March 23, 2008 - Easter

Would You Believe This?

by Julianne Stokstad

It's Easter morning and a truly a glorious day. The church is packed, the sun is shining and our cross is covered with an abundance of beautiful flowers. We are singing hymns that let our hearts soar. Hopefully we will have a taste of Easter candy or fresh cinnamon rolls and catch some joy as we watch the children hunt for Easter eggs. All are symbols of Easter, of the sweetness of new life and resurrection. If I told you that resurrection was all around us, would you believe it? Probably yes, today it is easy to spot new life, it is bursting forth. Spring is the season of new life and of hope.

But the first Easter had little in common with this. There were no flowers on that cross, no inspiring music, no chocolate bunnies. There was only the gray chill of grief and despair. We know of the events of that Passover - - the Last Supper, the arrest and trial of Jesus and his crucifixion and the resurrection - - because they were recorded in all four of the Gospels to inspire and to help the early Christians remember what happened, remember God's presence. Religion at its root means to bind us back to our story, to God. And Christians for going on two thousand years have been remembering and celebrating the resurrection on Easter morning. Celebrating? Yes, Celebrating! Easter-resurrection--is the lynchpin of all Christian belief, the centerfold of our faith.

How are we to understand and believe into the resurrection when, as Alan Miller said in his Lenten reflection, "we differ in our understanding of the historical detail of the resurrection event." Indeed, we do. For some the resurrection story is more of a puzzle and a mystery especially in the light of our modern scientific understandings of how the universe works.

Believing has gotten a bad rap in some circles. Kathleen Norris writes that the Greek root of the word believe actually means, "to give one's heart to." We tend to put thinking and believing in opposition. When I left science teaching to become a minister, some thought I'd forsaken clear rational thought. Absolutely not, it was a move toward integration of my mind and heart. I hold what I know about religion and science lightly and they are in conversation daily. The longer I live, the more questions I seem to have. I am thankful; here in the UCC we don't ask anyone, not even the minister, to check our brains or our hearts at the door.

So what does it mean to believe into the resurrection? Plainly put, the synoptic gospels and most Easter hymns tell us that resurrection is what happened after Jesus died on the cross. After three days he rose again. I honor greatly this belief that sustains the faith of Christians throughout the world. But I also know there are Christians and non-Christians who are unsure of the resurrection even as they live their lives in kindness and service of others. Perhaps these people feel they need to keep away from church or just keep quiet about their doubts. That is not the case here, in fact it has never been the case, even the disciples who were closest to Jesus had many doubts. They didn't understand the resurrection, at least at first.

A close reading and comparison with the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, show that John differs from the other gospels in some interesting ways. Sandra Schneiders, John scholar, writes: "the resurrection narrative in John is not really about what happened to Jesus after his death. That has already been told in the account of his glorifying death.....he has returned to God. The resurrection narrative is about what happened to Jesus' disciples after his death." (Written That You May Believe p. 58 )

Resurrection in John is about how we live our lives in the here and now. It is not about what happens after we die or about seeing our departed loved ones again as important as this is. What I want to consider is living. How did the depressed, grieving, despairing disciples change and become vital, strong and trusting in God enough to create a church, the Christian church? What happened? John says it is resurrection. They were changed by an encounter with the Risen Christ. Whenever anyone has an encounter with the living Spirit of God, called Christ, it is impossible to put what happened into words. It is like trying to explain what falling in love is like, only those who have had the experience can get through their own experience what it was like. For the rest, it is only a faint picture.

The first was Mary. She was standing in the garden weeping. The garden is reminiscent of the Garden of Eden where God was the gardener. She'd seen angels, already that tells us of her shift of consciousness and openness of heart to God. At first, she doesn't recognize the gardener and rather testily answers his question, "why are you weeping" as if to say, "stupid question, Jesus' body is gone, he has died and my hope is gone." It is only when he calls her by name, that she recognizes him as her Rabbouni, the Risen Christ.

This experience transformed her. This transformation is still happening. Let me tell you about a woman I knew. She had struggled with different forms of cancer for much of her life. At 80, her breast cancer returned with a vengeance in the form of two kinds of bone cancer. She fought valiantly, but diseases progressed and after a few years she was referred to Hospice Care. During the final months of her life, something amazing began to happen. As her body became emaciated, taking on that gray color cancer gives, there came a glow, an inner light from her drew many people to her. The young tough body-pierced caregivers were drawn to her, as she seemed to be able to give them love they had not ever been able to receive in their lives. Not everyone saw the light, but everyone recognized her peace. It was amazing because in her life, she had been a very needy person with few friends. Her daughters were the only family that kept in close touch. When she died those who cared for her grieved mightily because she had changed their lives. What I saw that happened was that through her faith and trust in God, she was literally filled with God's light and love, God's glory, the gospel of John calls it, as she moved closer to her own death. The interesting twist in this story is that I was the one resurrected. I was changed. I learned how to live my life, to not fear death. I know this is true because this woman was my mother.

Resurrection is about being changed and transformed by God right here in our life. It is what happened to the disciples who were changed by an encounter of God's presence. They were changed. When we encounter the living Spirit of Christ, we are changed in the deepest parts of ourselves. But often we don't even recognize the change.

Let me give you a few pointers to help you recognize this change within yourself or those you love. First we catch the shine. There is a light coming out of our eyes-it is a hard thing to see in ourselves, but others surely can see it. I saw it this week coming from the eyes of the women in the jail. I go there each week to teach a generic spirituality class, to tell them that God loves them. These women have all had hard and sad lives. They've made lots of bad choices to get by. God's love is pretty abstract for them. One of the ways for them to catch a glimpse of God's love is to remember a time when they felt truly loved. For many of these women, it was a grandmother or a teacher or a sibling they remembered. So this week I invited them to make a collage of pictures torn from magazines of this memory. It is hard to explain to you how bright the light I saw shining forth from each of them was, I was truly taken aback. They caught the shine.

We see things differently. We begin to see Christ's presence all around us. When I've had this experience it is like a veil is lifted. We have the eyes to see it in Creation, in the eyes of a child, in a simple act of kindness from a stranger. We begin to find compassion for others, whatever their situation or place in life. Thomas Merton writes of this experience of standing on a street corner when suddenly he KNEW we are really all one. He knew deeper than words can tell that people passing by were God's children. As he looked at them he felt compassion and understanding for them, for he knew that their struggles and their joys. We see we are all sisters and brothers. The differences became less important than what connects us.

We understand power differently. No longer do we need to prove our worth by being better, stronger, more perfect than others. Now we understand we are here on earth to serve each other, to help each other. The economic, political and cultural powers no longer control us in their wily ways. Fear falls away as we understand that no matter what matters, we are not alone. This power doesn't come from us, rather through us. We begin to understand that the greatest strength is in kindness and gentleness. Instead of taking, we find ourselves joyously and generously giving.

The transformation takes some time, as the habits of a lifetime are not changed in a single day. It might be hard to recognize such an experience and it can slip away, if you don't pay attention. But resurrection brings new life, new hope in the reconnection of our relationship with the living God.

So I invite you to consider what could use resurrection in your life. What are the dark gray cold places where fear is in control? Places where you feel no hope. Places that drain you. These are the places where the light of new life can shine. Don't let anything get in the way of this life giving experience, not dogma or cynicism or preconceived prejudices. Let your questions lie quietly, you can get back to them later and just go out, into the garden or into the street and walk slowly with an open heart. In some unique way, you will see God walking with you. God is yearning to reconnect and reestablish a relationship with you. Don't be afraid, you always have the last say. Our God is powerful, yet respectful of your integrity. Let resurrection happen! It is Easter Sunday, let us all celebrate that resurrection is here and now, for each and every one of us. Would you believe that? Amen.

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