17 Apr EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 17, 2022
What exactly does the church proclaim by way of this gospel text? Well, to start with, it makes numerous claims. For one, by stating this all happened on “the first day of the week,” Sunday became the regular chosen day to celebrate Easter and every weekly service in the Christian church thereafter.
Second, the text makes a claim that there were real women and men who witnessed what happened. They saw Jesus die in the flesh, and as such, were prepared to tend to his body as it lay in a tomb. The first hint that things were not traveling the expected course was finding the stone rolled away. Second hint, there was no body lying on the slab.
What happens next, has happened to all of us. After experiencing an upsetting event, emotions run either high or ragged. We fall into learned behaviors and approach circumstances with certain expectations.
When few or none of our preconceived notions come true, we fall into an even more fragile state. Like the women, we begin to doubt. Internal questions lead to fear and confusion. Becoming terrified and being perplexed goes hand in hand with approaching upset rigidly.
What diffuses becoming terrified and being perplexed is fluidity, becoming open, listening and considering another point of view. Intervention requires someone or something that helps us reorient. People able to regain their bearings are asked pertinent questions, questions the vulnerable listener has the capacity to hear.
Just asking, “Why?” is rarely helpful. But asking, “Why,” while also giving clues can prove useful. Pointing to errors in their thinking the women are asked, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” The question is informative, not only inquisitive.
It tells the listener, a.) “You’re in the wrong place;” and b.)”You’re searching for the wrong thing.” It also affirms the listener by saying, “ Yes, you were on the right track. You arrived at the place you were heading for.
Under normal circumstances, your plan would have worked. But circumstances are not normal. The thing or person you sought is no longer the same. In fact, much has changed. The one you search for is not among the dead, but among the living, or the reverse, no longer alive, but passed on.
God has a way of delivering good advice exactly when needed. It’s been true in my life and I imagine it’s true for you, too. At pivotal moments, we hear a voice speak plainly. Sometimes, it’s our own inner wisdom, sometimes it’s the voice of a relative, friend or other messenger sent by God.
The voice of someone who knows you well or knows the situation well… offers sage advice. The message itself is often short, a few chosen words that make a strong point or point out a major intersection in your life.
These words of scripture not only give an account of spoken dialogue and actual interaction, but serve as kind of a written script for future use. The messenger says, “He’s not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you…,” which proves useful.
Helping a person remember what they know can be easier than teaching something new. We all have wisdom inside to draw on. Things we’ve already heard might be worth remembering, especially if those words originally came from God.
Realizing inner truth allows a person to confidently turn on their heels, to remind others of what they know, but forgot. The text speaks other truths. Unfortunately, not all will hear or be able to remember. Some will consider the source unreliable, lump their voice with others they mistrust, make up reasons why neither listening nor believing makes sense. To counter any claims made, they invent words and stories of their own.
Honest to God, has nothing changed in human nature since Jesus’ time? Must what was true then hold true now? See here. There is still much reason to have hope.
When each person plays a part, shares their experience, and communicates their thoughts, it gives others a chance to make up their own minds about what is true or not. Things can still turn out okay if we don’t become set on Plan A and rigid.
Progress can occur in equal measure to the number of individuals willing to shift from one set of expectations to another. All it takes is for one brave soul to believe, like Peter. Not even to believe wholeheartedly at face value, just enough to want to find out for themselves what’s true. That’s what the church proclaims through this gospel text.
Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He didn’t offer his opinion, or begin to argue with the women or fellow disciples. He went directly to the source of the tale itself. What happens most often with us is we chop off the tale and run with it, using it to spin yet another tale. Never discovering, stooping, looking into the matter and seeing the linen cloths for ourselves. When we chop off the tale and run with it, instead of arriving home amazed, we buzz with anger and cynicism.
The Easter story is not only a historical account of what actually happened. It’s a story that identifies us among the characters. It allows us to examine the stance from which we view the testimony of others. Who do we see as credible? What are our preconceived notions? Who has tried to reorient us?
Advice is rarely welcomed, but sometimes necessary. My brother is one who offers advice when necessary, once saying, “You can’t continue to live at home,” and another time reminding me that I had options. As a result, I moved immediately and in the second case, pursued other options. Each time, his influence and making a major decision to change course proved valuable.
Hearing, “I believe you, tell me more,” is also valuable and life changing. Too bad the women who returned from the tomb and others who are doubted don’t often hear those words. But the gospel text does relay a hopeful hidden truth. God needs only one or a few dedicated followers to change the course of history.
Enduring faith and good families are built on bedrock, a solid base able to provide structure and stability for loosely deposited layers that follow. There’s no one who hasn’t benefited from bedrock beneath them. Almost everyone has ancestors who overcame problems or difficulties. If not, you would never have been born or be here on Easter morning.
In the beginning, creation was spoken into being by God’s word. Words continue to be part of God’s creative plan for salvation. Salvation means numerous things. It includes preservation from harm, ruin or loss. In theological terms, it includes deliverance from sin and sin’s consequences.
One day, so to speak, a pivotal conversation between God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit began with words. Perhaps something like, “We can’t let them continue as things are going.” Followed by, “After all, there are other options.” Followed by, “I agree, and believe them. How about we try to help?”
What happened that first day of the week had never happened before.
Jesus was not only raised from death to life, but to life everlasting. Lazarus faced death again after being raised from the grave. But Jesus defeated death once and for all. He robbed death of its predatory status, protected the innocent, and ensured survival for future generations.
My theory of atonement is this: Jesus’s trip to the cross was similar to the strategy of a Killdeer. Nothing delights me more than a good animal/scripture analogy.
The first time I drove down Front Street in Halifax and saw what I thought was a Killdeer running parallel to the road, I was thrilled.
Added to my delight was the response of Charlie Funk when asked if he’d ever seen a Killdeer around here. He said, “Sure.”
How many of you enjoy watching shorebirds run toward and away from waves? Who couldn’t love a member of the Plover bird family with their little round heads, beady eyes and long stilted legs?
Jesus, like a Killdeer, and being God, adopted special behaviors to protect his young. He blended in well with his environment until danger came too close. When he left the throne and sin entered the world, at first it looked like he’d exposed his offspring to harm.
When in fact, he was drawing attention to himself, drawing the predator farther away from accessing its prey. On the cross, he fell into a position of vulnerability and appeared unable to help himself. Incapable of flight all the while, leading the major threat to life away from earth’s nest.
Jesus knew Satan couldn’t resist the smell of blood or a cry for help.
The difference between a Killdeer and Christ is that Christ was not pretending to be injured or near death and Christ demonstrates more than a clever strategy. Both point to part of God’s marvelous design in nature: to create parents and offspring that are surprisingly inventive and resilient, able to resist and avoid threats before they’re aware threats exist or aware that provisions are offered on their behalf.
Killdeer eggs and chicks are never abandoned and are limited in their exposure. God made Christians, too, rather oddly shaped so as better to not roll from the nest. On Easter Sunday, danger has been averted. The Killdeer “gets better, assumes an upright posture and flies away, circles to return and tends its young. Unlike other birds, Killdeer chicks hatch with a full coat and can walk out of the nest as soon as their feathers dry.”*
Let us pray. Lord, you are a wonder and have wonderfully made all of creation. Thank you for your Word, your plan, your design to draw evil and death away, to protect the innocent, and ensure salvation for future generations. Only you could have obtained eternal life and freely offered to share it. Raise us to maturity, delight in our funny ways. Pluck our doubting, cynical feathers. Lead every being toward truth, safety and home. Amen.
*Click here for more information about how killdeer fake injury to protect their nests.