LOOK FOR THE LIVING

March 31, 2013

Easter Sunday

Isaiah 65:17-25

Luke 24:1-12

(prayer)

A quarter century ago, when I was a student at the Vancouver School of Theology, I went regularly to local United Churches (St. James for a couple of years and then Gilmore Park in my last year):  I taught some Sunday School, I led some youth group, I sang in the choir; I preached once or twice, and I sat in the pew and sought to nurture my spirit.

Everyone once and while, I liked to visit different churches (from different denominations) to experience the variety of the people of God.  I thought it would help make me a better minister once all my studies were done.

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One Easter, a couple of friends of mine were visiting (we all went to different kinds of churches back home) and we decided to seek out a place to worship, where things might be lively and exciting.  And so, we picked a church that (I had never been too, but) belonged to one of those denominations with a reputation for charismatic worship services.  I was ready to really get into the joy of Easter!  Ready to raise my hands and shout some ‘amens’ and ‘hallelujahs’!!

He is lord.  He is lord.

He is risen from the dead and he is lord.

Every knee shall bow

and every tongue confess,

that Jesus Christ is lord.

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I was ready. 

And I waited… and waited.

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But all the pastor talked about was that Jesus suffered and died.  He kept using the word “good news”, but where was the joyful Sunday morning hallelujah.

The closet he came to making this more than one of the most boring, uninspiring Good Friday services (even though it was Sunday) was to say that Jesus proved everything by resurrecting and then the sermon went back to the blood and death.

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I know that many-a pastor’s lexicon includes the phrase that “Jesus died for us/me” as the standard gospel proclamation, but… that makes it sound like we are a Good Friday people.

I believe that we are an Easter people, so…

“Jesus was raised for us/me!”

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Jesus’ friends did not experience any ‘good news’ on the Friday, the day Jesus was executed.  They were devoid of any gospel joy on the Saturday, it wasn’t until Mary Magdalene and others had experiences of Jesus’ resurrection did joy and praise enter into the equation. 

In fact, the possibility of joy seemed so remote that it took some of them a while to treat the women’s story as anything more than an idle tale.

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In Jesus, Mary, Peter and the other disciples and followers, experienced a depth of love and faith that they never imagined was possible – a love strong enough for compassion toward enemies; a love deep enough to reach beyond societal boundaries that divided people of various classes, and gendre, nationality, age and more; a love unbreakable enough that Jesus could offer forgiveness to even those who sought his destruction.

These folk followed Jesus because it made them better people and it enlivened their spirit.

On Friday, at three in the afternoon, when Jesus struggled to say “it is finished” and his lungs exhaled no more, not one of them said: “yay, Jesus died for me!”

All that they hoped for, all they had imagined was possible, all they desired for their walk in this world, died on that cross, as well.

Jesus’ final words were well chosen: [whispered] ^{it is finished}.

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Why do so many Christians today not appreciate the words of the brightly clothed ‘angels’ that the women say at the empty tomb?  “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

Why is good news (gospel) so focused on the suffering and death?  Okay, I do understand where they are coming from, I just respectfully disagree.

[I don’t want to focus on it today, other than to say that the theological concept of Substitutionary Atonement (the belief that Jesus’ death was a required, literal sacrifice to atone for the sins of humankind) {that way of thinking} really didn’t gather steam within Christendom until the 19^th century. 

I am convinced that the letter to the Hebrews and a few lines in the gospels that use similar language were about a metaphoric sacrifice not a literal one - even for the small minority of early Christians in the final quarter of the 1^st century, who felt a bit lost without the ability to seek a right relationship with God through a physical offertory act as their ancestors had done for centuries and they could no longer do because the Jerusalem Temple had been destroyed.]

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Easter is not about dead Jesus.  It is about the Risen Christ – alive forever more.  Eventually the “idle tale” brought renewed life into the community of disciples.

All that they had come to know about themselves and God’s love and grace had not died on a cross, but continued to live, as long as they continued to live like they believed in resurrection.

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Wandering the countryside with Jesus was a limited, time-constrained opportunity, but carrying, the good news of the compassion of God, the mission of Jesus, with us everywhere we go is eternally possible.

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To be followers of Jesus’ Way in this time and age, we must (as the tomb angels said) look for life, not death, as our inspiration.

It is possible for the deep compassion and grace of God to live in our world:

·      where enemies become friends,

·      where the value and equality of all people is a reality, not an issue for the courts,

·      where greed gives way to generosity,

·      where all can enjoy this life in safety and peace.

That is what needs to be risen in us, this Easter and for all time.

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Thanks be to God.  Amen.

****Offering****