Resurrection promise

A Sermon preached on April 21, 2019, Easter Day, at St. Augustine’s, WiesbadenIsaiah 65:17-25, 1 Corinthians 15: 19-26, John 20:1-18

I recently spotted this meme on Facebook: “In the interests of biblical accuracy, all the preaching about the resurrection this Easter Sunday will be done by women.” That’s not going to work today I’m afraid, but there is a lot of truth in that statement: Women found and announced the empty tomb. In today’s Gospel Mary Magdalene tells Peter and the “beloved disciple,” "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." (John 20:2) Women were first to encounter the risen Christ and the first to be sent – a role that is called in Greek ‘apostle’ – to pass this message on. Jesus tells Mary Magdalene to “go to my brothers,” and so Mary “went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord.’” (20:17-18)

So, without Jesus’ female followers, we might not be here. It’s a pity that it took our Church nearly 2000 years to catch up on this and give women equal access to all offices and orders … and that many churches have not yet caught up. But that’s not my topic today, not who told us, but what they told us about: The Resurrection.

Can Christianity exist without the resurrection? Paul certainly doesn’t think so: “If for this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied!” he tells the Corinthians. (1 Cor. 15:19) Why is it so important? The resurrection is the event through which everything Christ did and taught is vindicated. It gives his death on the cross meaning. It is the event through which death is defeated and destroyed. It is the event through which God and humanity are reconciled. It not only changes Jesus, but us too.

Without the resurrection, Jesus would just have been a very good human being. Very good human beings are not a bad thing, it is what we all strive to be. But a very good human being is not good enough to fulfil God’s promise that, as Peter writes in his first letter, (1 Peter 1:3-4) “By his great mercy (God) has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven.” Just as there is no Christianity without the resurrection, you can’t really be a Christian without hope: it is a key quality expressing not only the desire for something to happen, but also the expectation and trust that it will happen. 

I’m certain you were all as shocked as I was when I heard about, and then watched the fire rage at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris just a few days ago. I was reminded of the fire here 53 years ago. Our church was gutted, and yet rebuilt within a year. Notre Dame will take longer to rebuild, but it will be restored as a symbol of resurrection and of hope fulfilled. 

Our living hope in Christ through his resurrection both impacts and transforms this life and opens up a perspective to everlasting life. It is so central to our faith, even more than Christmas, that we celebrate the resurrection not just today at Easter, but every Sunday in the Eucharist, at every funeral, and at every Baptism: The Sacrament of new birth and new life. 

Originally all baptisms were by immersion, the baptismal candidate was submerged, pressed under water to symbolize his or her death to sin, before rising again, perhaps coughing and spluttering, as they entered into a new life. Before Lawrence and Rebecca grab Oscar and run away, that won’t happen today. The worst that can happen to him is that he gets a little water in his eyes if I’m not careful enough when pouring. But the symbolism, the meaning is the same. He dies to sin; it loses its power over him. Today he becomes, in the words of the prophet Isaiah,” an offspring blessed by the Lord,” blessed by the constant presence of God’s Spirit in his life so that, as Isaiah goes on to promise on God’s behalf, even “before they call I will answer, (and) while they are yet speaking I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:23-24)

This gift of God’s loving presence is not a treasure to be hidden away, just as Christ’s resurrection promise is not something we cherish until just before we die, as if we don’t need it before then. We are supposed to grow, to be formed, and to be transformed by this gift. The Baptismal Covenant we will recite together is much more than a list of things to do: teach, pray, resist, repent, proclaim, serve. These are acts that change us as we do them, just like the Presiding Bishop’s Way of Love[1] with its very similar sounding set of practices (turn, learn, pray, worship, bless, go, rest) are meant to transform us by their daily use. 

Jesus’ resurrection is not just a single, historical event, nor just a future promise. The resurrected life begins for us all at our Baptism, that is the momnet when we start living the life of Christ, with the goal of becoming like him. We are continually raised to new life through our Baptism into the life of Christ. And yes, this Christian hope also stretches beyond our earthly lives, even unto life everlasting. The resurrection promise is the very center of our lives as Christians. And that is why we say both with certainty, and great joy:

Alleluia. Christ is risen.

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.

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[1] https://www.episcopalchurch.org/way-of-love

Telling a story

A Sermon preached on April 20 2019, Great Vigil of Easter, at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden

There is a late twentieth century school of theology called “narrative theology,” that started at Yale Divinity School. To put it simply, what we believe and who we are as Church has been historically shaped by the continuous, structured, and communal reading of the scriptural narrative over time. So, what we believe therefore comes from the Bible and from tradition, and from how we read scripture, which is theologically, and using different methods – both those that we might consider to be more “reason” based such as the historical-critical method, as well as spiritual, figurative, and allegorical approaches – as the text and context call for. Scripture, tradition, and reason: sounds very Anglican actually.

Now the word narrative can easily be misunderstood. To call scripture a narrative or a story can sound as if we are saying it is made up, a fairytale, or not true. But that is not the case. The word “history,” which is also the source of the word story, originally stood for “learning through research, and narrating what is learned.” Even the Biblical stories that are not strictly factual, like the account of Creation or the Flood, are still true in a deeper sense. They tell us truths about God and about our relationship. God is our creator and has given us the world to look after regardless of whether this took 6 days or millennia. God’s covenant or promise of protection is for every living creature.

Every passage has a meaning but so does the whole narrative. We often refer to the Bible as salvation history. It is the story of how God has genuinely acted in, through and for humanity throughout history, but colored by our perception and experience and context.

Narrative or story is a particularly suitable term on this Holy Night, at the Easter Vigil. We have heard a whole series of passages that tell a story and later, right after we have renewed our Baptismal Vows, we will hear two more, finishing with the story of the discovery of the empty tomb by Jesus’ most faithful followers, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary mother of James and the other women. Yes, no men! But that is another story.

Our night began at the beginning, with Creation when God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.” This is an ideal we still struggle to live up to, just as we seem to struggle to accept that God was very pleased with what God had made. Our selection of stories covers the Flood, a catastrophic event following great sin and leaving only a faithful remnant, the Liberation from slavery in Egypt, the Exile in Babylon with God’s promises of restoration and renewal through the prophets. What do we hear? Death, destruction, slavery, exile, despair? Or do we hear life, hope and promise? 

For me, it is the story of how every time we fail and fall, God picks us up again, revives us, renews God’s promises to us, and gives us new life. The last, great event in that series, is the one we celebrate this night. That God sent a life to give us life, God sent the Son of Man to show us how to be fully human and divine, that God came to renew the promise to us in person and to take away the power of death. In keeping with the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox churches, I will finish by reading the Easter sermon of John Chrysostom (circa 400 AD). Even now, over 1,600 years later, I can find no better description for what this Easter Night means: 

Are there any who are devout lovers of God?

Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!

Are there any who are grateful servants?

Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting?

Let them now receive their wages!

If any have toiled from the first hour,

let them receive their due reward;

If any have come after the third hour,

let him with gratitude join in the Feast!

And he that arrived after the sixth hour,

let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.

And if any delayed until the ninth hour,

let him not hesitate; but let him come too.

And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,

let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.

For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.

He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,

as well as to him that toiled from the first.

To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.

He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor.

The deed He honors and the intention He commends.

Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!

First and last alike receive your reward;

rich and poor, rejoice together!

Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!

You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,

rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!

Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.

Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.

Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty,

for the universal kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;

for forgiveness has risen from the grave.

Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.

He has destroyed it by enduring it.

He destroyed Hell when He descended into it.

He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.

Isaiah foretold this when he said,

"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."

Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.

It was in an uproar because it is mocked.

It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.

It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.

It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.

Hell took a body, and discovered God.

It took earth, and encountered Heaven.

It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.

O death, where is thy sting?

O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!

Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!

Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!

Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!

Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;

for Christ having risen from the dead,

is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. 

Amen!