St. Charles' Episcopal Church – St. Charles, IL

Easter Day – The Day of the Resurrection – Year C

Sunday April 8, 2007 

Acts 10:34-43 -- Psalm 118:14-29 -- Colossians 3:1-4 -- Luke 24:1-10

Rev. William R. Nesbit, Jr.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! (The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!)

I have an important question to ask you this morning. Why are you here? We all know that there are two kinds of people here this morning and I'm not talking male and female. There are those who are normally here every week, more or less, and there are those who are not. There is a quaint term in the wider church called C E W F's. That stands for Christmas, Easter, Weddings and Funerals. Though it's a church term, it's not a very Christian one. I don’t allow anyone to use it here in this church, but because I know people pretty well, I suspect that just means nobody uses it within my earshot. If I had my way it wouldn’t be used in any church anywhere! As far as I'm concerned, and I think God will back me up on this, any reason to come to church is a good reason. Any reason. Some of us come because it's a habit. Some of us come because it's an obligation. Some of us come because we love it. Some of us come because our parents brought us. Some of us come because our children brought us. Some of us can't wait to get here and some of us can't wait to get out of here. I don't care how you got here or why you're here, I'm just glad you are here. I'm glad you're here because I have something to share; it's sort of a secret. Not because it has to be, but because we got lazy. More on that later.

Why are you here? There are a whole bunch of little reasons why, different ones for different people, but the truth is, the big truth, is that you are here because Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and on the third day was raised from the dead. Simple really...but like many simple truths, hard to take at face value. The gospel story we heard this morning actually goes on for two more verses. Why they weren't assigned I don't know, but they seem pretty important to me. After the women return from the tomb and tell the apostles what they had experienced the story continues, "but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened." Notice that Peter still does not believe – he is just amazed. The body is gone. No one knows where. Later, his belief will come with appearances by the risen Christ. But for now there is only amazement.

Like those Easter morning disciples, some of us here this morning don't really believe that Christ rose from the dead. But still you are here. It's amazing really. And just so we're clear on this, I'm not talking about the CEWF's. There are people who come to church every week and don't really believe that Christ rose from the dead. Huh?!?Why go to all the trouble of getting up on Sunday morning and getting all dolled up in your "Sunday finest" if you don't believe? There is a wonderful little prayer that has been kicking around the church for a long time that goes like this, "I believe. Help my unbelief." It was first prayed by a man who brought his son to Jesus. His son was possessed by a demon that no one else had been able to cast out. At his wits end, he asks Jesus if he is able to help. Jesus replies, “All things can be done for the one who believes!” And the man replies, "I believe. Help my unbelief."Sounds silly, I know, but it's the truth.

The dirty little secret of the church is that our faith isn't as steady as we would all like it to be. Doubts assail us all the time. Even priests! We may know in our head that God is with us, loving us beyond even our ability to comprehend, but in our hearts we wonder if we are really good enough. And we become afraid that someone will catch us being hypocrites, or we worry that we are falling out of the church, and so we build big thick walls to hide behind. And they may fool some folks, but they don't fool everybody, and they certainly don’t fool God. The sad reality, I believe, is that I think that is why Christ established the church in the first place and why people who say they believe in God but don't need to go to church, generally don't believe for very long. We need to come together in belief, to support each other in our unbelief. And that is why I say any reason to come to church is a good reason. When we gather together, those who can say, "I believe" can support and lift up those who can only say, "Help my unbelief." And we are both better for it. We gather together to praise God, not because God needs praising, but because we need to hear it. Most days our singing is joy filled, but some days it is little more than whistling in the dark.

So why am I letting the cat out of the bag in the first place, and why in the world would I do this on Easter? There are two reasons really. The first is because there are potentially a lot of people here who don't come to church all that often. There are a lot of reasons that people don't come to church. Most of them are stupid. One of the biggest reasons is that people think they need to believe in God to come to church. The truth is that God believes in you, and indeed loves you, whether you believe in God or not. If you think you don't believe, come to church to find out more about God so you can at least make an informed decision about God. Another big reason is that people think the church is filled with hypocrites. Well, I have to plead guilty to that one. I wish it were different, but it isn't. We can be just as catty and snippy as the next bunch. The difference is, I hope, that at least we know we're doing wrong and are trying to do better. In any case neither of these reasons for not coming to church is any good. The church is a hospital for sinners not a sanctuary for saints, or at least it should be.

The second reason I'm letting the cat out of the bag on Easter is to let the regulars know, to remind them, that it ain't about us having a special gift, or being any better because we're regular. Let's face it, we're regular because we get something out of it. It's not always tangible, but it is something. And we need to remember that God has plenty of whatever it is to go around.

In the lesson from Acts that we heard this morning Peter is preaching a sermon to the Gentiles. He is preaching to them for the first time because he has been guided by God to move beyond himself, beyond his comfort zone. It is amazing to Peter that the God of his forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would have anything to do with, let alone anything to say to the Gentiles. What will amaze him even further is that just after the part of the story we heard this morning the Holy Spirit will descend on the group he is speaking to. Imagine! The Holy Spirit! Given to a bunch of Gentiles! What reckless abundance.

With God there is always plenty to go around and with no partiality. And that is the real secret I have to share with you this morning. That in spite of what those in the church too often say, God truly shows no partiality. Really! And so to help us remember that, today is jubilee. This Easter in St. Charles' Episcopal Church there are no CEWF's and no regulars. No liberals and no conservatives. No any kind of division you might want to name. We normally try and live this way every day in our church, but it is so easy to let it slip; to fall back into old bad habits. Today we’re going to make a special effort. Today we are all God's children. newborn to the crib. The crib of St. Charles. It's a new world! A new reality. What we do with it is up to us. Alleluia! Christ is Risen! (The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!) Look around. How about we make friends. Amen.