2008 Easter Sermon
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
I don’t know about you, but it seems strange to me to be celebrating Easter already. Less than three months ago we are celebrating Christmas. Even in our high-speed culture, that is amazing. Easter is supposed to be the hallmark of spring, yet I look outside and most of the trees on our street are still bare – not even sporting that green haze of new foliage. There are a few brave daffodils poking their heads up, but not many. And for awhile, they were predicting snow for today – burr! Not exactly the type of weather that most Easter dresses are make for.
The timing of Easter as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox as set long, and the lunar schedule would have it, the full moon and the equinox were both on Friday, so here we are. Our Easter celebration this year is the earliest it will be in my lifetime, unless I live to be 187.
So, ready or not, the day is here – a day of celebration as we remember the awesome act of Jesus’ resurrection and renew our commitment to follow him.
But something strange happens in our Gospel lesson that I just read – did you notice it? The guest of honor is missing! It is the one account of Easter morning where Jesus is no where to be found. He is not in the tomb, of course, but usually Jesus shows up and talks to the apostles. Not in Luke’s Gospel. The only clue we have to his whereabouts is from the two men dressed in dazzling clothes when they say to the women, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” And if we continued reading Luke’s Gospel, that is exactly where we will find him – on the road to Emmaus talking with Cleopas and his companion.
It’s as if Jesus is saying to his tomb, “Been there, done that, moving on to the next thing.”
Of course the expectation for the Jewish officials and the Roman aristocracy was that the tomb would be the end of their trouble with Jesus. This upstart, radical teacher was out of their way for good and they could get on with their lives.
But for Jesus, the tomb is not an end but a beginning – a birth into a new life with more power and glory than he had before. He has work to do and he can’t do it in a tomb, so why bother staying there. So off he goes to be where he is needed, to do the work he needs to do.
Jesus demonstrates the exact behavior he expects from his apostles and followers, including us. God did not abandon us after Jesus was killed. Instead God resurrected Jesus, gave him new life to show us a new way of life. There is no need for us to gawk at an empty tomb because that is not where we are needed. We are needed in a world crying out for Good News in the midst of economic instability, climate concerns and political unrest. The world needs to know that God loves us and that love shows no partiality.
You may be aware of Oprah Winfrey’s reality show “The Big Give.” The premise of the show is that the contestants have to “out give” each other in acts of philanthropy. As far as TV shows go, it is a bit contrived and awkward, but the spirit of the show, of how one person can make a difference, is exceptional. It embodies the tenet of loving your neighbor as yourself. One of the more moving stories was when a contestant set up a day of pampering for women with HIV/AIDS. The joy on those women’s faces of being treated like everyone else was uplifting. For at least a few hours, these women were not defined by death, but by life. And that is where I saw Jesus.
I invite you to celebrate this day of resurrection by embodying the new life we see in Jesus. How can you show God’s love? Where can we be new life? Be creative. I am not asking you to be contestants on “The Big Give,“ but each of us can do something. We can give money to a worthy cause, like the Millennium Development Goals, where the collection from our mite boxes is going. We can give time, which seems to be an even more precious commodity, to visit a friend, go grocery shopping for an elderly neighbor or volunteer at a homeless shelter. This week St. Stephen’s is hosting Family Promise of Gloucester County, a program for displaced families and we could use your help with set up at 1 PM this afternoon. Or you can be very literal in the display of new life and plant some flowers to show everyone the beauty of God’s creation.
In a few minutes we will renew our Baptismal Covenant to express our faith in Jesus and how that faith inspires us to live in this world. Let these vows be your marching orders, to go out into the world and be that new life we witness in Jesus. He is already one step ahead of us. AMEN.
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