Matthew 28.1-10

March 23, 2008 Easter Sunday Year A

it is marvelous in our eyes

You probably have heard that the celebration of Easter will never be this early again in our lifetime. In fact, unless you are older than 95 you have never experienced Easter this early. In case you are wondering, the next time Easter will be this early will be the year 2228. (Do the math: that’s 220 years from now). The earliest Easter can be is March 22 and that will be in the year 2285 (Yup, that’s right: 277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.

Knowing Easter was going to be so early this year I was actually hoping for a blanket of snow on the ground. What on earth? Trust me, it’s not because I want snow in March. I just think a blanket of snow might put to rest all the Easter sermons that speak of flowers blooming, trees blossoming and the return of Spring as if the Resurrection of Jesus were as predictable as nature’s cycle. Don’t get me wrong: I am all for flowers and butterflies, buds bursting forth with color and the return of Spring.

It’s just that Christianity is not nature worship.

Other than a coincidence in our hemisphere, the events of Spring have nothing to do with the astonishing news that caused guards to be as dead men, or women, stricken with fear and joy, to race wildly – or where they staggering with the joy of it all - to tell their friends what had happened. This is not about bunnies hopping or flowers blooming; this is the startling news that God has raised Jesus Christ from the dead. And precisely this radical act that confounds all understanding is why Christians of every race and tongue gather to sing, Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!

We sing for no other reason than Christ has been raised from the dead. Alleluia!

I have a miniature painting of two disciples running toward the tomb. The wind is blowing their hair, their faces alive with wonder, fear; disbelief teetering on the edge of belief, their eyes wide open, it’s as if they are saying:

can this possibly be true? Yes!

No. Oh Yes!

No.

Oh Yes! Let it be so.

Wonder, amazement, fear and joy. All of this is at the heart of our celebration, too. Why? Because something astounding has occurred: God has raised Jesus from the dead. And it is marvelous in our eyes.

I know it’s bit unnerving to speak in such stark language about an event that is so shocking to order in the universe. These things don’t happen. The dead do not rise. Death is the end. But, bear with me, I’m learning to speak of the resurrection of the dead without tame words that fit easily into our world, where everything is predictable and managed. Nothing about the resurrection is tame. Nothing about it fits easily into business as usual. I am more inclined to go with John Updike:

Let us not mock God with metaphor,

analogy, sidestepping, transcendence;

making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the

faded credulity of earlier ages:

let us walk through the door.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,

for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,

lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour,

we are embarrassed by the miracle,

and crushed by remonstrance.

Death is not the final word. It is painful word indeed, one that pierces the human heart. We would rather not think of it all, especially if we are young, and when we do it is mostly with dread. But what if death itself were, in the end, a puny word, nothing at all to fear? I find it amazing that the most common statement of Jesus in the gospels is fear not! It’s as if he looks into the human heart and knows that more often than not we are in the grip of fear. Fear of the known, fear of the unknown, fear of what is coming next. Fear of what has already been and may come again. Fear of what cannot be controlled. He who must not be named – Voldemort – lurks around every bend.

And at the place of the greatest fear of all – Death itself – Jesus announces, fear not! Go tell the others that I will go ahead of you. So the ones who betrayed him became powerful witnesses, even martyrs, fearless against the powers of this world. Rowan Williams’ called these clusters of believers, resurrection communities because their lives had been utterly transformed by their belief that Jesus had been raised from the dead and was alive. It has been down so down thorough the centuries, even to this very day. Men and women have believed that God has done what is marvelous in our eyes: death did not defeat Jesus. In truth, he is alive and living among us, giving hope to the hopeless, courage to the fearful and faith to the fainthearted.

The Christian martyr Archbishop Oscar Romero was asked about his own death. He replied, “Sure death is real. But I don’t believe in death, I believe in resurrection.” What we believe in is what gives us courage and strength to face every circumstance.

On this day of all days, why not dare to believe that life – eternal life – is the last word and that life begins right now?