Tonight, we come to the conclusion of our 3 act story…
Part 1 began with love on Maundy Thursday with Eucharist and foot washing, and ended with the betrayal & desertion in Gethsemane.
Part 2 was Good Friday and the brokenness of our world was brought home to us in the crucifixion of Jesus.
Tonight, Part 3, God has shattered the silence of Good Friday, when evil and darkness seemed to have won. We who stood by the cross as witnesses in prayerful silence waited and hoped.
Now it is God who shouts out new life to our world! God has renewed the earth and this has happened through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
“God has turned all our sunsets into dawns.” – St. Clement of Alexandria
And in that light, we live into the resurrection; not as some best kept secret we lock away in our vaults for no one to see. But we shout our Alleluias! For in our baptism we are called to live the joy of the resurrection in our daily lives, in how we care for ourselves, each other and the world God has created. But, do we fear living out our faith?
Certainly Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome who went to anoint Jesus were so shocked at the Good News, they fled in terror and amazement…could it be true? He lives? For a time, they kept the news to themselves afraid … But we would not be here celebrating if they never told anyone, for they did tell Peter and others, and all came to believe that Jesus burst from the tomb, and was indeed risen from the dead.
Maybe what we fear is the change in our lives if we truly celebrated and lived that promised resurrection in our lives. If we truly celebrated the resurrection, would people see us as crazy? What would it look like in our lives? The author Megan McKenna tells a story about such a time when she was leading a Bible study. She writes,
"Once in a parish when I was studying scripture (Luke 7: 11-17) with a large group, someone called out harshly, 'Have you ever brought someone back from the dead?' My response was 'Yes. Every time I bring hope into a situation, every time I bring joy that shatters despair, every time I forgive others and give them back dignity and the possibility of a future with me and others in the community, every time I listen to others and affirm them and their life, every time I speak the truth in public, every time I confront injustice — yes — I bring people back from the dead.'" [Not Counting Women and Children: Neglected Stories from the Bible by Megan McKenna]
Do we see such changes from death to life before us? Will we let go of fear and bear witness to life? Will we share the beautiful light?
The Swan - Mary Oliver
Did you too see it, drifting, all night, on the black river?
Did you see it in the morning, rising into the silvery air -
An armful of white blossoms,
A perfect commotion of silk and linen as it leaned
into the bondage of its wings; a snowbank, a bank of lilies,
Biting the air with its black beak?
Did you hear it, fluting and whistling
A shrill dark music – like the rain pelting the trees – like a waterfall
Knifing down the black ledges?
And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds -
A white cross Streaming across the sky, its feet
Like black leaves, its wings Like the stretching light of the river?
And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?
Jesus has brought us new life, new beginnings. It is there for us to live, to experience, to celebrate in our lives. The resurrection is God’s gift of redemption to us, the cross and tomb are empty. As Mary Oliver would ask…
· And did you feel Easter, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
· And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
· And have you changed your life?
We have to make that new start, we have to love, to forgive, to listen, to hope, to change our lives… As Dietrich Bonheoffer Lutheran Pastor & Martyr put it:
It is “from the resurrection of Christ that a new and purifying wind can blow through our present world… If a few people really believed that and acted on it in their daily lives, a great deal would be changed. To live in the light of the Resurrection – that is what Easter means.” (Letters & Papers from Prison)
May our lives live in that light and help share that resurrection to all who are still living Good Friday lives. Amen.
Easter Benediction:
And now to God who is able to keep us from falling, and lift us from the dark valley of despair to the bright mountain of hope, from the midnight of desperation to the day break of joy; from the sunset and darkness of Good Friday to the dawn and light of Easter; to God be power and authority, for ever and ever. Amen. (slightly adapted from Martin Luther King (1929-68)
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