Easter Sunday
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Canton OH
Acts 10: 34-43, 1 Cor 15: 1-11, John 20:1-18
April 5, 2015
The Rev. Barbara Bond
Jack
We have an abundance of birds in our back yard. Each morning Norm and I sip our tea,
say our prayers, and watch the birds as we sit in our three-season glass-enclosed room.
Sparrows, cardinals, robins, chickadees, blue jays. On Maundy Thursday, we saw a
new visitor to the aviary. Hmmm, bright green feathers. We did a double-take. It was a
parakeet. I named him Jack.
What is Jack doing in our back yard? We have no idea. As far as we know, parakeets
are not native to northeastern Ohio. Perhaps he escaped from a cage somewhere.
When I go out to feed the other birds, they all scatter, but not Jack. He looks at me
curiously, unperturbed, and continues munching seed.
Entering into the mind of Jack, I see him living in a cage, safe and secure amongst a
loving human family, all his needs satisfied, he thinks, with his bird brain. And then,
something changes. The door to his cage is left ajar, a nearby window is open to let in
fresh air, and zoom! Out goes Jack into a new world. And the world is so much wider,
so different from his former life. Wow! This is great! Jack is out in the open air, riding
the wind, winging from garden to garden in Market Hills. Perhaps he will venture out
into other neighborhoods. The whole world is his, and it is so different from his former
existence. Everything is changed.
On that first Easter morning 2000 years ago, Mary Magdalene likewise found out that
everything is changed. She came to the tomb of Jesus, deeply grieving and weeping,
expecting to tend to his dead body, but it was not there. Assuming someone had taken
the body away, she wept even more. But then things changed. First, two creatures
inside the tomb spoke to her. Then she saw someone outside the tomb who also spoke
to her. She thought perhaps it was the gardener. But then he called her by name:
“Mary!” and she knew it was Jesus. But he was changed. So different. He told her not
to cling to the old way she had understood before, but to open her mind: everything is
changed!
Mary Magdalene ran to tell the other disciples, and, according to legend, she told
everyone she met, including the Emperor of the Roman Empire! Did the disciples
believe her? Maybe, maybe not. They did receive their own visit from the Risen Christ,
according to Peter’s account in Acts, our first reading today. Then they too told
everyone. All of them, Mary and the disciples, became Apostles – that is, they were sent
to tell the Good News. It was transformational for them all.
And, according to St. Paul in our second reading, the news spread rapidly. After visiting
the disciples, the Risen Christ appeared to about 500 others. And then, Paul writes with
great emotion, “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” And we
know about the change which that visit made in Paul, transforming him from a
persecutor of Christians, into the Number One missionary for the Christian message.
The message of Easter continues to change our lives, to change all who hear it: We
can no longer live our limited lives, so small, like a bird’s cage. No, the door is thrown
open to a new existence, vast, unlimited, full of generosity, abundance, compassion,
love. The Good News of Resurrection empowers us to build a new world, one that
serves everyone in Christ’s name. The possibilities are limitless. We too can ride the
wind of the Holy Spirit and proclaim to all: He is risen! He is risen indeed!