As a progressive Christian, I believe there are many names for God and many ways to a loving God; this article reflects one of those ways. Take from here what works for you. Celebrate life with joy and peace!
There’s a story about a little boy who lived with his grandfather. They were country folk and actually quite poor. The grandfather’s small cottage had fallen into disrepair and he wasn’t much of a housekeeper. The little house was dark and dusty and stale. But it was home.
One day, a stranger, a small woman with a sweet smile, came up to the little boy in the park and handed him a lily. And then she walked away. Not thinking much of it, the little boy took the lily home to his grandfather. The grandfather put the flower in a mason jar and placed the jar in the window. Compared to the clean jar, the window looked really filthy. So, the grandfather cleaned the window, which of course, also allowed more light into the room.
The extra light in the room exposed the dirt on the floor. So, the grandfather had his grandson sweep the floor and then came behind him with a mop and mopped the floor. Well, a clean window and natural lighting and a freshly mopped floor seem to require something a bit nicer than a mason jar for the flower, so the grandfather found a vase hidden away in a cupboard and put the lily in it and placed it back in the window.
That one little flower had really made such a difference to their entire living environment, the grandfather decided they should have more flowers. So, the next day, he spaded up a bed of dirt in the front yard and his grandson planted some seeds.
Within a few months, the flowers are gorgeous and grandfather and his grandson have manicured the entire lawn and it becomes so pleasant that neighbors just stop by to admire the flowers and talk to the small family. The sad, lonely two person family living in squalor had transformed their lives into an experience of beauty and celebration and they even made friends in the process.
Now, by this time, the lily that a kind stranger gave the boy is long dead. But the house is clean, the lawn has been transformed into a beautiful garden, and both grandfather and grandson now have friends in their lives. The flower died, but the difference it made in two people’s lives never did.
Friends, that’s resurrection power! Lives are changed, renewed, energized and made whole. That’s divine life being expressed. That’s dawn overcoming the long night. That’s the beautiful butterfly emerging from its cocoon.
I love resurrection stories! And I love that there are so many of them!
There are the fairy tales like where Sleeping Beauty falls into what appears to be a lifeless state until true love’s kiss revives her, restoring her to the world of the living. “Someday my prince will come!”
And there are many more resurrection narratives in our sacred Scriptures. In I Kings 17 the prophet Elijah raises a widow’s dead son back to life. In the New Testament, Jesus resurrects a 12-year-old girl who has died (Mark 5), and he raises his dear friend Lazarus back to life after he has died (John 11).
And not only does Jesus do this in the New Testament, but Peter raises Tabitha back to life (Acts 9) and later, a young man accidentally falls to his death from a third story window and Paul raises him back to life (Acts 20).
If there are so many resurrection stories why are so many drawn to the story of Jesus?
In Mark’s gospel, “Who, here, experiences the resurrection?” Well, we read that Jesus is missing from the tomb and all we see is his absence. This is how the oldest of Jesus’ resurrection stories reads. Later versions will add some post-resurrection encounters. So, back to the question, “Who experiences the resurrection?”
The young man at the tomb and the three women who come to visit, they are the ones who are experiencing Jesus’ resurrection. They are there to honor and remember their loved one. They are realizing that his importance cannot be destroyed. They are discovering that who he really is and what he really meant to them cannot be held in a tomb. And so now they must take their experience of Jesus’ resurrection and do something with it.
The power of Jesus’ resurrection is that his victory is really ours! The tomb is empty. Now what? Now move forward. Keep working. Keep doing what you’re called to do.
The young man at the tomb tells the women to return to Galilee, and that Jesus is going ahead of them. I love that line! Jesus paved the way for them. Their job is to continue on the path. The empty tomb means that we now must go forward and keep doing the work that Jesus did of empowering people, of celebrating the sacred value of all people, of offering hope and healing, of demanding justice for all.
Mark says the women were afraid. They didn’t even know what to say, “For terror and amazement had seized them.” This version of the resurrection story doesn’t end with easy answers or even certainty, just a calling. A calling to keep going. Keep moving. Keep doing. Keep making a difference.
On this Resurrection Day, it’s now our job to be Christ in the world. We are now the hands and feet of Christ; and as the young man in the empty tomb said, Jesus has been raised from the dead and is going ahead of you. That’s good news!
When we show compassion, when we challenge racism, when we resist homophobia, when we affirm that all people, without exception, have sacred value and no one is ever beyond the reach of God’s love, we are sharing resurrection power and we are letting the light of Christ shine through us.
Jesus’ resurrection reminds us that life is more than just the number of years we have on this earth. If God is omnipresent, if grace is true, then life doesn’t really end at death for any of us. We have a hope and an eternal future. The power of Jesus’ resurrection is that others share it; they experience it, and then are called to action because of it.
Easter is real and relevant every time we share hope, compassion, generosity, forgiveness and goodwill to all. The facts can be debated, but the truth is our experience.
Because we are committed to being the living, loving, justice-seeking presence of Christ on earth, we can say with total confidence, “Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed.
Alleluia!”
Amen.
