On Easter in 1965 a well known radio newscaster was covering the story of Easter at a large church. In his comments he noted how many thousands of people attended church that day to celebrate the “alleged resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
The phrase “the alleged resurrection” used by the newscaster in this story got him fired from his prominent radio broadcasting job. Today such language would barely be noticed. Good Friday processions through many towns are often met with traffic that will not yield and even outright hostility. One person told me she used to be upset that cars and pedestrians would not stop to at least show some sign of respect for a solemn religious observance. On further reflection she realized that at the time Jesus was crucified the same thing happened on the streets of Jerusalem. In Roman occupied Jerusalem, crucifixion of criminals was so common that the crucifixion of a Galilean peasant teacher would hardly be newsworthy whether in 32 AD or 2010 AD.
What separated the death of one Jesus of Nazareth from the hundreds of other crucifixions the Romans carried out in Palestine was that this particular person was executed on the cross, buried in a brand new tomb, slipped out of his burial wrappings leaving them in place in the tomb, rolled the heavy entry stone away and appeared many times to the disciples and others. This Jesus fulfilled what scripture had predicted for a thousand years and rose from the dead.
This week a local radio station invited Grace Church and others to deliver a one minute message on the “1 Meaning of Easter.” When I arrived at the station I read some of the scripts delivered by other local clergy. Nearly all of them focused on the notion that Jesus’ death was a sacrifice for our sins. The older I get, the more uncomfortable I am with this explanation. It is too simple and it says more about the nature of humans than it does about the nature of God. What kind of an all powerful God would willfully desire God’s own child to die a violent death?
From the Easter story and from my pastoral work with people in all sorts of conditions there are only three things that I can really depend on: First, when human violence and tragedy occur, it is not God willing that to happen. In fact God suffers with us the same way God suffered with Jesus on the cross. Secondly, Jesus did not come to die or even to die for our sins. Jesus came to give life and give life abundantly. Jesus came to give life. Even his death on the cross could not stop his life-giving mission. Finally, the life Jesus gives he give freely to everyone.
As hard as it is to accept, this means that God wants ALL of humanity to have life and to come home: ALL of humanity ranging from Hitler to Mother Teresa; from crooks to saints; from the richest to the poorest. God wipes our slate clean and welcomes us home like the father welcomes his son home in the story of the prodigal son.
Jesus came to give life abundantly. This was only possible from exposing the brutality of the cross and the infinite potential of the empty tomb. For a moment, let’s consider the world without resurrection. The world without the empty tomb becomes a world with puppet Gods fashioned and manipulated by the will of human beings. The world without an all-forgiving God means that what is real is limited by what we can see and grasp. Without unbounded forgiveness, people fear scarcity and they fight over the limited things they can possess.
People without a God greater than death itself have no guide star. They have nothing truly ultimate above everything else. Without God, ethics degenerates into shallow legalisms. In a world without resurrection, relationships are simply cut off and never reconciled. Without the empty tomb, the authority structures in society such as teachers, police, judges and clergy all crumble since the only thing important in life is the individual.
Grace Church is richly blessed by believers in the promise of the empty tomb. God is present and working in this congregation. Generation after generation has grown up here in the faith and hope of the resurrection. Lives are changed. Families are celebrated. We are forgiven, made whole and sent out again to bless others because of our faith.
The life Jesus gives is not biological it is eternal. When we take communion we join the communion of saints including our loved ones in the past as well as people who have not even been born. In one sacred moment at the altar rail, all of those people who have touched our lives and made us who we are today are present with us. And whenever two or three are gathered in His name Jesus Christ is truly present in the breaking of the bread. In one glorious instant we are forgiven. We are made whole. We are present in the light of pure love itself. That is the Good News on Easter. We celebrate it every Sunday. Alleluia Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!!