Sellwood/Capitol Hill United Methodist Church
Rev. David Weekley, Pastor
April 24, 2011
Easter
Acts 10:34-43
John 20:1-18
No Time for Cowering
We arrive at Easter with one remaining deadly sin to consider: sloth.
Some have asked me if I were going to talk about it today, and I said of
course not, Easter is no time to talk about sloth.
I jokingly said I was going to wait a week, maybe two- or even three before
talking about sloth; just whenever I got around to it!
But over the week I kept wondering about how Easter and sloth may be
related.
Sloth as laziness, apathy and idleness is certainly not at work early on
Easter morning, at least not among these women disciples described in the
gospel of John.
Whether from mourning, intuition, or something else, they appear driven
to rise early and make their way to the tomb where Jesus was laid.
If anything, this seems the antithesis of sloth.
When I looked up the antonym for sloth in one source I found, “liveliness”
and “bold.”
Interesting descriptive words, especially on Easter when we celebrate lifeabundant, eternal life as represented and embodied in Jesus our Christ; and
the bold sacred act Easter symbolizes for us.
The gospel account of the first Easter morning is told differently in John
than in the other gospels.
John’s Easter story reveals a powerful transformation not only in the
resurrected Jesus, but particularly in the disciple Mary Magdalene.
This is a transformation that erases depression and despair, replacing them
with joy, wonder, and hope.
Unlike the others, John implies that Mary arrived alone early at the tomb.
Why was she there?
Was she looking for answers?
John does not tell us her motivation, but she may have gone there looking
for meaning at the gravesite, much as we sometimes do today when a
loved one dies.
Arriving at the tomb, Mary sees the stone is rolled away from the entrance
and she immediately thinks the worst.
She believes Jesus’ body has been stolen.
Finding the body gone, Mary runs to Simon Peter and “the other disciple”
(John?) and declares, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we
do not know where they have laid him.” (vs.2)
Running to the tomb, Peter and the other disciple confirm her news.
John peeks inside and sees the wrappings, and then Peter suddenly rushed
past him and enters the tomb himself, seeing the empty grave wrappings
lying in arrangement.
As both disciples stand there, they come to believe Jesus has somehow
overcome death, though the full resurrection story was yet to unfold.
We sometimes gloss over the impact of this scene: it must have been
powerful.
Think about it: who would unwrap a decomposing body before stealing it,
then bother to rearrange the cloths in the tomb?
Oddly, in John’s narrative, the two disciples do not remain at the tomb,
looking around, attempting to understand what has happened.
We are told they, “returned to their homes.”
So Mary is left alone again.
We are told she now ventured, at least partially, into the tomb, wanting to
see for herself.
But all she can see through her tears is something described as “two
angels” who ask, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
We are shown Mary’s continued misunderstanding of what is happening as
she repeats what she said earlier to the other disciples, about someone
taking the body.
But this time she makes the statement very personal, changing “we” to”I”.
It is when Mary turns away from the darkness of the tomb and toward the
emerging light of morning that she sees the risen Christ standing there.
Jesus asks her the same question, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
At this point she thinks he must be the gardener; why else would anyone be
there at that hour?
Then Christ speaks her name, and everything changes: the darkness turns
to light as death turns to life, and despair turns into joy.
After reassuring Mary, Jesus directs her down the path again, to tell the
others what to do next; as one colleague remarked, Jesus commissions
Mary as the first witness to the risen Christ.
So Mary embarks on the next part of her journey, which is another miracle
itself: a ragtag small band of people still cowering in a corner is about to
become the first generation of the church- and Christ’s witness to the
world.
One question we may glean from John’s account of the disciple’s behavior
between the crucifixion and Pentecost (they were mostly hiding, grieving
and trying to regroup their lives), is:
What has me cowering in the corner?
Robert Flatt said of the resurrection: “The resurrection gives my life
meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what
my circumstances.”
It does not matter how you interpret the resurrection story theologically;
from the perspective of human direction and meaning, the power of this
story is that Jesus’ life does provide a model and direction toward a new
kind of life.
This is not the time for cowering in the corner.
There’s a story about Albert Einstein traveling on a train from Princeton.
The conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of each
passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached into his vest pocket
but could not find his ticket. He looked in his briefcase, but the ticket was
not there.
The conductor said, “Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. I am sure you bought
a ticket. Don’t worry about it.”
The conductor continued down the aisle, and Einstein continued searching
for his ticket.
The conductor noted Einstein down on his hands and knees, looking under
his seat for the ticket.
He rushed back and said, “Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. It’s no problem.
I know you bought a ticket.”
Einstein looked at him and said, “Young man, I, too know who I am. What I
don’t know is where I am going!”
Easter tells us where we are going and how to get there.
There was quite a long time between Easter and Pentecost, when the
disciples finally had the power and courage to live the vision of life Jesus
had taught them.
They tried going back to life as usual.
They tried to stay out of the way of the political powers of their day.
It was all to no avail: cowering in the corner did not work. It never works.
It did not work then and it does not work now.
Easter is an invitation into new life.
So, once more, the question: what has you cowering in the corner today?
Perhaps, like those disciples of old, you and I can spend these next fifty
days trying to figure out the meaning and the magnitude of resurrection
life.
I take heart in knowing that even those who spent so many days with Jesus
in this life still did not know what to do with the resurrection, and the idea
of a new, transformed type of life.
Sometimes it is difficult to entertain the idea that life really can be different
from what we have already created.
But this is just the promise of Easter.
John relates that the days following Easter were a time when the risen
Christ appeared to the disciples and provided further instruction.
On one occasion Jesus appears to Peter and invites him to breakfast.
As they talk Jesus asks if Peter’s love is genuine.
When Peter says yes, Jesus says, “Feed my lambs.”
Then Jesus raises the question a second time, and says, “Tend my sheep.”
Jesus asks the same question a third time: “Simon son of John, do you love
me?”
Peter says, “Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you.”
To which Jesus replies, “Feed my sheep.”
This is no time to cower.
People, God’s sheep and lambs, need some wonder, joy and hope- so do
we.
Easter gives us a way to find it, and live it.
It is called resurrection life, and may be one of the best definitions I have
found about it comes from Professor Richard Beck.
In addition to teaching, Professor Beck’s avocation is acting the part of
Jesus in a variety of passion plays.
Because of the part he plays many people ask him how to be more like
Jesus in their lives.
This is what he says: “You are never closer to being Christ-like than when
you are at your best. Think of yourself when you are feeling compassionate,
or generous or merciful and ACT LIKE THAT. Being the ‘imago Christi’ isn’t
hard. It’s just being you…when you are at your best not even Jesus could do
better…most of the things we are called to do are mundane and
straightforward. Do them well, and not even Jesus could perform them
better…You don’t need to be in incarnate God to give a thirsty person a cup
of cool water. It’s not magical. If someone needs a kind word, give a kind
word. It’s not rocket science….Sometimes being Jesus us just listening over
coffee. The point is, for large parts of the day, you ARE being Jesus. We
need to recognize and own those moments so we can sue them to lead us
into deeper spiritual growth…my point is simply this. If you want to be like
Jesus don’t try to be different. Be your best self.”
This is the invitation of Easter; this is the life of resurrection: This is no time
to cower; be your best self, in Jesus’ name.
Christ is risen, risen indeed!