(As I begin this sermon, I must recognize what has happened this Easter to our Christian brothers and sisters worshipping on this Easter morning in Sri Lanka. My heart is heavy for the more than two hundred people killed by bombs in the churches and hotels. Just as three years ago, I stood here and preached three days after my mother died, it is hard to preach when you are in grief. But, the Easter message is for those of us who know suffering and grief. It is the message of love and hope to a hurting word. Easter is needed this morning more than ever. We need to know, to celebrate that is the midst of terror and sadness, there is great love. Easter is the message that pain, violence and hatred are never the final word. Love and hope are the powers that win.)
Struggling with the right thing to say on Easter is a minister’s annual challenge. This year, weeks before today, the Christian Century magazine had an article about this. Jim Friedrich, a regular contributor to the magazine wrote how at the entrance to Jerusalem’s Church of All Nations, which is located next to the garden of Gethsemane, there is a sign warning visitors: ‘No explanations Inside the Church’. Now obviously this is put there to keep the sanctuary relatively quiet and holy and most likely to have the tour guides wait to explain the story until after their groups are outside, but Friedrich states that this is good advice to ministers for their Easter sermons they are writing. You see we all know the story. Jesus died. And three days later, Jesus was no longer dead. We have been told the story each Easter morning since we can remember. Jesus conquered death and has promised us eternal life within the love of God. We know our doctrine. But there are still plenty of questions! And there are not a lot of concrete answers. The question and the challenge is for us is not to try not as much to understand what happened back then, but figure out how is it Easter now? What does resurrection mean for us? Was it just a once in history experience that we only know about through Gospel accounts, or does the resurrection have meaning to us today. How and who are we because of and in light of the risen Christ on April 21st, 2019? How do we live with the knowledge of the story and the possibility that God loves us so much and that, well, love conquers all,.… even death
In the Easter account found in the Gospel of Luke, the women go to the tomb to do the work of caring for the body of Christ. I am not sure what all this entails, but they brought spices they had prepared to do the task. I love these women. They were the members of this church and every church. They are the ones that you can count on to do the work that needs to be done. They are the members of the church that will teach in the Sunday School, will volunteer in the church office, and they will visit a church member in the hospital. You can count on these people to send a get well or bereavement card, to work on a mission project, to sing in the choir, and to show up at the memorial service or as in today, the Easter service with the coffee cake for the reception. They are the saints who are found and make up every synagogue, church, or mosque. Thanks be to God!
So these women have taken on a task that probably isn’t at all pleasant. After all, Jesus’ body has been in that tomb for a few days and they prepared and are coming with the spices that are needed for the body. But when they get there, they find the tomb has been tampered with and the body is missing. The body of the person they love is missing. They must have been horrified. I know I would be!
Then two people who are described as men in dazzling clothes, stood beside the women and said that Jesus has risen from the dead, just like he told them he would. Then the two strangers in white remind the women when and where Jesus had foretold them of his death and resurrection and the women remembered. So, they went back and told the disciples who did not believe them… that is except for Peter, who after hearing the news ran to the tomb and saw if for himself.
Each account of Easter found in the Gospels differ a bit, but the message is the same. The message is that the cross was not the final story. God loves us so much that we are told that death is not our final story! Christ lives. Christ has Risen! Christ has risen Indeed! This is the Glorious Good News we shout each Easter…., but what does in mean to us?
Last Monday the world watched in grief as firefighters in Paris fought to save Notre Dame Cathedral from total destruction. To so many millions of people who have traveled to see this centuries old church, there is an emotional tie. Social media was filled with wonderful photos of individuals, families, and even one person’s dog standing outside of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. You could feel their emotion in what they wrote on their FacebookFacebook accounts. The Cathedral was important to so many and stood and had meaning for millions of people for so many differing reasons. Yes, I do agree with the backlash that we also should be concerned about the historic Black churches that also burned this past week as well,…. but for those of us who have been able to travel to Paris and visit this awesome structure of human ingenuity and dedication, that took centuries and generations of crafts people to build, this touched a special heart string.
And then Tuesday morning we woke up to the photos of what was left. The spire was gone…. as was the roof. But the art, the organ, and the sanctuary were still there. Safety crews assessed the damage and although part of the building is now unsafe but it all can be rebuilt. But within the photos of the destruction and the debris of the fire was this miraculous photo of the interior of the cathedral. The smoke was still in the air. Debris filled the sanctuary,…. but the cross was there…. still hanging high and it was gleaming like gold in the morning sunlight.
Much like the men in dazzling white the women encountered at the tomb, the empty golden cross stood as a statement that all is not lost. What is essential and worthy lives on forever. That is the same Easter story. Easter is that cross shining in the midst of rubble. It is the power of life over death, the inspiration of hope over depression, and the realization that love always trumps hatred.
Some of us get discouraged about our world, the growing self-concern instead of a concern for the needs of others, and a growing animosity to the stranger and a mood of distrust of people not like us. This is not new, but it seems to be escalating throughout the world at a rapid pace. Some of us feel a disgust when ignorance and brutality seem to be festering and growing within our communities. And this morning as we woke to the violence against our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka, we are in shock.
We need the Easter message now as much as ever. Not just us, but the whole world aches for it.
We joyously say we are the people of the empty cross. But most of us are not sure what exactly that means and what exactly happened on that Easter morning that changed the grief of Friday into Easter joy that morning. Even in our communion liturgy we say ‘great is the mystery of our faith.’ The bottom line is we need to decide what is important to us today and whether Easter makes a difference. How is it Easter to you now in 2019? You see when we accept Easter, it has consequences. It means that we accept the fact that Jesus is still here… that Jesus is still a transfiguring presence in a world fraught with absences. Easter is not our historical event. Easter is not that one event that took place centuries ago. Easter for us is something we live and breathe.
And it is good to know and be warned that when we say we are a people of the empty cross, an Easter people, it has consequences. It changes our outlook on life. Resurrection is about healing and the restoration of wounded relationships. Resurrection affects not just our relationship with others but with God and with all of creation. Being an Easter people calls us in our personal lives and in the life of the church to be the glimpses of resurrection to the world which needs it so much. We are to be that shining cross in the midst of the rubble to others in this world. We are to shout out the good news. Life wins over death. Hope wins over despair. And love always, always conquers hatred.
The Good news for us today is that we the people of the empty cross live as Easter people. We know that God is ultimately in control. Amid the challenges of our world and our daily living, we can say that Christ has risen, Christ has risen indeed. Amen.