Sunday, April 20, 2014

Easter 2014

JOHN 20:1-9
WHEN I WAS YOUNG, EASTER SUNDAY WAS SPECIAL. WE WOULD GO TO MASS, WHERE OF COURSE THERE WOULD BE FLOWERS EVERYWHERE AND THE CHOIR WOULD BE IN ITS BEST VOICE; AFTERWARD WE WOULD HAVE BREAKFAST WITH MY GRANDPARENTS, AND THEN WE WOULD ALL GO TO THE HELENA NURSERY AND GREENHOUSE, WHICH OPENED ITS DOORS FOR THE SEASON ON EASTER SUNDAY. THERE WAS A PORTABLE ORGAN PIPING OUT EASTER MUSIC. THERE WERE PEOPLE DRESSED UP LIKE THE EASTER BUNNY HANDING OUT TREATS TO THE KIDS. WE WOULD WANDER DOWN THE AISLES LOOKING AT ALL THE FLOWERS AND BREATHING IN THEIR FRAGRANCE. AND OF COURSE EVERYONE WOULD BE DRESSED UP IN THEIR EASTER BEST. IT WAS A MAGICAL TIME, A PROMISE OF NEW BEGINNINGS, OF THE FACT THAT THERE WERE ONLY A FEW MORE WEEKS OF SCHOOL AND THEN WOULD COME THE SUMMER OF FREEDOM AND FUN.
WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE IF WE REALLY BELIEVED IN THE RESURRECTION? I THINK WE BELIEVE WITH OUR MINDS, BUT NOT WITH OUR WHOLE BEINGS. IF THERE WAS NO RESURRECTION, THEN OUR LIVES WOULD BE OVER WHEN WE DIE. AND HOW WOULD THAT AFFECT US? WE HAVE TWO WAYS TO FACE THAT; ONE IS TO TRY AND CRAM AS MUCH “LIFE” INTO OUR SHORT LIFE SPAN AS WE CAN; TO MAKE OUR BUCKET LIST AND GET TO WORK ON IT. AND THERE ARE MANY OF US WHO LIVE LIKE THIS, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE BLESSED WITH GOOD HEALTH AND ADEQUATE INCOME. AND THE OPPOSITE EXTREME IS TO SAY, “IT DOESN'T MATTER.” BECAUSE IF WE REALLY BELIEVE THAT THIS LIFE IS ALL WE HAVE, THEN THERE IS NOTHING TRANSCENDENT, NOTHING THAT MATTERS MUCH. GLOBAL WARMING? I WON'T BE AROUND. POVERTY, DISEASE, CORRUPT GOVERNMENT, PAIN AND SUFFERING – WHAT DOES IT MATTER? I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT, CERTAINLY NOTHING SUBSTANTIAL. AND EVEN IF I COULD, IN THE LONG RUN WE'LL ALL BE DEAD.
AND YOU KNOW, THOSE TWO WAYS OF SEEING THINGS ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
BUT THAT'S WHERE THE RESURRECTION COMES IN. YOU PROBABLY KNOW THAT IN ALL FOUR GOSPELS, THE RESURRECTION STORY DOES NOT START WITH JESUS TRIUMPHANTLY WALKING OUT OF THE TOMB; IT STARTS WITH SOME WOMEN FINDING THAT THE TOMB IS EMPTY. LATER IN THE GOSPEL STORIES, JESUS APPEARS TO HIS FOLLOWERS, NOT EVERYBODY. AND EVEN HIS FOLLOWERS DON'T RECOGNIZE HIM IMMEDIATELY; MARY MAGDALENE THINKS HE'S THE GARDENER; THE APOSTLES THINK HE'S A GHOST. AND THE DISCIPLES ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS DON'T RECOGNIZE HIM UNTIL THEY'VE BEEN WITH HIM FOR A LONG TIME. JESUS DOES NOT COMPEL US TO BELIEVE, AND DID NOT COMPEL THOSE FIRST DISCIPLES TO BELIEVE EITHER. BECAUSE WHEN WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH THE EMPTY TOMB, IT IS ALWAYS A CHOICE – DO WE TAKE HIM UP ON HIS INVITATION, OR DO WE THINK SOMEONE STOLE THE BODY, OR WHAT PEOPLE HAVE SEEN IS JUST A MASS HALLUCINATION. THERE WAS ONE ELABORATE THEORY THAT WHEN JESUS WAS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS, HE WASN'T QUITE DEAD AND HIS DISCIPLES NURSED HIM BACK TO HEALTH.
BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE EMPTY TOMB WITH THE EYES OF FAITH, YOU SEE THREE THINGS.
FIRST, JESUS IS TRULY ALIVE. HE IS NOT A GHOST, A HALLUCINATION; HE CAN EAT AND DRINK AND COMMUNICATE WITH HIS FOLLOWERS; AND YET HE IS NOT LIMITED; HE CAN APPEAR IN A LOCKED ROOM, HE CAN DISAPPEAR FROM THE TABLE IN EMMAUS WHEN THE DISCIPLES RECOGNIZE HIM. HE CAN ASCEND INTO HEAVEN IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS DISCIPLES. AND IF JESUS IS TRULY ALIVE, HE HAS KEPT HIS PROMISE TO US, THAT HE WILL RISE AGAIN. AND THAT MEANS HE WILL KEEP HIS OTHER PROMISES, ESPECIALLY THE PROMISE THAT DEATH NO LONGER HAS POWER OVER US. AND OF COURSE HE WILL KEEP HIS PROMISE TO BE WITH US, EVEN TO THE END OF THE WORLD, FIRST AND FOREMOST IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST.
SECOND, IT MEANS WE ARE FORGIVEN. THE EMPTY TOMB IS A NEW BEGINNING. OUR CHRISTIAN BELIEF IS THAT SOMEWHERE IN THE VERY ORIGINS OF HUMAN NATURE, WE ARE DISPOSED TO CHOOSE TO ACT PRIMARILY FOR OUR OWN ADVANTAGE, AND TO ACT AGAINST WHAT GOD WILLS FOR US. THAT'S THE STORY OF ADAM AND EVE, AND YOU AND I KNOW THAT THIS IS WHERE ALL OUR SINS COME FROM. WE BELIEVE FURTHER THAT JESUS, WHO IS GOD AND MAN, CHOSE TO RELIEVE US OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR SINS, OUT OF NOTHING OTHER THAN LOVE. AND HE DID THIS BY SUFFERING AND DYING FOR US ON THE CROSS. HAD JESUS NOT RISEN FROM THE DEAD, ALL OF THIS WOULD BE USELESS – HE WOULD JUST BE ANOTHER VICTIM OF OUR SINS. BUT IN RISING FROM THE DEAD, HE CONQUERS SIN AND DEATH, AND THAT IS WHAT HE OFFERS TO US. I MIGHT ADD, PARENTHETICALLY, THAT NEXT SUNDAY IS DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY, AND THE CHURCH HAS PROMISED THAT THOSE WHO RECEIVE THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION DURING THIS SEASON WILL BE GIVEN WONDERFUL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS.
THIRD, THE OPEN TOMB MEANS THAT EVERYTHING WILL BE OK. OR ANOTHER WAY TO PUT IT IS THAT THE OPEN TOMB IS GOD'S PROMISE THAT NOTHING IS SO BAD THAT HE CANNOT MAKE GOOD COME FROM IT. AFTER ALL, IN ALL OF HISTORY THERE WAS NOTHING AS EVIL AS WHAT THE HUMAN RACE DID TO JESUS, THE SON OF GOD. AND YET, GOD NOT ONLY RAISES JESUS FROM THE DEAD, BUT JESUS BECOMES WHAT WE ARE MEANT TO BE, PEOPLE WHO ARE GLORIFIED, WHO HAVE NO LIMITATIONS, WHO ARE DESTINED TO LIVE FOREVER. SOME OF US HAVE UNDERGONE CRUCIFIXIONS; ALL OF US WILL, SOONER OR LATER. THE EMPTY TOMB IS PROOF THAT GOD WILL BRING RESURRECTION OUT OF THESE CRUCIFIXIONS.
WHEN YOU AND I LOOK ON THE EMPTY TOMB, IT IS NOT JUST EVIDENCE THAT PROVES THAT JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD. AS I SAID BEFORE, THERE ARE OTHER EXPLANATIONS, IF WE CHOOSE NOT TO BELIEVE. BUT TO THOSE OF US WHO BELIEVE, IT IS AN INVITATION – AN INVITATION TO LIVE IN A NEW WAY, A WAY THAT INSISTS THAT DEATH IS NOT THE END. IF WE HAVE ALL ETERNITY, WHAT'S THE RUSH IN CRAMMING EVERY POSSIBLE EXPERIENCE INTO OUR LIVES? WHAT'S THE POINT OF GETTING MORE AND MORE STUFF, OF MAKING A BUCKET LIST AND FRANTICALLY TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING ON IT? AND, IF WE HAVE ALL ETERNITY, THEN SURE, IT MAY NOT LOOK LIKE WE CAN MAKE MUCH OF A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER IN OUR LIFETIMES, BUT WE CAN BEGIN, KNOWING THAT WHAT WE START, GOD WILL FINISH, BECAUSE HE BRINGS RESURRECTION OUT OF CRUCIFIXION. THE EMPTY TOMB SAYS THAT THE GOOD THAT WE DO WILL ECHO IN ETERNITY.
FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE TODAY, THE TOMB IS WHERE EVERYONE ENDS UP, AND ONCE YOU ARE THERE, THAT'S IT. BUT FOR THE CHRISTIAN, THE TOMB IS JUST A STOP ALONG THE WAY TO A FUTURE SO GLORIOUS THAT WE CAN'T IMAGINE IT. AND THAT'S THE INVITATION OF EASTER – JESUS CHRIST HAS CONQUERED SIN AND DEATH FOR YOU AND I. LET US NO LONGER LIVE AS THOUGH THE GRAVE IS THE END OF EVERYTHING.