"March Madness" struck (before the NCAA
basketball tournament) when more than 4 million people watched the sensational
documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," claiming that an inscribed ossuary found
back in 1980, contained the bones of Jesus and family. Like the big splash made
last year by The DaVinci Code movie and
the lost Gospel of Judas, "The
Lost Tomb" hype suggested that the find shakes the foundations of
Christianity. Nearly all biblical
scholars have other ideas about the ossuary's significance. But these yearly
flurries of controversy remind us that the resurrection of Jesus is still a
mystery that everyone wants to solve.
Because the biblical accounts of the resurrection show vague outlines
like what we see in our peripheral vision, it is far easier to explain what
resurrection is not than to pin down exactly how it all unfolded that
Easter. For one thing,
resurrection is NOT resuscitation – a coming back alive in one's original
form, like people sometimes report after CPR and artificial respiration. This distinction is not unique to
modern skeptics; people in the ancient world were not gullible folks who
thought death was reversible. In
fact, they were more realistic about death than we are, having seen so much up
close; we have a rather laughable confidence that we can outwit death. So, the announcement "he is not here;
he is risen/he has been raised" has always been surprising and unbelievable;
doubt and faith are tied together from the very first Easter.
The Good Friday story, as Luke tells it, ended on a most
ordinary note, with the women preparing to anoint the body of Jesus for burial.
The Sabbath Saturday too was most ordinary; the sun came up, the sun went
down. As faithful Jews, his friends
rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. This may have been the most consoling course to take - What
else could they do? Like us, grief and shock probably put them on autopilot, so
they no doubt cried because Jesus was dead and they had seen it all happen, and
eventually they ran out of tears. And they ate and drank whatever was available
if they were hungry, which some were and some probably weren't. And they rested
fitfully or paced restlessly. Whatever
came tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow was likely to be just the same as
yesterday had been, black and hopeless.
And not only was Jesus dead, but apparently Jesus was wrong about God
and God's grassroots kingdom adventure, which was over. There would be nothing good about "Good
Friday" if the story ended there.
BUT, as our choir anthem was titled, then came the
morning. The gospel writers
all use some way of conveying the incredible surprise of the empty tomb. Luke conveys the "Jesus lives" empty
tomb surprise this way: Did you hear the unusual emphasis as I read from Luke's
gospel? BUT on the first day of the
week, at early dawn, they (the women) came to the tomb... BUT when they went in, they did not find the body... He is
not here, BUT is risen... BUT
Peter got up and ran to the tomb.... Luke
packs 6 "BUTS" into twelve short
verses. Now "BUT" is one of those
short, intense words that grabs us and spins us in another direction. We are
alerted that something different is going on and we had better pay attention to
catch a glimpse. However, if you expect
the "Jesus Lives!" breaking news to include eye-witness "film at 11," well, you
won't get that from the Bible. "BUT" still leaves empty space that we cannot fill in
with facts and videotape. The
empty tomb by itself is not automatically good news, but could have multiple
interpretations.
Isn't
that just like God - real, glimpsed in the human Jesus, yet hidden, shrouded in
mystery, bridging the gap of empty space? Instead of digging for the facts,
perhaps we can be encouraged that the stories themselves direct us to ask what
resurrection MEANS and HOW we experience new life rather than what IT is. Although we use resurrection as a noun,
the Bible never does; it is verb, process, action. While the women are
wondering WHERE is Jesus' body, the men who appear redirect them with their own
question "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" Why indeed?
Luke
divides an unbelievably long Easter day into three parts to shed light on
different facets of resurrection as the risen Christ is recognized in and
around Jerusalem. These
events provide a cluster of meanings to be experienced that may be helpful to
us as we begin this Easter season, to remind us that Easter is not just confined
to this single day.
1) Early dawn – the women find the empty tomb. They tell the male disciples who do not
believe, except possibly Peter.
2) Daytime – a pair of disciples encounter Jesus on
their walk to Emmaus. They do not
recognize him until he breaks bread with/for them at evening, then he quickly
vanishes.
3) Late evening – the pair rush back to Jerusalem to tell the rest, they hear about Jesus' appearance to Peter, and Jesus mysteriously appears in the room.
So,
Jesus lives, as we affirm in the appearance stories and a second meaning of
resurrection mystery begins to dawn – this new beginning is about God as
much as it is about Jesus. Easter is God's great "YES!" to Jesus. God has
vindicated Jesus, God said "Yes" to Jesus and "No" to the powers that executed
him. God
puts the seal of approval on Jesus' life and ministry, on how Jesus understood
God and God's kingdom. God
did not kill Jesus on the cross, God did not want Jesus to die, though God
allowed it to happen. Easter reverses the betrayal of Thursday night. Easter reverses the "NO" of all empire
powers pounded into Jesus by crucifixion and death on Good Friday. These powers said "NO" over and over again to Jesus and his
followers –
No, we won't let you live if you
won't recognize our authority.
No, we won't let you live like life is
one long party, especially because you extend invitations to all the wrong
people.
No, we won't let
you tell us who is sick and who is whole, who is clean and who is unclean.
No, No, No!
BUT
God says "Yes!" to Jesus. God acts to
affirm his life and the non-violent way he went to his death. That non-violent way includes the
debates in the temple, the refusal to marshal his troops to violent revolt, his
feeding of hungry mouths, his healing of broken bodies, his poetic vision of
God's kingdom adventure of the way, truth, and life. God saying "Yes" to Jesus is God's "Yes" to life on earth,
not only in a future heavenly realm.
So
God says "Yes!" to our life, too.
What does resurrection look like for us, how do we take part in God's
grassroots kingdom adventure that is just beginning, not dead and gone as it
seemed on Good Friday? The answer
is deceptively simple – we try to live like Jesus lived, for and with
others and not just for ourselves.
We experienced the seed of Easter resurrection when we glimpsed hope
past betrayal, in our forgiveness and acceptance at the Lord's Table, our
communion meal on Thursday, the Last Supper that is the first kingdom meal.
Elizabeth Edwards, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards' wife, and Presidential spokesman, Tony Snow, give us another glimpse. Within a week in late March, both of them received news that their deadly cancers have recurred. Betrayed by their bodies, both have vowed to live as fully as they can in the face of death. Such a choice for life is not ultimately about their success in fighting the disease, although these two are pursuing cancer treatments as they should. Instead, their choice for life expresses their dreams of living for others and not for themselves alone. They hear God's Great "Yes!" to life.
Then,
there is a young man I know who seemed bent on self-destruction, though that is
not what he thought he was doing. The alcohol and drugs were taken to drown
anger and to dull pain in his life.
He hit rock-bottom one night, went to jail, went to rehab and is working
now. He is the same, but different. He was dead and now he is alive. He is alive making new friends because
the old ones threaten to suck him back into the dead zone. He knows he is alive because he is
committed to feeling the pain of others, to making amends for poor choices. He is alive with Jesus because he is
reaching out to pick up the pieces when others go down this destructive
path. He heard God's Great "Yes!"
to life.
Then,
there is Bob Woodruff, news anchor, who is recovering (with the help of
thousands) after traumatic brain injury from a roadside bomb in Iraq. Traumatic brain injury is being called
the signature injury of this war, from metal slicing through nerve connections
to brains being shaken like bowls of Jello from the bombs' shock waves. In seconds, soldiers and civilians are
robbed of dreams - jobs, marriage, parenthood seem out of reach and will be
forever changed. Our friend Gordon Hatcher, and others like him, sees these
broken psyches and families torn by the aftermath of war on his weekends at the
VA hospital in Fayetteville. But
out of the shards, can come new life.
Because of Woodruff's prominence, he is accompanying thousands on a
resurrection journey by calling our attention to the slow, frustrating, BUT
joyful process of building new life.
God is at work in these painstaking processes of creating something
new. God even now acts within the
healing process where scientists and doctors gain new information about how the
human brain works. God acts within the healing communities and churches banding
together in support of soldiers and families when they come home. Each of the ordinary folks who see
Jesus at work in hospital wards and rehab units, are like God shining through
the faces in the crowd from Palm Sunday who return for Easter. Who hear and
speak of God's Great "Yes!" in their lives, like the stones expected to be
silent sufferers, but now crying out and proclaiming the Jesus is alive.
Then,
there is the movie documentary "Murderball," which profiles teams of wheelchair
rugby players, a rough-and-tumble Olympic sport that lives up to the film's
title. Car wrecks and freak accidents put these guys in their chairs, but they
have chosen action and life rather than passively waiting for life to happen
around them. The film is blunt and
funny. There are practical jokes – the fellow with no legs who is hidden
under a large box to scare some girls visiting the team guys - and new lessons
about sex, as well as arguments and periods of despair. At the end of the film, the team visits
Iraq vets at Walter Reed to "recruit" new players and it was awesome to watch
the awakening of new life in guys who never expect to be "normal" again, who
might not have had the courage to look for a new normal without the Murderball
team. All hearing God's Great "Yes!"
to life beyond death.
Make no mistake – it is
easy to say "no" to resurrection, to refuse that anything new can be redeemed
from tragedy. There is evidence
all around that the world is pretty much the same today as it was yesterday as
it was 2000 years ago. All the terrible stuff that we do to one another and the
havoc we are capable of wreaking on the earth which seems greater now than ever
before. But I urge you to say "Yes!" to life because that is where God is. Let
us tap into faith that God draws us through death into something new and
lively. If you say you believe in
Jesus' resurrection, but you hang on to old familiar patterns and refuse the
invitation to live as Jesus lived, then you do not really believe that Jesus is
present now. If in some way that
defies your explanation and understanding, you find yourself burning with
desire to live as Jesus lived, then you believe in resurrection, in its
multiple dimensions and possibilities.
Then you become a disciple like Peter and Mary and all the rest who
thought they were dead, but came alive again. Hear God's great "Yes!" in your life. And all the people
said "Yes!" with God. And all God's people said "Amen."
Easter comes right in the middle of spring this year, though
we had a scare of frost just last night.
The grass has turned green and its sprouting fast, the unfolding redbud
and dogwood blossoms help us to see past the ugly winter storm damage, and the
birds are courting with loud morning songs – we even have had a crazy
woodpecker jackhammering on our roof.
To the amazement of children, some churches will release colorful
butterflies this morning that have been invisibly forming inside drab cocoons. As the world outside the church
celebrates Easter with overdoses of bunnies and bonnets, chocolate eggs and
marshmallow chicks, it is tempting to believe that Easter resurrection is
simply part of the natural cycle of creationÕs yearly renewal. But Easter and resurrection are
decidedly UN-natural.
Easter
never happened ....Easter always happens.
Do you
believe that Jesus' resurrection and later appearances could have been
videotaped for the nightly news broadcast, story coming up, film at 11? Or not? Or do you just wonder about it all? I won't ask for a show of hands
because we all would feel compelled to say "yes" to the original question.
[Resuscitation
means resumption of physical existence; resurrection means entry into a
different kind of existence. Lindy Black, Sermon Nuggets]
Don't
get upset over the yearly chocolate bunny, creamy egg, marshmallow chick
extravaganza, this year's uproar at Easter is over the 6 foot, 200 pound, milk
chocolate Jesus that had been scheduled to display in New York City's Roger
Smith hotel gallery. Titled "My
Sweet Lord" constructed by Canadian artist Cosimo Cavallaro. Thanks to all the publicity, the video
on YouTube, etc., this sculpture has probably been seen by millions who never
would have known about it otherwise.
Each of the gospel writers takes steps to indicate that the
risen Jesus is surprising, he is not simply the same flesh and blood man known
in earthly life.
It is not about whether we know HOW resurrection took place, nor how the dimensions and
shape of oneÕs new self came about.
But HOW we are going to live.
Maybe Jesus wasn't really dead, but just comatose and then
revived. Maybe the body was stolen
(or moved as "The Lost Tomb" authors proposed). Maybe the women went to the wrong tomb. The empty tomb begs for
interpretations, which each gospel writer supplies, as they refute the above
problems.
As I prepared this week I thought of the old nursery rhyme:
Humpty Dumpty sat on
a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a
great fall.
All the king's horses
and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty
Dumpty together again.
Resurrection
is about God acting to put "Humpty Dumpty" (the great egg of creation) together
in a new shape fueled by God's purpose. are the same yet different after their
lives have been broken apart, because putting the pieces back together with God's
help results in a different shape of person.