Easter. A Joyous and Beautiful Gift!

​At this, Mary Magdalene turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.  He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?  Who is it you are looking for?”  Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”  She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).  Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.  Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:14-17)

Good morning and Happy Easter!  What does Easter mean?  What does it mean to you?

My first Easter memory was as a five year old.  I will never forget it because I will never forget the Easter outfits my mom got for my brother and me.  My outfit consisted of little green shorts and a striped green shirt.  My brother had on the same new outfit only his was blue.  We looked like a couple of live Easter eggs.  My mom must have gotten them at a two for one sale.  Anyway, we looked ridiculous.  Everyone said we looked so cute, and many wondered if we were twins.  I, on the other hand, could not wait to get back home to take off this funny embarrassing outfit.  Besides, I wanted to eat all the chocolate bunnies in my Easter basket.  Overall it seemed like a good holiday.  I wondered, “is this what Easter is all about?  Is it about new things, new clothes, new candy?”  “Well as long as I got chocolate,” I thought.

Fast Forward to Easter Sunday my Junior year in college.  I was working part-time as a youth minister at an urban church in Columbus Ohio.  Our priest had a crack of dawn service at a local park.  Six or seven of us showed up in this park right before sun-up.  When the Sun came up we had a nice little sunrise Easter service.  Then we each received a kite and were invited to fly our kites through the park, shouting out Alleluia, if we felt so moved.  Overall it was a good Easter holiday.  I wondered, “is this what Easter is all about?  Is Easter about night turning into day, winter turning into spring, rebirth, or new life?”  “Where is the chocolate?!” I thought.

Fast forward to Easter of my last year in seminary.  I was finishing up my masters degree.  I was armed with all of this theological information.  I knew we were going back to Ohio to start a new life.  My first child was on the way.  I went to the National Cathedral that morning.  The place was packed and full of pretty flowers.  The music was spectacular.  The sermon was not so good, at least not to my new higher standards (please note the sarcasm).  Overall it was a good Easter holiday.  I wondered, “is this what Easter is all about?  Is Easter about new knowledge, new beginnings, new life?”  “Where is that darn chocolate?!” I thought.

What does Easter mean? What does it mean to you? 

Let us rewind about 2000 years ago, shall we?  In John chapter 20 we read about the most emotional encounter anybody ever had!  Mary Magdalene is totally despondent. She thinks that somebody has stolen the body of her Lord and friend from the grave.  She can not even properly mourn her loss.  Her only connection has been robbed from her.  She feels an unbearable pain of complete and forever separation from Jesus.  Tragedy has been punctuated by utter catastrophe.  She is so upset she probably doesn’t even realize that two angels just spoke with her.  She is so distraught she doesn't even recognize Jesus through her tears.  Jesus asks her, “why are you weeping?”  “Sir, if you have taken him away, then tell me where you have laid him,” she replies.  Jesus calls her by name, “Mary.”  She shrieks with pure joy,”Rabboni!”  Which means my beloved teacher.  Jesus then tells her not to hold onto him because all is not complete.

It is impossible to comprehend the Resurrection or resurrected life.  It is not just being raised from the dead and given earthly life back again.   Although there are multiple stories in the Bible about people being raised from the dead, they eventually die again.  Resurrected life is new eternal life with God.  The Resurrection appearances give us a slightly fuller picture.  Those encounters witness Jesus in a similar but new spiritual and physical body.  He can be experienced in a new way, but never contained. Nor should He be.  God always teaches us how to be in right and loving relationship, not how to understand everything.  So the Resurrection is beyond our intellectual grasp.  However, it is a truth we can experience and engage.  This encounter between Jesus and Mary teaches us much.

First, the Resurrection is about eternal joy.  It is about healed and renewed relationships.  The Resurrection is the joy of love triumphing over death.  Resurrected life means loving beginning after sad end.  Jesus says, “Why are you weeping?”  Resurrected life is not about sadness.  It is about everlasting joy and peace.  This does not mean that we will not experience sadness in this life. We will, and we should.  Sadness helps us grow in this life.  It reminds us of what truly matters, and it reminds us that we are not in control.  However, sadness is not a part of eternal life. Things do not end with sadness and the grave.  God’s resurrected life always wins. God calls out each of our names inviting us into this eternal joy and peace!  Will we recognize the great shepherd’s voice?

Second, the Resurrection is about trusting and moving forward into a beautiful unknown.  Jesus tells Mary, “Do not hold onto me, for I have not ascended to my Father.”  Mary wants to hold on to this joyful moment.  She would prefer to embrace Jesus there next to the tomb forever.  Who wouldn’t?  However, Jesus knows that the process is not complete.  He will have multiple resurrection appearances to many.  Then, he will finally ascend to complete the salvation process.  Jesus moves into the beautiful unknown, and invites us to follow. His resurrection points to a new reality beyond this earthly life.  One that has us let go of the sad wisdom of this world.  We are called to let go of pride, greed, and fear.  Instead, we are invited by the Risen Christ to an unknown scary yet safer place.  We are invited to remember that the kingdom of God is like a forgiving father. It is like searching for treasure in a field.  It is like a shepherd who leaves everything behind to seek us out when we are lost.  We are all invited to an eternal place of mystery, wonder, faith, joy, peace, hope, and love.  A place we can not possibly fathom, but intuitively trust.  Let us follow the Resurrected Christ into a beautiful unknown.  I pray we might!  Alleluia!  Christ is Risen!!

"Pass the chocolate!!"

What is so good about Good Friday?

Jesus says three things form the Cross in John’s gospel.  First he joins his mother and the beloved disciple.  “Woman, behold your son, behold your mother.”  Next He says “I am thirsty.”  Finally he says, “It is Finished.”  So what is Jesus telling us at this most critical time?  What are we to make of his words from the cross?

“Woman, behold your son…behold your mother.”  Even on the cross Jesus is taking care of the ones He loves.  With these words he is binding together His mother and the beloved disciple.  The beloved disciple is now not just a disciple, but an intimate part of Jesus' family, God’s family.  Of course we know the beloved disciple to be the disciple John.  Throughout the gospel attributed to John, the writer never says John.  It is always the beloved disciple.  It is a possible literary technique to draw the reader into the story.  In many ways it is saying that you can be like the beloved disciple.  You too can have such experiences with our Lord.  In a way, Jesus is drawing all “beloved disciples” into his family.  Jesus is always deepening our relationship with God.

“It is finished.”  Why do we call it Good Friday?  I often feel weird on Good Friday.  I am sad that Jesus has died, but it is by the grace of the cross that we are saved.  On the cross Jesus experiences death and thus is fully able to bridge the divine and human experiences together.  “It is finished.”  His hour is finished.  All is complete!  This of course is what makes it Good Friday.  Only Jesus on the cross (fully human/ fully God) can bring all things together.  Praise God that He did!

Maundy Thursday. The real presents/ presence in Holy Communion is the sacrificial love of Christ.

“Take, eat, this is my body…  Drink this all of you, this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many.”  

Every Sunday many churches offer Holy Communion, also known as the Lord’s Supper.  We receive it, but do we really reflect on what it truly means?

Today is Maundy Thursday.  The word “Maundy” comes from the latin Mandatum Novum.  Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment that you love one another as I loved you.”  (John 13:34)  Jesus says this at his Last (perhaps first true) Supper with his disciples.  They celebrate it right before Jesus is to go to the Garden of Gethsemane.  There he will be arrested to be crucified.  Maundy Thursday therefore begs two enormous questions we each must answer.

First, do we really understand what it means to receive Holy Communion?  Of course to answer this question we need to remember the context of what really took place.  Jesus is celebrating the Passover feast with His disciples.  That is, he is celebrating the remembrance of the exodus from Egypt when God passed over the first born Hebrew children so they lived.  However, God winds up not sparing God's own Son from experiencing brutal torture and death.  In the process, Jesus becomes the new Paschal lamb.  He redefines the Passover meal to eternally benefit all who will receive it.  Thus, to receive Holy Communion is to ingest Christ's sacrificial love.  Jesus is always truly and mysteriously present in Holy Communion.  Over the centuries Christians have argued about what becomes what and when while celebrating Holy Communion.  This is a futile argument, and it can actually wrongly shift the focus away from how Christ is actually present.  Receiving Holy Communion is not about mental gymnastics, but about rejoicing in true life-giving grace.  Further, the truth of Christ's presence is experienced in the heart of the believer.  “Take, eat, this is my body…  Drink this all of you, this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many.”  My heart always feels lovingly blessed every Sunday afternoon after I have received Holy Communion.  It is more than just having a small piece of bread and a sip of wine in my stomach.  Holy Communion is, “food for the heart and soul." It can only be this because of the real eternal presence of Christ's sacrificial love.

Second, do we realize our hunger for what Jesus truly offers?  A few years ago I was fortunate to volunteer with a youth group at a community food bank to pass out food on a Saturday morning.  There was a huge long line that kept going and going and going.  I passed out more potato bags than I can count.  It was a gift to participate in serving others.  There are many hungry people in the world, and we all need to be physically fed.  However, there are even more people who are spiritually hungry.  Everyone has a deep hunger for God.  Of course there are many ways to try and understand God in our world.  Moses transmits God's law.  Muhammad teaches submision to God.  Confucius offers wisdom.  The Buddha points to Nirvana.  These are not bad paths to take.  However, Jesus invites everyone into a deeper intimate relationship of love with God.  This invitation is received by being caught up in Christ's way, truth, and life through the gift and grace of His sacrificial love.  At his last earthly supper with his disciples, Jesus called them friends.  He said, “I give you a new commandment that you love one another as I loved you.”  He exclaimed that, "no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."  Are we really hungry for the depth of this kind of love?  Do we really receive this invitation from a God who sacrifices all?  I pray we might!  Amen.

The eternal questions of Palm Sunday

What are your expectations for God?  What do you want God to do for you?  Does God satisfy your every want, need and desire?

I had a priest friend who came to a new congregation.  They had not had a full-time priest in a few years.  They told him, “We have been waiting for you like Jesus on Palm Sunday!”  My friend responded, “You know what they did to him five short days later, right?”

I have heard many people refer to Palm Sunday as the false Easter.  Jesus comes in triumphantly, gloriously.  Many think he is the Messiah.  They shout, "Hosanna in the highest!"  Many must have thought, "At last the messiah has come, our savior.  He will set everything right!"   I wonder how many of them shouted out, “Crucify him” just five days later?

Why the change?  Did their expectations change?  Or did Jesus disappoint?  Was he not the great King like David they longed for?  Was he not the great prophet like Moses they desperately craved?  Maybe God had a different plan in mind?  Perhaps God desired a different kind of kingdom?  Perhaps God longed for an everlasting kingdom ruled by peace and forgiveness?  Perhaps God desired a deeper relationship?  Perhaps God desperately craved an eternal relationship with everyone grounded in sacrificial love?  Perhaps God knew the only way to establish a kingdom like that?  Perhaps God knew what was best for us?  Perhaps God still knows what is best?  Perhaps??

What are your expectations for God?  What do you want God to do for you?  Does God satisfy your every want, need, and desire?  What kind of Kingdom do you want?  

May you have a blessed Holy Week with the eternal  questions of Palm Sunday in your heart and mind.