Easter! Again! By this point, many preachers, teachers and church workers are exhausted from Lent and its intense activities. What, then, shall we present to the Easter crowd–many of whom we see only occasionally, when they need some good news? Most of us, myself included, search for some clever twist that we haven’t used before. This, we feel, may put some new life into our dusty tradition of the years ‘n’ years of telling the Resurrection Story. Help me, Lord, to remember that today’s faithful have come especially to hear the old story of new life, and thus to become stabilized on their journey through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
Long before Eternal Life became a goal for holy living, Isaiah of Jerusalem made a quantum leap in prophecy: he announced that God is holding a summit meeting, and has drawn together all nations in sacred covenant! “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines….And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever.” (25:6-8a) We read “ALL peoples/nations/faces” five times in verses 6-9! “Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation!”
The Centurion Cornelius called St. Peter to have him explain a bit about Christianity. Peter had just been wrestling with the issue of including non-Jewish believers, and had received a vision of God’s OK-ing animals which were considered “unclean”. His Easter message began, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34-35) The traditional Church needs to make this invitation to participate in the Resurrection! The exiles and disenfranchised are the ones most appreciative of Easter….
This year, the Gospel story is from John, chapter 20. The story seems to have two parts, divided along gender lines: we guys relate to the sprinting (but clueless) disciples, whereas the ladies groove out on the romantic encounter of Jesus & Mary Magdalene while the dew is still on the roses. Be as it may, “I have seen the Lord!” is the core of the Christian experience.
The explosiveness of Easter is that which has re-created the universe. If any power can undo exploitation and fear, anger and greed, it is this knowledge that God has arranged for life to overcome death. Reuben P. Job has offered, “To live in a world where evil holds no fear and death holds no threat requires a radical shift in understanding and attitude. Such a world is no longer under the dominant control of darkness but is already showing signs of the healing and life-giving presence of light.” (A GUIDE TO PRAYER FOR ALL WHO SEEK GOD, page 169) Every morning is Easter morning from now on!
God (has) blessed us, every one! Horace Brown King
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Amen!