Sermon for March 23, 2008

Easter, 2008

In the grave they laid him, love by hatred slain,
Thinking that he would never wake again.
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen,
Love is come again like wheat arising green.

     Now more than ever we need the resurrection of Jesus. Think about the Jesus living in your mind and heart. Is this Jesus alive in you? Has your Jesus somehow become old, worn-out, dying, dead or stone cold? Is it time to think about Jesus in a fresh way that reflects God’s action now in your life in these times?  Does your Jesus need not just a freshening up but to rise up?

     Now more than ever we need the resurrection of Jesus. Think about the Jesus of the church. Has the Jesus of the church become a tool in the hands of people who use God to promote a particular view? Does the church Jesus reflect the values of groups trying to use religious authority to control opinion? Has the Jesus of the church become little more than a set of platitudes, empty phrases and closed minded opinions?  Does the Jesus of the church need to rise to a new life?

     Now more than ever we need the resurrection of Jesus. Think about Jesus in relationship to other faith traditions. Has Jesus been used to promote exclusiveness, religious animosity, and hatred, the very things he stood against? Does Jesus need to rise up?

     Now more than ever we need the resurrection of Jesus. Perhaps recent events or sorrows in your life have left you somewhat the worse for wear. Perhaps your heart is more filled with anxiety and fear than resurrection. Does the hope of Jesus need to dawn in your heart?

     Now more than ever we need the resurrection of Jesus. Think of Jesus and this planet. We call him the Lord of the universe, but has Jesus become the God of choice for those who squander resources? Has the salvation of all things, so much a part of the Christian message, been diluted into a too small vision that no longer questions the destruction of a planet loved by God? Does the Jesus who cares for all creation need to rise?

     Now more than ever we need the resurrection of Jesus. Think of Jesus’ humble service. Have we become so self-centered in our consumption, in our relationships, in our manners, and in even our driving, that the sense of humble service to others as the noblest of human actions has been trampled underfoot in the frantic push to the front of the line that has become our brutish way of life? Does Jesus need to rise?

     Now more than ever we need the resurrection of Jesus as we take stock of our lives, this world, and these times. Everything from the deeply personal to politics and the planet, from the ecumenical to economics, from theology to thermostats, from Genesis to genocide, from personal pain to public failures, from convalescence centers to conspicuous consumption calls for new life, and new hope. Now more than ever we need the resurrection of Jesus.

     If this is true, our own hearts, this community, and our common world are the very tombs in which this miracle of resurrection will occur. Our hearts will be the place where stones are rolled, where grave clothes are set aside, and where good news is shared.

If this is true, a great deal of resurrection work must be done. But not all that work is necessary today. We are here not just today but Sunday after Sunday. Today it is enough to remember that the very first steps of a resurrection journey begin with Easter prayers for resurrection in our own time.

     If the Jesus of your heart has died, pray that God might move away the great stones that have kept God out of your life.

     If the Jesus of the church has become an empty Christ, pray that the shroud used to wrap his dead and deadening form be set aside so that a new view of Jesus as one who cares for all is proclaimed again.

     If woes and fears have weighed you down, pray that you may meet precisely in your sorrow the God who suffers with you along the way, so that a new hope can arise based on how one survives even crosses.

     If a cosmic Christ is now needed again, pray that many faiths working together will roll away these heavy stones of fear, injustice and apathy to bring people together in common cause and with good news.

     If the Jesus of Christianity has become too exclusive, pray that welcoming hospitality rather than condemnation is shared in global religious dialogues and in everyday congregational decisions.

     If the Jesus of humble service has seen better days, pray that the stones set in place by our selfish desires may be rolled away by the compassion of God for even the least of creatures and that the shrouds that constrict our own hearts may be laid aside.

     As we pray such Easter prayers, we may already be experiencing the resurrection for which we long. The first step of resurrection is asking God to open our hearts again. The first step in a church with a new vision of Christ is asking God to reform our hearts and minds. The first steps in a global vision of God are prayers for tolerance and working together. The first step in a gentler, kinder society is a prayer for compassion as we intentionally offer an unexpected kindness.

     In the rolling of these stones, in the unwrapping of these grave clothes, in the proclaiming of this good news, this sorely needed resurrection has already begun. As we sing:

Forth he came at Easter like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain;
Raised from the dead, my living Lord is seen;
Love is come again like wheat arising green.

When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
Your touch can call us back to life again,
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been;
Love is come again like wheat arising green.

 Pastor Ken