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Easter !—April 20, 2014
Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Colossians 3:1-4
John 20:1-18
The Very Rev. David R. Wilt
Several weeks ago I was taking to a very good friend Who
likes to refer to himself as one of the Christmas and Easter people.
And, he was saying how excited he was that Easter was Coming
up because as he said, “David you always have a good Christmas
and Easter joke.”
Well I felt a little pressure and so began right away looking
for another perfect Easter joke and finally after several days of
Google and Bing and Safari searches I found one that is absolutely
hilarious, and so I want to share it with you—next week.
Happy Easter. The Lord is risen.
You know, the Easter story does not change from year to
year. We might get a few new characters thrown in from time to
time depending on which Gospel version of the resurrection story
that we read, but, there is one constant in all of the stories that is
not only a blessing but also a challenge for us. And, that constant
is that every year we find that the tomb is empty.
Now before simply passing me off as one who has a flair for
the obvious let me tell you why I think that is so important.
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How many people here have ever attempted to paint a
picture on a blank canvas?
Sandy and I took a course probably ten years ago now on
painting with acrylics. There may have been twenty people in the
class. The teacher told us where the horizon line should be. He
showed us techniques on painting trees and shadows and grass,
water, and birds. But, never once did he tell us where any of
those things should be in our picture or what color they should be.
So, when the class had ended there where twenty, equally
beautiful, equally creative pictures each unique to the person who
created it. The color schemes were all different, some reflecting
the darkening green shadows of evening while others glimmered
with the oranges and reds of a sun drenched landscape.
Many times over the years I have taken a blank canvas and
tried to replicate that same picture but each one always turns out
to be different and totally unique.
If we are more into photography, particularly those who
develop their own pictures this same thing happens. The
developer has been taught which paper to buy, which solutions
are required, how the light and darkness should be handled so as
to not overdevelop or underdevelop the picture.
The developing paper begins as a blank page but with the
careful emersion into the developing solution a picture slowly
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emerges. Little by little the picture become more distinct. The
subject becomes more apparent.
When a picture is done, you can make copies of the same
picture, but if you try to develop that same picture again the
result will be different, either in subtle degrees or perhaps in
drastic measures.
You see. that is why I think it is really important that every
year we are once again provided with an empty tomb.
You see, there is the church’s role and there is your role. The
church can be called the teacher or the instructor but you are the
artist.
Often churches will try to give you the finished product. This
is what Jesus should look like. This is what Jesus expects of you.
Too often the church tries to give you the picture of Jesus that
they prefer as a congregation. An then in Xerox fashion make
perfect copies of the picture or painting and tell you that Jesus
looks just like that, and that is the end of the discussion.
But, when the church realizes that it is only a teacher of
method or techniques, that it is only a teacher of ideas and
suggestions, as in our case the Anglican or Episcopal ethos, open
Bible studies and ministry to all of God’s children then the artist or
photographer is free to create the image of Christ that reflects
their uniqueness as a child of God.
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The artist or photographer is then free to experiment with
new and deeper relationships with Christ, free to find new ways
to boldly proclaim Christ in new ways.
This allows the artist or photographer themselves to
gradually realize and to daily transform into the masterpiece that
God intended. You see for the artist or photographer seeking to
improve ourselves and having our creation more reflect what it is
we want to portray is more important than simply repeating only
what we have learned in the past. Just as with the follower of
Jesus Christ eeking is more important than simply being satisfied
with what little we may now know. Not that we may not already
have found Jesus on many occasions but those findings are often
brief and fleeting or incomplete. The constant seeking challenges
us to be better.
Now, I know some will say that Jesus needs to be a constant
anchor in our lives. But, the image that I get of that anchor is not
the claw type or hook or maybe even just a big chunk of cement
that holds you in one place. Permanently fixing your position no
matter what the tides or winds or seas may be doing. Rather I
see the image of a sea anchor, that big parachute type device that
is deployed off the stern of a boat not to hold it rigid but to allow
it to maintain equilibrium in a storm or rough sea.
Everyone here today has painted or developed a picture of
Jesus in their lives. Maybe some have been working on that same
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image for years, adding paint over paint until the picture becomes
distorted, or trying to develop the same photo in the same
solution until it is undiscernible.
That is why it is so important for each of us that the tomb is
empty. What a beautiful world it becomes when new
manifestations of Jesus appear. What a beautiful world it
becomes when the artists that God has created keep producing
new and exciting visions of the living Christ.
What a glorious gift it is to be able to say, “No that is not the
picture of Jesus that I want reflecting my life and then use the
techniques we have learned to create more vivid more brilliant
expressions of the living Christ. How reassuring is it to know that
as we create new visions of Christ in our lives that the old ones
remain as a gallery of past expressions of faith.
The tomb is empty.
The canvas is empty.
We have been given the techniques.
We have all the brushes and paints that one could imagine in
every color of the rainbow.
It is time to create, as God created each one of us, a unique
expression of labor and love, a vision of Christ in our lives for
today the tomb is empty.