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Sometimes
knowing the end of the story can make all the difference.
Would American Idol be as much fun
if we knew for sure that Fox had rigged the voting so
Sanjaya will win in the end? On the other hand, with the
last volume coming out, doesn’t it help to know that in the
end, Harry Potter is sure to come out on top? Sometimes
knowing the end of the story makes all the difference.
I realize there is no way to make Easter
a surprise. You all know the end of the story or you
wouldn’t be here this morning. So how do we get in touch
with the tension, the anticipation, the “what-happens-next”
for the disciples or the first readers of the Gospel? Can we
hear the story as if for the first time? Probably not. The
same is true for the Beatitudes. We’ve been reading them all
this Lenten season, so the final word comes as no surprise
for us. But for the disciples who listened for the first
time, and for Matthew’s first readers, what a shock it must
have been. After the promise of comfort for the mourner,
care for the poor, blessing for those who work for peace and
thirst for righteousness, this final word must have been an
unbelievable surprise, a baffling contradiction, not at all
what they would expect.
Who in their right mind would believe
that those who are persecuted are the blessed? We always
assumed God’s blessing meant abundance, not the promise of
persecution. And anyway, who wants to be part of a band that
can anticipate having people revile you, and say all manner
of evil against you falsely, and then in the midst of it all
you are supposed to “rejoice and be glad”? Give me a break!
What kind of blessing is that? The pre-Easter disciples must
have been scratching their heads in disbelief.
Ah, but you see…we know the end of the story.
We know that Jesus himself was
persecuted. We know they spoke all kinds of things against
Jesus falsely. We know they reviled him, they rejected him,
they even went so far as to nail him to a cross. And we know
the end of the story. In the end, Jesus Christ won the day!
He overcame all the sin and hatred. He conquered death and
hell itself. He arose from the dead with a shout of joy and
a song of triumph. He came from the grave with a word of
hope, saying, “No matter what life does to you, you can
rejoice. No matter how bad it gets, you can be glad. Jesus
Christ is Lord and he shall reign forever and ever. So even
in the midst of persecution, you can rejoice and be glad.”
James Howell says anyone who talks like that is not just
odd, he is downright dangerous, because not even death can
discourage him and not even hell can stop him.
I
wonder, can we put ourselves in the place of the first
readers of Matthew’s Gospel?
Maybe thirty years after the fact, they
knew what persecution was all about. They knew John the
Baptist had been beheaded, and that Stephen, the first
martyr, had been stoned. They knew that most of the
disciples were in hiding or running for their lives. They
knew what persecution felt like, tasted like, smelled like.
For them, this Beatitude was not some abstract, esoteric
teaching to be reflected on in the beauty of a lily-clad
church or the comfort of a cozy classroom. It was the
bedrock reality of their everyday lives. They knew what it
meant to be persecuted.
But
they also knew Jesus’ promises and had found them to be
true:
“I will never leave you or forsake
you.”
“Lo, I am with you always, even to the
end of the age.”
“My joy will be in you and your joy
will be full.”
“In this world you will have
persecution, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the
world.”
“I am the resurrection and the life.
Those who believe in me, though they die, yet shall they
live, and whoever believes in me shall never die.”
You see, sometimes it makes all the difference to know the
end of the story.
Have you heard the story of the frantic
woman who, in the middle of Holy Week, ran to her bank in a
panic, demanding to withdraw all of her funds. The clerk
tried to calm her down and politely asked if she would mind
telling him why the withdrawal. She responded, “Well of
course…it’s the sign in your window. It says you will be
‘closed for Good…Friday’! I wanted to get my money before
you closed for good!”
That’s what they thought, of course:
·
The Jesus movement—closed for
good…Friday
·
The business of the Kingdom—closed
for good…Friday
·
The work of the peacemakers, the
meek, the merciful; comfort for the mourners and the healing
for the poor, all of it shuttered up and shut down—closed
for good...Friday.
But then came Sunday. Very early, while
it was still dark, Mary and the women came to the tomb. They
were coming to bury their beloved Lord, and with him, their
best hopes and brightest dreams; coming to anoint his broken
body with the tears of their broken hearts; coming to write
the last chapter, to wrap the body, to seal the grave. The
sign on the door said: “Closed for good Friday.”
But
when they got there, to their utter amazement, the stone was
rolled away, and the sign on the door read: “Open for
business Sunday!”
·
Open to new life
·
Open to hope and the future
Now
even the tomb is open. Christ is risen and opens the way to
new life.
When it seemed all hope was gone; when it
seemed evil had done its worst and won the day; when it
looked for sure like death would have the last word,
stripping them of their future, their faith, their life
itself, Jesus came to meet them with the promise:
“You will rejoice and be glad.”
This morning we sang this ancient text
which dates back at least to 1695, with music by Palestrina
from the 1500s. Can you hear the chanting echoes through the
stone cavern hallways of ancient monasteries, carrying with
them the hope and the witness of the ages?
The powers of death have done their
worst;
but Christ their legions hath
dispersed;
let shouts of holy joy outburst:
Alleluia!
Lord, by the stripes which wounded
thee,
from death’s dread sting thy servants
free,
that we may live, and sing to thee:
Alleluia!
(U.M. Hymnal, page 306)
“Blessed,” says Jesus. “Blessed are those
who catch a glimpse of the joy. Blessed are those who, even
in the midst of persecution and suffering, find hope in the
promise of the Risen Christ. Blessed are you when others
misunderstand you, mistreat you, and beat you down for my
sake; rejoice and be glad, for Christ is alive and lives in
you.”
If you haven’t guessed, I love Easter!
During the seven years I served outside
the local church, I suppose Easter Sunday was the most
difficult day of the year—not to be in the procession for
“Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” not to preach the joyous
good news. I love to retell the old, old story of Mary and
the supposed gardener, John and Peter and the race to the
tomb, the stone rolled away and the angel messenger. I love
it all. And with the little made-for-television brouhaha
this past year about the bones of Jesus and the “Lost Tomb
of Jesus,” I want you to know I firmly believe in the
historic, bodily resurrection of Christ. (Sidebar here:
I would simply remind you that James Cameron is not a
biblical scholar; he is the fantasy-maker who gave us
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet on the bow of the sinking
Titanic. Those are his biblical credentials!)
But as much as I love to retell the story
of that first Easter, Easter is not just about what happened
in a garden in Jerusalem two thousand years ago. Easter is
not just about what happened to a crucified corpse, not just
about what became of the bones of Jesus. Easter is about
what happens in you and me when we allow the Risen Christ to
come alive in us. It’s about the dawn of hope in our broken
and bleeding world. It’s about the song of joy which can be
heard even in the face of shouts of hatred and violence,
persecution and suffering, sadness and death. Resurrection
is not just about what became of the body, but what becomes
of us, here and now.
I hope you go away from this morning
convinced that the tomb was empty. But more important, I
hope you go away from here with new hope to face the day,
with more courage for living. I hope you go away from here
with a song of joy in the face of whatever life may bring.
“Rejoice and be glad!”
Greg Jones, Dean of the Divinity School
at Duke University writes: “If the resurrection is true, its
significance ought not be limited to the past…it must be
experienced today.” Then, because he is a dean at a major
research university, I guess he probably felt he needed to
cite a profound theological tome. He quotes none other than
Alice in Wonderland:
The Queen
said: “It’s very good jam.”
“Well,”
said Alice, “I don’t want any today at any rate.”
“Oh,” said the Queen, “you
couldn’t have it even if you did want it. The rule is ‘jam
tomorrow and jam yesterday, but never jam today.’”
“But,” Alice said, “it must
come sometimes to ‘jam today.’”
“Oh no,
it can’t,” said the Queen. “It’s jam every other day, but
today isn’t any other day, you know.”
Greg
concludes:
For too many of us, there is resurrection
yesterday (Jesus) and resurrection tomorrow (resurrection of
the dead), but never resurrection today. If Easter is good
news at all, we must experience resurrection today.
(L. Gregory Jones, “Easter People,”
Christian Century, July 1, 1992, page 644)
If Easter faith is only about the
historical fact of Jesus’ resurrection, it is great theology
and sweet memories. But if Jesus is risen, it means he is
alive in our world today to bring us light in the dark
places and comfort for those who mourn; to bring blessing to
the meek, the poor, and those who hunger for righteousness;
to bless the work of the merciful, the peace-makers and
shalom seekers, those who are known as children of God. If
Christ is risen, he can teach us to sing in the sorrows and
in the face of whatever life may bring, to rejoice and be
glad. If Christ is risen he confronts us and confounds us,
comforts us and encourages us, not just yesterday and
tomorrow, but today.
Lo! Jesus meets thee, risen from the
tomb;
lovingly he greets thee, shatters fear
and gloom.
Let the church with gladness, hymns of
triumph sing,
for our Lord now liveth; death hath
host its sting.
Thine be the glory, risen, conquering
Son;
endless is the victory thou o’er death
hast won. (U.M. Hymnal, page 308)
You see, it makes all the difference to know the end of the
story.
Rejoice and be glad, for great is your
reward, not only in heaven, but here and now…today!
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