The Resurrection Of Our Lord (Easter Day)
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle C
Object:
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Acts 10:34-43 (C, E); Acts 10:34, 37-43 (RC)
Peter preaches to the people that everyone, no matter his nationality, no matter his ethnic origin, everyone who fears (loves) Jesus and does what is right is acceptable to him. Peter then retells the story of Jesus' unblemished life, of the marvelous deeds he performed, how he, Peter, and some of his friends have been witnesses to all that Jesus did in Judea and in Jerusalem. He tells how Jesus was executed, then reappeared to certain chosen people, and dined with some. Thus, the expectations of the prophets were fulfilled in Jesus the Christ, and all who believe will be forgiven.
This pretty much summarizes the Christian faith as we understand it. Most of the elements are there. The gospel is universal. Jesus is the fulfillment of prophetic preaching. His ministry was one of great deeds with no sin. He was killed by his enemies, rose from death. He made himself known as the risen One. He forgives the sins of all who believe.
Lesson 1: Isaiah 65:17-25 (C)
Hope fulfilled: a new heaven, a new earth. This is the promise which Isaiah brings from God. He will "rejoice in Jerusalem," and "no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress." He predicts a time when all will live in integrity, no more thieving, no more injustice, no more suffering. How the human heart must leap with hopeful expectation at such a promise. But this cannot be an earthly hope. Thousands of years have passed since this glowing promise, yet still is heard the sound of weeping, still the sound of distress. Still thieving is the order of the day, injustice too often rules, and suffering is the common human lot. But there are two hopeful themes here. One is the revelation of the attitude which God has toward those who are faithful. It would be this way if God could have His will while respecting human freedom. Since that is, sadly, not to be, at least we understand the attitude which God has toward us. The other theme is that which underlies Easter: another place, a different time, a dimension to existence which lies outside -- beyond -- our comprehension. Yet we must reason that if all the other promises are true, then this must be true, and in our deepest gloom, when suffering is at its most intolerable, and death draws near, still there is hope -- more than hope -- conviction that, as the writer of Psalm 30 so beautifully wrote: "Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes in the morning."
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 (C)
The Last Enemy: Death. I frankly have little idea what Paul meant when he wrote that "he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet." I know there are many different points of view about this; the idea of a battle yet to come, the idea that all will rise in one grand hour -- frankly, I don't trouble my little mind about such matters. It's my suspicion that while some people are quite insistent on one belief or another, no one really knows. What I do believe is that through Christ death has lost the power to consign us to non-existence. In preaching, as usual, we must take account of our congregation in deciding what is relevant to preach. In my situation, I would admit my ignorance about the exact workings of all of this to focus on the bright promise at the end.
Lesson 2: Colossians 3:1-4 (RC, E)
Paul affirms the baptismal faith. We are welcomed into new life where Christ is "seated at the right hand of God," no doubt a figure of speech by which Paul meant to affirm the primacy of Jesus in the Kingdom of God. We are urged to focus life's emphasis on the right and good things of life, turning away from all the earthly concerns which divert us from what is best. If we do this, we shall be revealed along with Christ in glory.
This is certainly an idealized set of instructions. It's another case of an impossible ethic set before us, not, I would think, that Paul seriously expected many of us to comply, but to remind us of the highest possible goal to which we might strive. I was once an idealist as I came into the Christian faith. I initially had it in mind that those mentors whose preaching and teaching meant so much to me, were men of near-perfect character. I still love them dearly, but I soon learned they have their so-called feet of clay like the rest of humankind. I since have numbered many servants of the church among my friends, but have known very few such saints as Paul described. In truth, I have found comfort in this, because of what I know of myself. God builds with broken bricks. The Church has long survived and flourished in the care of sinful men and women. If therein lies our sin, therein too lies our hope.
Gospel: John 20:1-18 (C); John 20:1-9 (RC)
This version of Easter morn is excitingly detailed in describing the initial events around the tomb. Peter and another disciple, having heard the news that the tomb has been found empty, dash there to see the cloths with which the body was, by tradition, bound, lying neatly on the ground. The first portion of the passage concludes rather curiously by noting that the disciples then returned to their homes.
Mary Magdalene, whose life story must have been remarkable, is there. Grieving, she encounters two figures dressed in white whom she takes to be angels. Their queries also seem strange. "Woman, why are you weeping?" Strange, since the answer must have been obvious. "Whom are you looking for?" Again. One doesn't ordinarily wander into a tomb looking for just anyone. Either these angels had their minds on other things or, more likely, there's a lot to this story that wasn't recorded. In any event, another figure appears whom Mary presumes to be the gardener. It is, in fact, Jesus, and when she hears his voice she recognizes him. Jesus quickly warns her not to delay him as he has not yet gone to his destination. She is to inform the disciples that she has seen Jesus and been told that he would soon be ascending to the Father.
This passage has the ring of truth, partly because of the unanswered questions it poses. Why did the disciples head for home, rather than getting together to celebrate? Why did the angels ask such obvious questions? Were they, in fact, angels? Many mainline Protestant churches are not enthusiastic believers in the idea of angels at all. Why didn't Mary recognize Jesus? There may be simple answers to these questions, but the fact that John was not concerned for such matters does, in fact, make him believable.
Gospel: Luke 24:1-12 (C), Luke 24:1-10 (E)
The stone has been rolled away, so Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and, it would appear, some other women discover, and they are thereupon confronted by two men in "dazzling apparel" who gently scold the women for being there, explaining that they would find Jesus elsewhere, since he was not dead. Those good souls then go to the apostles and report this remarkable encounter. But those worthies find it hard to believe that these women could know what they are talking about, especially since Jesus is clearly dead. Of course this version doesn't exactly square with other reports, but the essence of this passage is that Jesus has clearly departed from the grave and is still alive.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Before we try to construct a sermon outline, let's see what common themes run through these several passages. The Isaiah passage contains the promise of a new heaven and a new earth. It foretells a time when suffering and dishonesty will have been erased, when people can live together in peace. Luke, in the passage in Acts, explains that this will, indeed, be a fulfilled promise, and that it will be through Jesus Christ that it can come to pass. Peter and his friends have witnessed this truth and bear witness also to the fact that this is for anyone -- everyone. God desires to save each and every living soul, and to affect this salvation, Jesus died.
Paul emphasizes the promise that through the death of Jesus, death itself has been overcome. We need not fear. If Jesus is still alive, then it follows that the human spirit can triumph over death through Jesus, and this will be our truth as well. Paul goes on in his letter to the Colossians, to emphasize the way we are to live through the rest of this life once we have received the Spirit of Jesus. We are to place our primary emphasis on the right and good things in life, those which have their basis in heaven.
And finally, on that bright morn when Mary and others arrive at the tomb, the truth is revealed that Jesus did not die, he is alive. All those other promises can now come true. Jesus has overcome death. Mary and Peter and others are witnesses. The grand experiment of God is now complete. Jesus, living among us and showing us the right way to live, has demonstrated his unparalleled love by dying, only thereupon to reveal God's irresistible power by returning from death to show us all the way to that new heaven, that new earth. Our home awaits, and there will be no suffering, no dishonesty. It is ours because Jesus died to show us the way.
I think we find four basic and interrelated themes with which to build an Easter sermon. (1) The "new earth" refers to the renewal of human life here and now. We are to change the way we live -- our ethics, our attitudes, our underlying motive for living. (2) By doing this, we begin to experience this new life, what could be called a "new heaven" (though that term means more besides). But the fact of the continued life of Jesus promises his divine working in our lives here and now, making this change possible. (3) The time must, of course, come when we will move on beyond this life. We will all die. But the resurrection of Jesus is evidence that we, too, will be restored to new life. (4) That new life, beyond death as we know it, will be exalted, freed of the burdensome failings of the flesh. Although we have virtually no knowledge of the conditions of that life, we have the loving promise that it will be a life of love and joy.
Now here's what I would consider: although I find these four themes to fall in the above order, I would want to end on a note of immediacy, affirming that while the promise of life after death is real and trustworthy, the newness of life which results from the death and resurrection of Jesus is immediate, it begins as we accept Jesus as Lord. I would rearrange somewhat the order of these four points and consider the following outline.
Title: "New Life The Dead Receive"
Text: (As selected from the several passages)
Theme: The poet Yeats wrote of the "Land of heart's desire where beauty has no ebb, (of) Time and endless song." Do we not all yearn for that? Is there one among us who does not, at times, wish there were some way to undo some wrong, to try again to show love where first we failed? Perhaps it's a phenomenon of advancing age, but I look back and much too belatedly see where I could have sown kindness and love, but instead, I sought things which I wanted for myself. Now I realize those things did not matter. If only there could be a Land Of Beginning Again, if there were just some way we could yet, at last, do everything in love. Oh, to be forgiven, to say the things I did not say, give the gentle hugs I did not give, tell of gratitude and appreciation -- words I never spoke in time. To be able to love as I have failed to love. But death says "No!" And yet, Jesus seems to offer all of this.
1. We all must die. Death is inherent in life. "Death has a hundred hands and comes by a thousand ways," wrote T. S. Eliot. And, death is more than the cessation of conscious life. It's that, true. But "death" takes many proximate forms in life: a failed love affair which leaves one grieving lover irreparably forlorn. It may come in the form of a belated realization of what one should have done with one's life, only too late comes the knowledge. The death of a much loved child. An unthinkable betrayal. Even advanced age can seem a form of death, as once heroic independence is now reduced to babbling incapacity while yet the mind perceives. On it goes, depression, loneliness, addiction, self-hatred -- we pastors have seen it all. For all our optimism, all our trusting faith, death stalks us as Eliot warned, in a thousand ways. And the measure of a man or woman is not in fearful effort to avoid life's risks, but in the courage to affirm life as it comes. To face life "in spite of," as Paul Tillich used to say.
2. Life demands of us to do battle with the destructive forces which surround us, and those within us. This is not a negative thought. It's an indisputable fact. "There is no ache more deadly than the striving to be oneself," wrote Yevgeniy Vinokurov. It starts there, in the beginning, in the effort to extricate oneself from the opposing forces of dependency and affirmation of the self. The very meaning of sin is self-centered self-assertion, and at least part of the purpose of life is the exertion of the human soul against that deadly force, the striving to be what God wants us to be rather than what our natural inward inclinations would lead us to be. I am persuaded that one way God answers prayers lies in the fact that the means to those answers lie in the fact that we are equipped at the instant of our existence to solve most of our own problems, win most of our own battles. When I was born, God already knew what my needs were (see Matthew 6) and began to answer my prayers by preparing me for my particular life.
3. Because Jesus died, the resurrection begins, not when I die, but the instant I acknowledge Jesus Christ as my Lord. Paul Tillich said this about the resurrection: "Resurrection is not an event that might happen in some remote future, but it is the power of the New Being to create life out of death, here and now, today and tomorrow. Where there is a New Being, there is resurrection, namely, the creation into eternity out of every moment of time -- resurrection happens now, or it does not happen at all. It happens in us and around us, in soul and history, in nature and universe."
4. But ultimately, the promise is that even when we literally die, there will be more. May I just add a personal note for the reader? Less than a month ago, my physician called me to report the results of some medical tests. He told me I have cancer. Surgery was required immediately. We pastors often visit with people who have heard that dread pronouncement. For some of us, the time comes when we must learn such news. It was my time. A few days later, I was admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital in Indianapolis and my left kidney was removed. I awakened in a darkened room where I was to remain for seven days. For five of those days I awaited the pathology report which would reveal something about my future. In those days, as well as the days of recovery which followed, I learned the truth of God's promise. Jesus was there with me in a most tangible way. Lifting me, transcending the pain, assuring me during the days of waiting. In truth, it was a wonderful experience. The announcement by my physician that the cancer was contained, no further treatment was required reassured me of course. But either way, I knew for a reality now, the promise is true.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
The story is told of a father whose son had deserted his post in a Civil War battle and was sentenced to be executed. The older man was sitting on a bench in the park near the White House weeping. A little boy walked by and asked the old man why he was crying. Needing someone to talk to, the father explained to the boy why he was so sad. He said he had tried to see the President to plead for his son's life, but he couldn't get in. The little boy, however, asked the father to follow him. When they arrived at the gate, the boy said to some soldiers standing guard, "It's all right. He's with me." He then led the father into the White House, and into a room where Abraham Lincoln was meeting with some important government leaders. The boy hopped up on the President's lap and said, "Daddy, there's a man here I want you to meet. He needs your help." Lincoln listened to the father's plea, then pardoned the son, all because his own son had cared about the father and son.
____________
In a book titled There I Go Again, author Steven Mosely tells of the night Anna Pavlova, a prima ballerina in Russia in the early part of this century, was to dance her most famous role as the Dying Swan at the Apollo theater in London. But she died two days before her performance, of pneumonia. But the night of the performance the hall was packed. As the expectant crowd watched, a spotlight was shown on the floor where Pavlova would have stood. Then majestically, it swirled about the stage to the music of the ballet. The people who knew, understood. As the light moved about the stage, they remembered her grace and beauty, seeing her dance again in their mind's eyes. And when the music stopped, Anna Pavlova received a standing ovation, a thunderous applause which echoed into the night. For those who loved ballet, she still lived -- in their hearts.
____________
"Withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not find yourself beautiful, yet act as does the creator of a statue that is to be made beautiful; he cuts away here, he smooths there, he makes this line lighter, this other purer, until a lovely face has grown upon his work. So do you also ... never cease chiseling your statue."
-- Plotinus (A.D. 205-270)
____________
An Easter Carol
Spring bursts today,
For Christ is risen and all the earth's at play.
Flash forth, thou Sun,
The rain is over and gone, its work is done.
Winter is past,
Sweet Spring is come at last, is come at last.
Bud, Fig and Vine,
Bud, Olive, fat with fruit and oil and wine.
Break forth this morn
In roses, thou but yesterday a Thorn.
Uplift thy head,
O pure white Lily through the Winter dead.
Beside your dams
Leap and rejoice, you merry making lambs.
All herds and Flocks
Rejoice, all Beasts of thickets and of rocks.
Sing, Creatures, sing,
Angels and Men and Birds and everything.
All notes of Doves
Fill all our world: this is the time of loves.
-- Christina Rossetti
____________
In a now out-of-print book, God In My Life by Bishop Wicke, the author told of an elderly lady who knew she must soon die and she was afraid. She wrote of her fears to her nephew, a minister. The man's parents had died while he was a baby and the aunt had raised him. Realizing his aunt's fears, the minister wrote back and reminded her of his arrival at her home when he was a very small child. Her handyman had met him at the train station. He recalled to her how, because he was frightened at his new surroundings, the handyman had assured him that "when we get out of the woods, you'll see her house in the distance and there'll be a light in the window. She'll be waiting for you and will take care of you."
He reminded her of the reception he had received, how she had taken him in her arms and welcomed him, had fed him a warm meal, then tucked him safely into bed, and then had provided a happy and safe home for him to grow up in. Then he wrote this: "You probably realize that I am reminding you of this because God can be trusted to be as kind as you were to me. At the end of the road, you will find love and welcome waiting, and you will be safe in God's care. And I wait for the day when I shall make the same journey and find you waiting at the end of the road to greet me."
____________
John Milton wrote a powerful poem about the crucifixion of Jesus. In later years, he began a poem about the resurrection. But later yet, he wrote in his memoirs: "This subject the author finding to be above the years he had when he wrote it, and nothing satisfied with what was begun, left it unfinished."
____________
A newspaper in Ohio reported on an Easter egg hunt which may be a sign of the times: "The Good News: This year for the first time, the zoo in Columbus, Ohio, sponsored an Easter egg hunt for little kids.
"The Bad News: The grown-ups found all the eggs. Thousands of adults 'stormed rope fences and scooped up the marshmallow-filled chocolate eggs strewn in plain sight for the little children,' says the Chicago Sun Times. Commented zoo director Jack Hanna, after seeing all 2,000 eggs devoured in less than five minutes: 'It was like watching 5,000 rats that haven't eaten in weeks.' "
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 118:14-24 -- "The Lord is my strength and my might."
Prayer Of The Day
Bright day, inward warmth, love set free, quickened life, joyous laughs, quiet touch: Easter morn. Thank you. Amen.
Lesson 1: Acts 10:34-43 (C, E); Acts 10:34, 37-43 (RC)
Peter preaches to the people that everyone, no matter his nationality, no matter his ethnic origin, everyone who fears (loves) Jesus and does what is right is acceptable to him. Peter then retells the story of Jesus' unblemished life, of the marvelous deeds he performed, how he, Peter, and some of his friends have been witnesses to all that Jesus did in Judea and in Jerusalem. He tells how Jesus was executed, then reappeared to certain chosen people, and dined with some. Thus, the expectations of the prophets were fulfilled in Jesus the Christ, and all who believe will be forgiven.
This pretty much summarizes the Christian faith as we understand it. Most of the elements are there. The gospel is universal. Jesus is the fulfillment of prophetic preaching. His ministry was one of great deeds with no sin. He was killed by his enemies, rose from death. He made himself known as the risen One. He forgives the sins of all who believe.
Lesson 1: Isaiah 65:17-25 (C)
Hope fulfilled: a new heaven, a new earth. This is the promise which Isaiah brings from God. He will "rejoice in Jerusalem," and "no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress." He predicts a time when all will live in integrity, no more thieving, no more injustice, no more suffering. How the human heart must leap with hopeful expectation at such a promise. But this cannot be an earthly hope. Thousands of years have passed since this glowing promise, yet still is heard the sound of weeping, still the sound of distress. Still thieving is the order of the day, injustice too often rules, and suffering is the common human lot. But there are two hopeful themes here. One is the revelation of the attitude which God has toward those who are faithful. It would be this way if God could have His will while respecting human freedom. Since that is, sadly, not to be, at least we understand the attitude which God has toward us. The other theme is that which underlies Easter: another place, a different time, a dimension to existence which lies outside -- beyond -- our comprehension. Yet we must reason that if all the other promises are true, then this must be true, and in our deepest gloom, when suffering is at its most intolerable, and death draws near, still there is hope -- more than hope -- conviction that, as the writer of Psalm 30 so beautifully wrote: "Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes in the morning."
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 (C)
The Last Enemy: Death. I frankly have little idea what Paul meant when he wrote that "he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet." I know there are many different points of view about this; the idea of a battle yet to come, the idea that all will rise in one grand hour -- frankly, I don't trouble my little mind about such matters. It's my suspicion that while some people are quite insistent on one belief or another, no one really knows. What I do believe is that through Christ death has lost the power to consign us to non-existence. In preaching, as usual, we must take account of our congregation in deciding what is relevant to preach. In my situation, I would admit my ignorance about the exact workings of all of this to focus on the bright promise at the end.
Lesson 2: Colossians 3:1-4 (RC, E)
Paul affirms the baptismal faith. We are welcomed into new life where Christ is "seated at the right hand of God," no doubt a figure of speech by which Paul meant to affirm the primacy of Jesus in the Kingdom of God. We are urged to focus life's emphasis on the right and good things of life, turning away from all the earthly concerns which divert us from what is best. If we do this, we shall be revealed along with Christ in glory.
This is certainly an idealized set of instructions. It's another case of an impossible ethic set before us, not, I would think, that Paul seriously expected many of us to comply, but to remind us of the highest possible goal to which we might strive. I was once an idealist as I came into the Christian faith. I initially had it in mind that those mentors whose preaching and teaching meant so much to me, were men of near-perfect character. I still love them dearly, but I soon learned they have their so-called feet of clay like the rest of humankind. I since have numbered many servants of the church among my friends, but have known very few such saints as Paul described. In truth, I have found comfort in this, because of what I know of myself. God builds with broken bricks. The Church has long survived and flourished in the care of sinful men and women. If therein lies our sin, therein too lies our hope.
Gospel: John 20:1-18 (C); John 20:1-9 (RC)
This version of Easter morn is excitingly detailed in describing the initial events around the tomb. Peter and another disciple, having heard the news that the tomb has been found empty, dash there to see the cloths with which the body was, by tradition, bound, lying neatly on the ground. The first portion of the passage concludes rather curiously by noting that the disciples then returned to their homes.
Mary Magdalene, whose life story must have been remarkable, is there. Grieving, she encounters two figures dressed in white whom she takes to be angels. Their queries also seem strange. "Woman, why are you weeping?" Strange, since the answer must have been obvious. "Whom are you looking for?" Again. One doesn't ordinarily wander into a tomb looking for just anyone. Either these angels had their minds on other things or, more likely, there's a lot to this story that wasn't recorded. In any event, another figure appears whom Mary presumes to be the gardener. It is, in fact, Jesus, and when she hears his voice she recognizes him. Jesus quickly warns her not to delay him as he has not yet gone to his destination. She is to inform the disciples that she has seen Jesus and been told that he would soon be ascending to the Father.
This passage has the ring of truth, partly because of the unanswered questions it poses. Why did the disciples head for home, rather than getting together to celebrate? Why did the angels ask such obvious questions? Were they, in fact, angels? Many mainline Protestant churches are not enthusiastic believers in the idea of angels at all. Why didn't Mary recognize Jesus? There may be simple answers to these questions, but the fact that John was not concerned for such matters does, in fact, make him believable.
Gospel: Luke 24:1-12 (C), Luke 24:1-10 (E)
The stone has been rolled away, so Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and, it would appear, some other women discover, and they are thereupon confronted by two men in "dazzling apparel" who gently scold the women for being there, explaining that they would find Jesus elsewhere, since he was not dead. Those good souls then go to the apostles and report this remarkable encounter. But those worthies find it hard to believe that these women could know what they are talking about, especially since Jesus is clearly dead. Of course this version doesn't exactly square with other reports, but the essence of this passage is that Jesus has clearly departed from the grave and is still alive.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Before we try to construct a sermon outline, let's see what common themes run through these several passages. The Isaiah passage contains the promise of a new heaven and a new earth. It foretells a time when suffering and dishonesty will have been erased, when people can live together in peace. Luke, in the passage in Acts, explains that this will, indeed, be a fulfilled promise, and that it will be through Jesus Christ that it can come to pass. Peter and his friends have witnessed this truth and bear witness also to the fact that this is for anyone -- everyone. God desires to save each and every living soul, and to affect this salvation, Jesus died.
Paul emphasizes the promise that through the death of Jesus, death itself has been overcome. We need not fear. If Jesus is still alive, then it follows that the human spirit can triumph over death through Jesus, and this will be our truth as well. Paul goes on in his letter to the Colossians, to emphasize the way we are to live through the rest of this life once we have received the Spirit of Jesus. We are to place our primary emphasis on the right and good things in life, those which have their basis in heaven.
And finally, on that bright morn when Mary and others arrive at the tomb, the truth is revealed that Jesus did not die, he is alive. All those other promises can now come true. Jesus has overcome death. Mary and Peter and others are witnesses. The grand experiment of God is now complete. Jesus, living among us and showing us the right way to live, has demonstrated his unparalleled love by dying, only thereupon to reveal God's irresistible power by returning from death to show us all the way to that new heaven, that new earth. Our home awaits, and there will be no suffering, no dishonesty. It is ours because Jesus died to show us the way.
I think we find four basic and interrelated themes with which to build an Easter sermon. (1) The "new earth" refers to the renewal of human life here and now. We are to change the way we live -- our ethics, our attitudes, our underlying motive for living. (2) By doing this, we begin to experience this new life, what could be called a "new heaven" (though that term means more besides). But the fact of the continued life of Jesus promises his divine working in our lives here and now, making this change possible. (3) The time must, of course, come when we will move on beyond this life. We will all die. But the resurrection of Jesus is evidence that we, too, will be restored to new life. (4) That new life, beyond death as we know it, will be exalted, freed of the burdensome failings of the flesh. Although we have virtually no knowledge of the conditions of that life, we have the loving promise that it will be a life of love and joy.
Now here's what I would consider: although I find these four themes to fall in the above order, I would want to end on a note of immediacy, affirming that while the promise of life after death is real and trustworthy, the newness of life which results from the death and resurrection of Jesus is immediate, it begins as we accept Jesus as Lord. I would rearrange somewhat the order of these four points and consider the following outline.
Title: "New Life The Dead Receive"
Text: (As selected from the several passages)
Theme: The poet Yeats wrote of the "Land of heart's desire where beauty has no ebb, (of) Time and endless song." Do we not all yearn for that? Is there one among us who does not, at times, wish there were some way to undo some wrong, to try again to show love where first we failed? Perhaps it's a phenomenon of advancing age, but I look back and much too belatedly see where I could have sown kindness and love, but instead, I sought things which I wanted for myself. Now I realize those things did not matter. If only there could be a Land Of Beginning Again, if there were just some way we could yet, at last, do everything in love. Oh, to be forgiven, to say the things I did not say, give the gentle hugs I did not give, tell of gratitude and appreciation -- words I never spoke in time. To be able to love as I have failed to love. But death says "No!" And yet, Jesus seems to offer all of this.
1. We all must die. Death is inherent in life. "Death has a hundred hands and comes by a thousand ways," wrote T. S. Eliot. And, death is more than the cessation of conscious life. It's that, true. But "death" takes many proximate forms in life: a failed love affair which leaves one grieving lover irreparably forlorn. It may come in the form of a belated realization of what one should have done with one's life, only too late comes the knowledge. The death of a much loved child. An unthinkable betrayal. Even advanced age can seem a form of death, as once heroic independence is now reduced to babbling incapacity while yet the mind perceives. On it goes, depression, loneliness, addiction, self-hatred -- we pastors have seen it all. For all our optimism, all our trusting faith, death stalks us as Eliot warned, in a thousand ways. And the measure of a man or woman is not in fearful effort to avoid life's risks, but in the courage to affirm life as it comes. To face life "in spite of," as Paul Tillich used to say.
2. Life demands of us to do battle with the destructive forces which surround us, and those within us. This is not a negative thought. It's an indisputable fact. "There is no ache more deadly than the striving to be oneself," wrote Yevgeniy Vinokurov. It starts there, in the beginning, in the effort to extricate oneself from the opposing forces of dependency and affirmation of the self. The very meaning of sin is self-centered self-assertion, and at least part of the purpose of life is the exertion of the human soul against that deadly force, the striving to be what God wants us to be rather than what our natural inward inclinations would lead us to be. I am persuaded that one way God answers prayers lies in the fact that the means to those answers lie in the fact that we are equipped at the instant of our existence to solve most of our own problems, win most of our own battles. When I was born, God already knew what my needs were (see Matthew 6) and began to answer my prayers by preparing me for my particular life.
3. Because Jesus died, the resurrection begins, not when I die, but the instant I acknowledge Jesus Christ as my Lord. Paul Tillich said this about the resurrection: "Resurrection is not an event that might happen in some remote future, but it is the power of the New Being to create life out of death, here and now, today and tomorrow. Where there is a New Being, there is resurrection, namely, the creation into eternity out of every moment of time -- resurrection happens now, or it does not happen at all. It happens in us and around us, in soul and history, in nature and universe."
4. But ultimately, the promise is that even when we literally die, there will be more. May I just add a personal note for the reader? Less than a month ago, my physician called me to report the results of some medical tests. He told me I have cancer. Surgery was required immediately. We pastors often visit with people who have heard that dread pronouncement. For some of us, the time comes when we must learn such news. It was my time. A few days later, I was admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital in Indianapolis and my left kidney was removed. I awakened in a darkened room where I was to remain for seven days. For five of those days I awaited the pathology report which would reveal something about my future. In those days, as well as the days of recovery which followed, I learned the truth of God's promise. Jesus was there with me in a most tangible way. Lifting me, transcending the pain, assuring me during the days of waiting. In truth, it was a wonderful experience. The announcement by my physician that the cancer was contained, no further treatment was required reassured me of course. But either way, I knew for a reality now, the promise is true.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
The story is told of a father whose son had deserted his post in a Civil War battle and was sentenced to be executed. The older man was sitting on a bench in the park near the White House weeping. A little boy walked by and asked the old man why he was crying. Needing someone to talk to, the father explained to the boy why he was so sad. He said he had tried to see the President to plead for his son's life, but he couldn't get in. The little boy, however, asked the father to follow him. When they arrived at the gate, the boy said to some soldiers standing guard, "It's all right. He's with me." He then led the father into the White House, and into a room where Abraham Lincoln was meeting with some important government leaders. The boy hopped up on the President's lap and said, "Daddy, there's a man here I want you to meet. He needs your help." Lincoln listened to the father's plea, then pardoned the son, all because his own son had cared about the father and son.
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In a book titled There I Go Again, author Steven Mosely tells of the night Anna Pavlova, a prima ballerina in Russia in the early part of this century, was to dance her most famous role as the Dying Swan at the Apollo theater in London. But she died two days before her performance, of pneumonia. But the night of the performance the hall was packed. As the expectant crowd watched, a spotlight was shown on the floor where Pavlova would have stood. Then majestically, it swirled about the stage to the music of the ballet. The people who knew, understood. As the light moved about the stage, they remembered her grace and beauty, seeing her dance again in their mind's eyes. And when the music stopped, Anna Pavlova received a standing ovation, a thunderous applause which echoed into the night. For those who loved ballet, she still lived -- in their hearts.
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"Withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not find yourself beautiful, yet act as does the creator of a statue that is to be made beautiful; he cuts away here, he smooths there, he makes this line lighter, this other purer, until a lovely face has grown upon his work. So do you also ... never cease chiseling your statue."
-- Plotinus (A.D. 205-270)
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An Easter Carol
Spring bursts today,
For Christ is risen and all the earth's at play.
Flash forth, thou Sun,
The rain is over and gone, its work is done.
Winter is past,
Sweet Spring is come at last, is come at last.
Bud, Fig and Vine,
Bud, Olive, fat with fruit and oil and wine.
Break forth this morn
In roses, thou but yesterday a Thorn.
Uplift thy head,
O pure white Lily through the Winter dead.
Beside your dams
Leap and rejoice, you merry making lambs.
All herds and Flocks
Rejoice, all Beasts of thickets and of rocks.
Sing, Creatures, sing,
Angels and Men and Birds and everything.
All notes of Doves
Fill all our world: this is the time of loves.
-- Christina Rossetti
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In a now out-of-print book, God In My Life by Bishop Wicke, the author told of an elderly lady who knew she must soon die and she was afraid. She wrote of her fears to her nephew, a minister. The man's parents had died while he was a baby and the aunt had raised him. Realizing his aunt's fears, the minister wrote back and reminded her of his arrival at her home when he was a very small child. Her handyman had met him at the train station. He recalled to her how, because he was frightened at his new surroundings, the handyman had assured him that "when we get out of the woods, you'll see her house in the distance and there'll be a light in the window. She'll be waiting for you and will take care of you."
He reminded her of the reception he had received, how she had taken him in her arms and welcomed him, had fed him a warm meal, then tucked him safely into bed, and then had provided a happy and safe home for him to grow up in. Then he wrote this: "You probably realize that I am reminding you of this because God can be trusted to be as kind as you were to me. At the end of the road, you will find love and welcome waiting, and you will be safe in God's care. And I wait for the day when I shall make the same journey and find you waiting at the end of the road to greet me."
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John Milton wrote a powerful poem about the crucifixion of Jesus. In later years, he began a poem about the resurrection. But later yet, he wrote in his memoirs: "This subject the author finding to be above the years he had when he wrote it, and nothing satisfied with what was begun, left it unfinished."
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A newspaper in Ohio reported on an Easter egg hunt which may be a sign of the times: "The Good News: This year for the first time, the zoo in Columbus, Ohio, sponsored an Easter egg hunt for little kids.
"The Bad News: The grown-ups found all the eggs. Thousands of adults 'stormed rope fences and scooped up the marshmallow-filled chocolate eggs strewn in plain sight for the little children,' says the Chicago Sun Times. Commented zoo director Jack Hanna, after seeing all 2,000 eggs devoured in less than five minutes: 'It was like watching 5,000 rats that haven't eaten in weeks.' "
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Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 118:14-24 -- "The Lord is my strength and my might."
Prayer Of The Day
Bright day, inward warmth, love set free, quickened life, joyous laughs, quiet touch: Easter morn. Thank you. Amen.
