Alleluia.
Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed.
Alleluia. (2X)
Was
not what the women at the tomb said, on that first Easter.
No,
not Joy, but terror and amazement.
Not
Alleluia, but “Oh my!”
Imagine
the emotional and spiritual whiplash
of that experience—the Terror of the Passion, the Crucifixion, the Death…
Jesus’ movement and message drowned in defeat.
All
that confronted by an unsealed entrance, an empty tomb, a young man proclaiming
a promise of God—telling of resurrection and a new future.
In that moment, as they flee, running
away from such a strange turn of events.
In that moment, as they shake in terror,
and are overawed.
In that moment, as they say nothing,
zipping their lips out of fear.
In
that moment the resurrection shapes not only their future, but also
their past.
God’s
actions in the resurrection of Jesus, there in the tomb, cause His past ministry to mean something more.
Christ’s
promise to go on ahead of them—it transforms their future, and our future too!
Christ
Risen, not only today, not only
there with the women,
but Christ risen yesterday, the resurrection as a way to look back with
understanding,
and Christ risen, the resurrection a
promise and a roadmap for tomorrow!
Let us pray
Alleluia.
Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed.
Alleluia.
Christ
Risen yesterday; his life and
ministry reconsidered in light of the empty tomb.
They
say hindsight is 20/20, meaning everything in the past is clear in a way that
it was not in the moment when it was happening.
And
because of this, 20/20 hindsight, looking back on Jesus’ ministry, is
overwhelming!
The
resurrection means all of those things Jesus did, are done by the one who God saw fit to raise from the
dead—they are acts not only of a good man doing right, but acts of the Righteous One of God…
When we see Jesus, the resurrection
promises us, promises! That when we
see Jesus we are seeing God at work—seeing the Invisible made Visible.
The
resurrection is a lens with which to look at the rest of the Gospel—a different
way to see it.
All of a sudden!
All of a sudden, God is the one found with tax collectors and sinners, foreigners
and children.
God is the one found protecting a woman
from an abusive divorce, and concerned for a widow.
Found breaking religious rules,
ministering to the demon possessed, in the impure mess, of pigs and tombs and
the living and the dead.
God on a donkey, not a warhorse—because
((the donkey) makes all the difference)
God with us in all this mess!
All of a sudden!
All of a sudden, God is the one abandoned
by family, rejected by his hometown, betrayed and denied by those closest to
him.
God is the one violently attacked,
humiliated, put on trial… all by religious and political people.
God Found, ultimately, accursed on a
cross crying, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me…”
All of a sudden!
All of a sudden all this is redeemed… all
this done, as Paul writes, “For our sins
and in accordance to scripture.”
All this for us.
All this, a beginning, not an end!
God
is found up again,
Working
again,
In
among the mess again!
Found,
“going ahead of you to Galilee.”
Alleluia.
Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed.
Alleluia.
Christ
Risen tomorrow; tomorrow because he’s going ahead of you to Galilee.
Christ
was not just there in the Gospel, in
his ministry before the crucifixion, though
he was there!
Christ is going on ahead of us.
Christ’s
resurrection means he’s still at work!
As
we go on our own journeys, there is
Jesus.
As
we fumble along, even afraid and saying nothing—there is Jesus.
When
we worry about our child in jail struggling with drug abuse—there is Jesus.
When
we visit a friend or parent in the hospital and just don’t know what to say—there is Jesus.
When
we are alone and alienated—there is
Jesus.
When
we are strangers in a strange land, or find ourselves steeped in sin—there is Jesus.
When
we are humiliated and struggle with all the trials of this life—there is Jesus.
When
we take up the task of those women, and tell the disciples,
When
we tell our neighbors,
When
we step out in boldness and tell those who need to hear a word of comfort,
When
we tell them all,
Tell
them that he is risen and goes ahead of you—there is Jesus.
When
we trust our future to God, trust that yes, Christ will be there
When
we listen to the hope of the Gospel and hold on to it for dear life.
When
we take the promises of God to be true and good.
When
we go forward in faith–there is Jesus.
When
we seek out God among those who might make us cringe,
When
we protect the abused and feed the hungry,
When
we step into the mess and get our hands dirty,
When
we seek the abandoned and the rejected—there
is Jesus.
Christ
Risen yesterday.
Christ Risen today.
Christ Risen tomorrow.
Alleluia. Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia.
