Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter A

Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18

 

AN EASTER WAY OF LIFE

 

The hope of the resurrection has often been interpreted as a great escape to a better life beyond the grave.  Those who believe in the resurrection of Jesus will leave all their sorrows and sufferings and this sinful world behind and journey to a better world.  It is striking, however, that the immediate impact of the resurrection of Jesus was not to provide his closest followers with a great escape, but to send them back into life in a wholly new way.[1]  As N. T. Wright explains, “the resurrection stories in the Gospels do not say Jesus is raised, therefore we’re going to heaven or therefore we’re going to be raised. They say Jesus is raised, therefore God’s new creation has begun and we’ve got a job to do.”[2]

 

After the crucifixion of Jesus the disciples cowered in the Upper Room.  They were a defeated band of followers, fearing for their own lives and wondering what the future held.  Peter struggled with his denial of Jesus.  Yet in Acts we read of Peter and the apostles boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ at great risk to their own well-being.  What transforms this band of defeated disciples into bold witnesses for Jesus Christ?  Nothing less than the resurrection of Jesus. 

In Acts 10:34-43, Peter shares the gospel  with the household of Cornelius, a Roman military officer: “We are witnesses to all that [Jesus] did both in Judea and in Jerusalem.  They put him to death by hanging him on a tree;  but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”  As the disciples ate and drank with the risen Jesus, what did he say to them?  Did he promise them a great escape from the world?  According to Peter, the risen Jesus commanded them to preach to the people who Jesus is and what God is accomplishing through him.  In other words, he sent them back into the world in a wholly new way.  They were to be witnesses in word and deed to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  They were to live an “Easter way of life”.  A number of the apostles and the early Christians paid the price for witnessing to the risen Jesus and for living an Easter way of life.  They were martyred.  The resurrection of Jesus, therefore, was not an escape for them; it was a death sentence.

 

Martyrdom is not a certain fate for followers of the risen Jesus.  However, we too are called to bear witness to the risen Jesus and to live as Easter people.  Those who have been transformed by the resurrection of Jesus are not provided with an escape route; they are sent back into the world to live in wholly new way.  What characterizes this new Easter way of life?  What can we learn from those who first bore witness to the risen Jesus?

 

We can identify at least seven characteristics of this Easter way of life.  They all happen to begin with the letter “C”.  Why seven?  It is the number of wholeness and completeness.  Why the letter “C”?  No particular reason--but it so happens that Christ begins with “C”.

 

The first characteristic of the Easter way of life is that it is Christ-centered.  Bearing witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ was the focus of the life of Peter and the apostles.  It is to be the focus of our lives as well.  Jesus Christ takes hold of us at the center of our lives. [3]   In him we live, move, and have our being.

 

In our high tech, multi-media world we have so many voices coming at us, each of them saying, in effect, `Follow me’ or `Listen to me’.  The voice Easter people heed before all others is the voice of the risen Jesus.  In the onrush of voices it can be difficult to discern the voice of the risen Jesus.  That is why it is so important to go where we have been assured Jesus speaks.  We hear him speak in worship.  We partake of his visible word in the bread and wine of Holy Communion, through which forgiveness is proclaimed.  We discern his voice as we study and meditate on his word.  He speaks to us in holy conversations with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  An Easter way of life is not a part-time occupation.  The one who takes hold of us at the center of our lives impacts our every word and deed.  The resurrection of Jesus transforms everything.  We are a new creation, called to bear witness to Jesus in all that we say and do.

 

A second characteristic of an Easter way of life is conviction.  On the day of Pentecost Peter stood in the middle of Jerusalem and proclaimed with conviction that God has raised Jesus from the dead.  Gone was any fear of religious and political leaders.  Gone was the guilt-ridden uncertainty of one who had denied Jesus.  We are told the people were cut to the heart by his words.  They were ready to do whatever he asked.  He tells them: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven.”  Those who believe in Jesus Christ and are baptized are not immune from sorrow or suffering; nonetheless, they live with conviction in the midst of the troubles of life.

 

Closely related to conviction is a third characteristic of the Easter way of life: confidence.  Confidence is another way of referring to the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ.  Often when we pray on Sunday morning for those who have lost a loved one, we pray they will be filled with a confident hope in the resurrection.  The resurrection of Jesus fills us with confidence that God is with us in life and in death and that God’s final word will be a word of life.  A confident Peter had a tremendous impact on his listeners.  Confident Easter people continue  to have an impact in our own day.

 

Fourthly, an Easter way of life is characterized by curiosity.  At the end of the Gospel of Matthew the risen Jesus commands his disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything  that I have commanded you.”  Easter people are constantly examining Scripture, seeking to learn more about who Jesus is  and what he teaches us for our lives.  We also need to be curious  because we never know where or in whom we may encounter the risen Lord.

 

One of the most touching scenes in the Easter story is Mary Magdalene’s encounter with Jesus in our gospel reading for today.  Mary stands weeping by the tomb.  She turns and sees Jesus, but she does not recognize him.  Jesus says to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?  Whom are you looking for?”  Mary thinks he is the gardener and says to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”  Jesus says to her, “Mary!”  When he calls her name, she recognizes him.

 

God calls us by name in baptism.  Curiosity may have killed the cat.  But in the case of Easter people, curiosity opens us up to the surprising ways the risen Lord appears to us.  Who knows when and where and in whom he may call us by name.

 

A fifth characteristic of an Easter way of life is compassion.  Over and over again, we are told in the gospels that Jesus was moved by compassion to minister to those in need.  So closely does Jesus identify with those in need that he says in Matthew 25:40: “Inasmuch as you have done it  for the least of these, you have done it for me.”  Easter people recognize the presence of the risen Jesus in the faces of the hungry, the thirsty, the ill-clad, the strangers, the sick, and the imprisoned.  Our hearts are moved to compassion as Jesus’ heart was moved to compassion.

 

Since the beginning of Lent we have been gathering food for the hungry.  The people of St. Andrew have given generously— over 3,000 pounds toward our goal of 4,000.  By April 3 we anticipate the goal will be reached.  At the preschool chapel on Wednesday, it warmed the heart  to see the children bring forward food.  In giving food to the hungry, it’s as if we are giving to the risen Jesus himself.

 

Sixthly, an Easter way of life is characterized by courage.  Peter, Paul, and the apostles needed a strong measure of courage to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in the face of persecution.  Early Christians knew martyrdom was a strong possibility for anyone who confessed faith in Jesus Christ.  It is hard for us to relate to the courage they needed.

 

Tomorrow marks the 28^th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador.  Archbishop Romero was transformed by Jesus into a passionate voice on behalf of the poor and oppressed.  He refused to be silent despite numerous threats against his life.  He was gunned down as he elevated the host during Holy Communion.  They thought they had silenced him.  But the hope of the resurrection he proclaimed could not be silenced.  The power of the body and blood of the risen Lord could not be thwarted.  Easter people live with courage because they know the forces of death will ultimately be destroyed, because they know the risen Jesus will have the final word in life

 

The final characteristic of the Easter way of life is that it is compelling.  The appearance of the resurrected Jesus filled Peter and the disciples with hope and compelled them to become witnesses of the resurrection.  Their witness and way of life were compelling to early Christians.  The Easter way of life has continued  to be compelling to millions ever since.  Inasmuch as we live the Easter way of life we too become compelling witnesses to the risen Lord.  Today we are celebrating the good news of the resurrection of Jesus.  In a few minutes all are invited to come forward to eat and drink at the Lord’s Table.  The risen Jesus is taking hold of us at the very center of our lives and will send us out into the world in a wholly new way.

 

Blessed are those who find this Easter way of life compelling.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.