RESURRECTION REALITY

Jeremiah 31:1-6; Colossians 3:1-4; Matthew 28:1-10

Maundy Thursday, April 6, 2023

Pastor Ritva H Williams

Alleluia! Christ is risen.

Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!

This is our Easter greeting and our Easter proclamation. But what does it mean? 

Something both common and highly unusual happened 6000 miles away and 2000 years ago. A humble Jewish carpenter-prophet-rabbi was murdered by Roman soldiers. It was brought about by the unhappy collusion of one of his disciples with the native Judean religio-political leaders who for their part were trying to stay in the good graces of the Roman military governor. That was the common part. The  fact that most of his disciples ran away, hid or denied ever knowing him was also pretty common. Not so common was the courage of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (as she is called in today’s gospel reading). 

These female disciples did not run away. They were eye witnesses to Jesus’ death on the cross, his burial, and the posting of armed guards around the tomb. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came back on the first day of the week. In our Gospel reading, we hear that an angel descended from heaven, rolled back the stone that sealed the tomb, showed the women that the tomb is empty, and instructed them to tell the other disciples, “Jesus has been raised from the dead and is going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see him.” The crucified one has arisen — that was and is the highly unusual, most amazing and most mysterious aspect of the story of Jesus. 

It is not only interesting, but highly instructive that the first followers of Jesus did not try to explain what happened or how it happened. That was and is a mystery beyond human knowing. Instead they focused on what the resurrection meant for them. For Matthew’s community it meant Christ was with them always, even until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20b). Other early Christ followers expressed the outcome of the resurrection as a human/divine union: Just as God is in Christ and Christ is in God, so we are in Christ and Christ is in us (John 17:21). Or as we see in this morning’s reading from Colossians: the conviction that in the waters of baptism we all die with Christ and are raised to new life:

Since you have been raised with Christ … seek the things that are above … Set your minds on things that are above … for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ 

in God.

The ancient church celebrated these insights in the liturgy for the Great Vigil of Easter which we celebrated yesterday evening, proclaiming “This is the night in which heaven and earth are joined—things human and things divine.”

In an effort to try to express this wonderful insight, I have turned once again to a favorite piece of art: John Reilly’s “Miraculous Draught of Fishes.” At the center of this painting is the sun from which facets of color emanate like ripples on the water. Kaleidoscopic circles of fish link Jesus (on the right) with the disciples (on the left) through the sun, sky and water. This is very clever. The Greek word for fish is ichthus. For ancient Christians this word was an acronym. Each letter represented the first letter of the words Iesous Christos Theou Huios Soter which we render in English as Jesus Christ God’s Son Savior. One of the meanings of this painting then is that sea, sky, sun, disciples and Jesus are all connected, infused with, and animated by Christ.

A similar idea is expressed in our bulletin art, Jen Norton’s “All Creation Sings His Praise.” Here Christ is shown in front of the empty tomb, embedded in and filling the created world. An angel trumpets on one sleeve, fish swim up the other. Flowers and birds adorn Christ’s robe, more birds nest in his halo. Sun beams emanate from Christ’s head as stars and rainbows fill the skies. 

Rob Bell, writes about this in his book Everything is Spiritual. He describes how the early Jesus tradition named the Spirit energy that moves through all of creation  Christ: They wrote of how through Christ everything came into existence. They spoke of this same animating Christ energy that forms the sun and the stars as forming each one of us. They understood the Christ to be both universal and particular. Both cosmic and personal. The same Christ, animating and energizing all of it. There’s a line in the New Testament: He holds all things together. All of it. All of us. Everybody, everywhere in Christ.

That is why I have surrounded the central paintings on the screen with icons of the Christ. Notice something about these icons? They show Christ in a diversity of persons — and that’s the point. Although all these icons depict male human beings, we know that scripture teaches us that in Christ there is no longer male and female, free or slave. That is the good news indeed. As Rob Bell puts it so eloquently:

You aren’t an object, you aren’t a pawn, you aren’t an accident, you aren’t disposable, you aren’t here to be stepped on, you aren’t here to be exploited for your labor or body or production value or vote, you possess Spirit. Personal, intimate, infinite, knowing, Spirit. You reflect the divine, present in each of us. You’re in Christ.

So when we wonder about the meaning of Easter Sunday and our celebration of Our Lord’s Resurrection, we realize that it is much more than an historical event that happened long ago and far away. We realize that resurrection is not so much about going to heaven when we die, as it is about how we live here and now. Accepting the love of Christ is about transforming how we perceive and know, experience and live, serve and share in this life. 

A wise person once said that what happens in the life of Christ happens everywhere and always. Jesus the Christ reveals the pattern for all creation — birth, life, death, and new life here and now and forever. We shy away from the reality that the only path to resurrection is through the grave, but the good news of the resurrection is that death and the grave do not have the final word. The everlasting, unbreakable love of Christ will have the last word. As scripture teaches us nothing in all creation can separate us from that love. 

So no matter where you are in life, what you are experiencing now or in the days ahead, receive this blessing.

Blessing That Does Not End by Jan Richardson

From the moment it first laid eyes on you, this blessing loved you.

This blessing knew you from the start. I cannot explain how.

It just knows that the first time it sat down beside you,

it entered into a conversation that had already been going on forever.

Believe this conversation has not stopped.

Believe this love still lives — 

the love that cross an impossible distance to reach you,

to find you, to take your face into its hands and bless you. 

Believe that this does not end —

that the gesture, once enacted, endures.

Believe this loves goes on —

that it still takes your face into its hands,

that is presses its forehead to yours

as it speaks to you in undying words,

that it has never ceased to gather your heart into its heart.

Believe this blessing abides.

Believe that it does with you always.

Believe it knows you still.