Rector's Sermon - Sunday, April 20, 2003

First Reading	Epistle	Gospel
Isaiah 25:6-9	Acts 10:34-43	Mark 16:1-8

     "So they went out and fled the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." That's it! That is how Mark's original Gospel seems to end. There is a longer ending that is printed in the Bible, but that is generally regarded as a later addition.

     "They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid": what a strange way to end a Gospel. Biblical scholars point out that it would be poor Greek grammar to end a sentence this way. They suggest the original ending was quite likely lost. Being at the end of a scroll, perhaps it broke off very soon after the Gospel was written. I suspect we will never know whether or not this was the original intended ending, but I suggest the last words "for they were afraid" is a very appropriate ending for an Easter Sunday Gospel.

     The followers of Jesus would have been ecstatic if Jesus reappeared alive and assured them that life was going to go on as before. They would have rejoiced if Jesus brought with him an army of angels who then would take over Herod's palace, throw the Romans out of the garrison, and institute a reformed priesthood at the temple. Something like this would have been a culmination of most of their hopes for years.

     We, like them, all wish for a chance to start over in our familiar life, and this time to be able to defeat our adversities. Oh, to know what I know and be twenty again, or even forty! We wish somehow we could be brought back and returned to our former life so that we could play it again with a better outcome. If we were fixed up again, we would fix the world this time, but that is not what Easter is all about! God is not promising to set back the clock, revitalizing old days and letting us return to replay old ways. The old clock of the world is not worth fixing. All our attempts of futile repair ultimately lead to disillusionment, for even when it was working it never could keep good time. God isn't satisfied to give us patched up, worn out junk.

     God is not in the resuscitation business! God is in the resurrection business. The resurrection is not about a return to, or a rejuvenation of an old life. God doesn't simply offer to fix up our life, but wants us to have the gift of a new life. Easter doesn't promise a regime change, where God sends the scoundrels running and lets us move into the old palace. The resurrection is about a new type of living for humanity, without the palaces, garrisons, and all those things we want to hold on to or regain or aspire to acquire. That's why the resurrection always terrifies and amazes Jesus' followers.

     The passage read this morning in the Book of Acts of the Apostles, reflected one of the major issues for the early church. The majority of its members were Jewish-Christians who continued to observe the distinctive practices of their heritage. Newer converts of non-Jewish background, who were brought up in a completely different culture, saw no reason why, when they became Christians, they should have to conform to another culture's practices. How were people of so diverse backgrounds going to respect each other, worship and have fellowship together? Peter as a leader of the church was called to help mediate between the sides. All sides argued their case with integrity and reason. Then Peter had a wonderful vision. He realized that trying to appease, satisfy, or judge all sides was like trying to fix something broken beyond repair The resurrection was not about pleasing God or earning God's favor by the proper cooking of vegetables and the stewing of meat or other distinctive rituals, no matter how long or sincerely they had been practiced. He realized that the resurrection was about being called and welcomed by a loving God. Peter understood that in the light of the resurrection, God shows no partiality, and all people are invited to live a life that transcends their old one, a life that continually gives a fresh vision for the human race. To be sure that didn't mean ignoring old problems or pretending new situations would not pose challenges. Yet, it did mean a commitment not to let such things trap us from seeing where God was calling people of faith. Understanding that God showed no partiality, that God had no favorites, an insurmountable boundary in early Christians' old way of life, was set aside. All people could be welcomed in baptism.

     So often we want to linger in the old comfortable places, no matter how unpleasant they really are. Easter calls us to go forth to meet the risen Jesus, not in the graveyards of our past, but in new situations. Go into the world this day, knowing that the Risen Jesus leads us on to unexplored, untested, unmapped territory, beyond even Lewis' and Clark's wildest imaginations. Yes, it is a bit scary. The resurrection promises a new heaven, a new earth, and a new life.

     Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed. Go from this church knowing that Jesus will come among us, not necessarily in the way we would hope or expect. If we take the resurrection seriously, it is natural to have some fear and trepidation. Nonetheless, Jesus opens his arms and also says, "do not fear, for I will be with you." While our hopes are inevitably too narrow and our dreams too petty, God is too wonderful to let them get in the way: God's plans for us truly are huge! Like the first disciples, we are sent out to meet Jesus, far from our old comfortable, but confining haunts. The wonderful thing is that when we have courage to go forth, we so often find Jesus already there to greet us. We begin to have visions of a future and strength of fortitude that we never thought ourselves capable of. God is never satisfied with the task of resuscitation. God is in the resurrection business.

     And I offer this to you in the name of the Risen Lord, Amen.