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St. Charles Episcopal Church - Saint Charles, IL
The Day of the Resurrection - Easter RCL Year A
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Acts 10:34-43 – Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 – Colossians 3:1-4 – Matthew 28:1-10
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!]
“Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus... He is not here;”
We all come to church on Easter morning for different reasons. Some of us come because it is Sunday morning and that’s what you do on Sundays. We come to re-engage with friends, share the joys and concerns of the week, sing a little and pray a little and get our faith buffed and polished for the coming week. Some of us come because it is Easter, and we haven’t been to church in a while. For some reason we fell out of the habit, probably because it just wasn’t doing anything for us, occasionally because the church made a mistake and we got angry. For what ever reason we feel the tug to return, hoping that maybe it has changed, or maybe we have changed. A big holiday is an easy time to sneak in and not be noticed in the crowd. We can look around and see if any of our friends are still here, see if maybe the priest has changed. We hope that it might be like it used to be, that we might be like we used to be. Some of us come to find out what the church is really all about. Believe it or not, there may be some folks here this morning who have never been here before. Some of us may not even be Christians. We may have been raised in a different religious tradition and are wondering what’s so different about this church. Some of us may be visiting friends or family and were invited to come to church this morning, and are here with various levels of skepticism. We have a lot of different hopes in this group, but most of them center around the whole thing not going on too long. With all these different kinds of people here this morning, you might imagine that it is difficult to preach a sermon for everybody. Well, guess what? Though there are a few more than are normally here on a Sunday, the mix is generally the same. People always come to church with a bunch of different needs and we do our best welcome them all; Like everyone else in the world, some days we’re better than others.
“Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus... He is not here;”
Making mistakes as an institution is nothing new. Our first reading from Acts this morning is Simon Peter speaking to the gathered friends and family of the Roman Centurion, Cornelius, telling them that even though they are invading Romans, they are welcome to become followers of the way, those who would soon be known as Christians. “I truly understand that God shows no partiality...” A nice sentiment, but Peter has only come to this understanding thanks to a persistent revelation from God three days prior. Before that he could never have made this speech. Even at this early stage, the church is learning how to be the church. We are still learning to this very day. Though it isn’t actually in Acts anywhere, I’m sure Peter has rejected some folks from joining the way prior to this revelation that God shows no partiality. Jesus was after all killed when he got involved with the Romans. It only stands to reason that they would be wary of them, but here is Peter opening the door, welcoming them in. What a risk he was taking. One of the hallmarks of the early church that we see described throughout Acts is its growing sense of the centrality of hospitality in the way. As they remembered how Jesus touched, and healed, and loved and forgave everyone he came in contact with; and as they remembered that Jesus was with them always, they began to do the same. It was not easy. It is still not easy. It flies in the face of everything the world teaches us about being safe and successful. How did they do it? How did they find the strength? How did they lose their fear? Like most of the great truths in the world, it’s simple really. And, like most of the great truths in the world, the hard part is believing it.
I’ll get to the truth in a minute, but first I want to talk a bit about belief. If you look in the dictionary you will find that belief is confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof. Since the age of enlightenment, something has happened to our understanding of belief. It has moved from the heart to the head. It doesn’t belong there. It used to be that belief was something that affected everything you did. It was something you felt in your guts. It just was. It didn’t matter if it was true for everybody or not, it was true for you and that was enough. With the dawn of the enlightenment, the scientific method was used to explore everything, and one of those things was belief. As you are all probably aware, it didn’t go well, but if you think about it, how could it have gone well. Science is not the right tool for the job. It’s a lot like using math to evaluate music or art; it just doesn’t work. The world of science answers the questions of what and how. Belief and faith is the realm of why. Both science and belief get into trouble when they wander into the others realm. Creationism is bad science, and secular humanism is bad belief. I could go on for days on this subject, but for those who are worried that I might, fear not, now is not the time. Ask me later, over a cup of coffee.
So back to the great truth that fueled and encouraged the disciples as they grew the church in a hostile environment. OK almost back. You may be wondering what this ancient history has to do with us today. The interesting thing is that today’s environment, just the last 15 years or so, is more similar to the early church than it has been in a long time, maybe even ever before. Christianity is no longer the faith of the ruling party, so to speak, and that hasn’t happened since the Roman Empire converted in the early 300's. Though there is no active persecution, yet, Christianity has lost it’s pride of place. What you may find amazing, is that I actually think that is a good thing. I think it is a good thing because now people are coming to church because they believe, not because everyone else is. And I don’t believe the whole world has to be Christian to make a difference, and for that matter neither did Jesus. This too I could go on and on about, so it looks like it might take two cups of coffee, and I’ll cut it off here.
And so now we get back to the great truth. Well, two truths actually. Two things they believed. First, they believed that living life the way Jesus lived, following the way, as they called it, revealed the kingdom of God and led to eternal life. Living this way took away the fear of death; it took away the need to be better than anyone else; it allowed them to see others not as a potential threat, or competitor, but as a potential new companion, a new brother or sister on the way. And second, they believed that Jesus was alive to them, even though he had died, and that he continued to lead them. These two beliefs allowed them a freedom very few others in their time had, and it gave them a courage to go places others dared not enter. While others cowered in fear during plagues, Christians went out and tended to the sick and dying, and buried the dead. And they did this for Christian and non-Christian alike. When threatened with death or torture they went to their end joyfully. When times got tough they pulled together and shared what they had. Their behavior both unnerved and intrigued the Roman empire. Eventually it converted them.
So what does all this have to do with us today? Well, today, much like Christians long ago, we live in fear. Our fear, however is a different fear. It is not an occupying army that we fear, it is the other, and the other has many faces. Our politics has devolved into fear of the other, our economics has devolved into fear of the other. It has even leaked into the life of the church. Today it stops. It stops right here. Today we remember that death did not end the ministry of Jesus Christ in the world, it empowered it. Today we start living as if we really believed it. We may not change the whole world, but we don’t have to. We only have to change ourselves. We’ll let God take care of the rest. As the angel said to the two Marys, I say to you, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you.” I tell you, expect to be surprised. Remember always that Christ is out there waiting for you to encounter him in the faces of those you help. Forgive people. Let love be genuine between you. Be prepared to actually meet Christ in everyday life, in the most surprising ways. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s real, it works. Believe! And when you find yourself forgetting, when you find yourself beginning to fear again, come back. Come here. Know that we will be here to help you remember the way. That’s what the church is for.
Alleluia, Christ is risen! [The Lord is risen, indeed. Alleluia!]