It’s never a good idea to call ‘May Day’ this close to Easter. . .
I’d like to tell you about Billy Ray and Joe Tom, two men from Tennessee, who were still very new to flying when they decided to rent a plane and fly from Knoxville, Tennessee to Asheville, North Carolina.
As they crossed over the Smoky Mountains, they discovered there was a problem with one of the engines, and they decided to notify the Asheville airport that they might need to land quickly.
Billy Ray nervously grabbed the microphone, and began shouting:
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving! New Year’s! New Year’s! Easter! Easter!
Joe Tom shook his head, looked over at him and said, You’re getting there, Billy Ray. . . Just stop when you get to May Day! (*)
I’m not sure if there is an equivalent to May Day! in Aramaic, but if there is, those disciples of the now crucified Jesus, locked away behind closed doors, would surely have wanted to shout it out for some good, old-fashioned, emergency help.
This Jesus, for whom they had risked everything, their jobs, their families, their security, this preacher messiah whom they were certain was going to make the difference in their lives and whom they loved with all their hearts, had been brutally killed using the most humiliating and painful method ever devised.
I don’t think the Gospels even begin to describe the grief, the dejection and the despondency that these disciples must have been feeling just before that first Easter. They must have felt as though the engines had stopped, and they were in for one last, scary freefall.
Can you recall such a time in your life when emotionally you have sat in the shadows behind those closed doors with Peter, James, John and the rest just wishing there was someone you could call to help you put your life together again? If you can, then you might begin to resonate with their pain and their despair.
There were no Licensed Counseling Centers in town, or racks full of self-help books at the local grocery store.
There were no grief support groups. Those first century followers of Jesus couldn’t even make a quick phone call to their loved ones back home. Peter and the rest were slumped down, with dropped shoulders and depressed spirits, paralyzed by the pain they had experienced.
What is fascinating to me is that in the very next chapter of Luke’s two-volume work, Luke/Acts, is one of the most powerful verses in all of Scripture:
Acts, chapter 1, verse 15: In those days, Peter stood up among them.
What happened between the last chapter of Luke’s Gospel and the first chapter of the Book of Acts that Peter could now stand up among them? What caused him to rise? What brought him to his feet?
The answer – quite simply – is that he experienced Jesus Christ as real and alive!
Peter could finally stand up among them because he and the others had come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ is not a has been, but rather, an IS NOW!
Quite a number of years ago, I was teaching an Introduction to the Gospels class, and I was pointing out how the details of the Resurrection in the four Gospels are varied in description, and in fact, don’t always agree in detail. I was making the point that all the varied stories show how difficult it is to express something as wonderful and awesome as the Resurrection. Someone approached me after class and asked me if I believed in the Resurrection. I suspected that I was being questioned because this person had discovered that I’m not a biblical literalist. Without hesitation, I said resoundingly, YES! ABSOLUTELY! I believe in the Resurrection.
I went on to say, however, that my belief in the Resurrection isn’t predicated only on the accuracy of the Biblical witness, for I have personally witnessed the Resurrection in my life and in the lives of those I serve.
Do you believe in the Resurrection? It’s a good question.
Forget for just a moment that it is a central doctrine of belief. Forget for just a moment that the Bible says it happened, and ask yourself, Do I believe in the Resurrection?
In our Gospel this week, the Risen Christ walks through those locked doors, and we are told that the disciples were startled. Does Easter really startle anyone anymore?
After all the Holy Week and Easter liturgies I have planned and led over the years, and after all the Easter sermons I have preached, I find myself wondering if anyone is really astonished by Easter these days? Is it possible that, without even meaning to, we have relegated Easter to the status of a commemoration rather than a reality?
If Resurrection is a reality, then we should be startled and astonished every time we so much as ponder its truth and meaning. Like Peter, we should eventually be able to stand up to come to our feet. No stone should be too large to roll out of the way. Easter should make a difference in each of our personal lives.
I think if someone were to ask me what has surprised me the most after nearly twenty years as a priest in the church, I would have to say it is that some who claim to be Easter people don’t seem to seem to live like Easter people.
Do you remember the angel’s question to the women who went to the tomb on that first Easter? The angel asked, Why do you look for the living among the dead? Why DO we spend so much time looking for the living among the dead? Why does it appear that sometimes we would rather remodel our tombs instead of abandoning them?
Is it because inside the tombs we know what to expect? Do we sometimes relinquish the possibility of new life and new joy to retain our control and our sense of security? Is it possible that death no longer frightens us because we’re so used to it? God forbid! Easter must make a difference in our lives!
Now please understand that I’m in no way suggesting that we go into denial when it comes to our pain. I’m in no way suggesting that Easter means there will be no more death. . . no more tombs… no more despair. I refuse to believe in a Pollyanna Faith.
The Risen Christ that those first disciples experienced still carried the wounds of execution. In fact, Jesus made himself known by showing them his wounds. What I’m saying is that Easter provides us with a very large, HOWEVER. Yes, our hopes and dreams may be crushed; yes, our pain may seem unbearable at times; yes, grief will stab at us; yes, our disappointment is real. HOWEVER, the crucified Christ is Risen.
What I’m suggesting is that if all death can be resurrected, and that we have a stake in making that happen. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ should startle us. . .It should astonish us. At some point it should give us the strength to stand up. At some point it should give us permission to stop shouting May Day, and let God be the wind under our wings.
(*) As told in Dynamic Preaching – April, 2003.
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