings
of these Resurrection-oriented people, start popping up – in Ephesus, in
Corinth, in Rome, in Ethiopia. Despite family consternation at their
conversions and despite persecutions and lions in amphitheaters, these people
continue to proclaim the Resurrection and live differently.
The Roman Emperor
Julian wrote in a letter in the 300s, “Atheism,” and that’s what he called
these Christians: atheists. Because they rejected every previous understanding
of what the gods were about and were looked down upon as people who didn’t
believe what was accepted to be true about the world. He writes, “Atheism has
been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and
through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal that there is
not a single person who is a beggar, and that these godless Galileans care not
only for their own poor, but for ours as well.” And on through the centuries,
Christians have opened hospitals, schools, orphanages, and food banks to care
for those in need. Yes, of course, there are also lamentable stories about how
Christianity has been hijacked for evil in examples such as the Crusades, the
Inquisition, the Holocaust, and even modern-day nationalism, white supremacy,
misogyny, and homophobia. But those are not examples of Christianity, they are
actually counter-examples of what happens when the profundity of the
Resurrection is pushed off to the side and we choose to live not in the light
of Easter grace, but of our sinful desire for power and control.
And so the
disciples shared the faith with people, who then shared the faith with other,
who then shared the faith and on and on for nearly two millennia until a group
of women thought that it was meet and right for the Christians in Salisbury to
have a proper church building at the corner of Church and Council streets.
Though it was not easy, these faithful women raised the funds and motivated the
men to get to it, and we are sitting in the legacy of their faithful witness.
Through the generations, people have cared for this place not as a form of
building-worship, but as a witness to the reality of the Resurrection and as a
place they have come and seen the Risen Jesus. From this place, friendships
have been forged, loved ones buried, children Baptized into this Resurrecton faith,
and those in need have been ministered to. And some of those people, or people
like them, told you about Jesus at some point. And here you are.
Why in the world
would people do this? Why do we give money that we could spend on nicer
vacations or fancier wardrobes by giving to the poor or to the church? How
amazing it is that someone like me can make a good living based on generosity from
people like you. You all think it’s worth it to have someone in this community
to lead prayers, to reflect upon Scripture and our faith and write sermons
about it, to offer prayers when you’re going through a tough time. It really is
amazing. When people call me to their hospital room, or confess their deepest
regrets, or share with me the brokenness that is happening in their lives, not
only am I humbled by that trust, but I really am astonished by it. I’ve never
once walked into a hospital room only to have the person get up and walk out
being cured of whatever is ailing them. But I have gone into hospital rooms,
said the prayers of Last Rites and been with the family as their loved one
died, and what people tell me isn’t “Thanks for nothing,” but rather they
sincerely thank me for being there. Only a Resurrection reality makes sense of
any of this.
This morning, you
all have chosen to get up and get dressed, unless you’re watching the
livestream and maybe haven’t quite gotten that far, but I can assure you that
the people here look spectacular; and whether or not you’re in this church or
on your couch, you’re spending your Sunday morning at church. For those of you
here, you had to go through the ordeal of signing up for a spot because we’re
still limited on attendance and we’re not even able to sing any of the hymns.
And yet here we are.
So, have I
overstated the importance or the reality of Resurrection? I think not. The line
that connects you and me being here this morning to the faith of a group of
terrified disciples in 1st-century Palestine is the reality of the Resurrection
of their Lord and our Lord, Jesus Christ. What has motivated saints throughout
the ages to care for the sick, to be generous with their resources, to be
faithful in prayer, to stand up for justice, to pursue peace at all costs, to
lay down their lives for others, to have confidence in the face of death, to
trust that they are forgiven – what makes all of this possible is the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ, that reality in which grace is given to all, in
which beloved community is our calling and our identity, in which love is the
true currency. This world has been forever changed by the power of the Resurrection
as people have witnessed to these rings of grace throughout history. And of
this Resurrection, we are made witnesses.
As St. Paul writes
in First Corinthians, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has
not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has
been in vain and your faith has been in vain… If for this life only we have
hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has
been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died… Therefore,
my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord,
because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” My brothers and
sisters, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything: it is the stage
on which God has placed us, the tapestry that we are woven into. We are
witnesses of these things.
