For Sunday, March 23, 2008

My Brothers and Sisters,

Jesus Christ is risen! Alleluia!

That Easter proclamation, in every human language, rings out around the world today. It’s a proclamation we hear each year as we celebrate Christ’s triumph over the powers of sin and death; it’s a proclamation that begins the celebration of the Easter Season. Easter takes us a full fifty days to celebrate – as there are so many angles, so much depth to this ultimate mystery of God’s love for us: God gives us his only Son to suffer, to die, and to be raised up so that we might have new life. Not only “life to come,” not just eternal life, but new life here and now!

And yet isn’t it interesting that the Gospel of Easter Sunday focuses not so much on the concept of the resurrection, or the fact that the Lord’s body is missing, or that the tomb is empty. Rather our attention is drawn to the reaction, the response of his disciples to the mystery of the empty tomb. The fact of the matter is, the disciples weren’t really expecting a resurrection. They had pretty well resigned themselves that the events of Good Friday pretty well spelled the end of the story of Jesus Christ. Suddenly, on Easter morning, they were confronted by a whole new set of circumstances. No doubt they began to remember some of the things that Jesus had told them which hadn’t made sense at the time. Probably their minds started to “connect the dots” little by little. The disciples were confronted by mystery, they were confronted by confusion… and they were confronted by “the” choice: to believe – or not to believe. And to live accordingly. To have new life – or not.

My friends, the Gospels do not describe precisely what happened to Jesus at the moment of resurrection – they recount how his followers experienced the effects of the resurrection. In fact, all the Easter readings focus on the implications of the resurrection in the lives of Jesus’ followers. In the second reading for Easter Sunday (1 Corinthians 5:6b-8), Paul instructs his converts that – joined to Christ in baptism – they must now live a new way. Having been raised with Christ from the dead, they must purge themselves of their old way of living. They are on the threshold of newness: a wondrous world of mystery has opened up before them, inviting them to step into it.

We are not unlike those first followers. Yes, we know the Easter story. We have heard “Christ is risen” before - perhaps we even take the resurrection for granted as just one more article of faith. And yet, we never seem to fully grasp the meaning of the Easter story. Once again – today – we are confronted by “the” choice: are we really open to believing it or not? Are we willing to admit that we need to continue to grow in realizing – and putting into action – the implications of “Christ is risen?” These words are not just theology!

Only through faith can we accept this mystery. But if we do accept it and live our lives as if we believe that this indeed has happened, we will make it real in our world. Paul gives us our cues: we are to purge ourselves of malice and wickedness, of resentfulness and revenge; we must turn away from taking advantage of others or delighting in their misfortune. Instead, we must live in sincerity and truth, integrity and love. Easter invites us to value God’s creation and life in all its forms, to savor the wonder of God’s love for us, to choose to believe and resolve to live as those who belong to Christ. To embrace new life.

Jesus Christ is risen! Alleluia!

Easter blessings and peace,

Rev. Charles G. Kieffer, V.F.
Pastor