Readings
Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Colossians 3:1-4
Matthew 28:1-10
I have to confess to you that every year I struggle with what to say on Easter. Most of us are so familiar with the story of the resurrection and with hearing Easter sermons that it seems as if it is all but impossible to find something original to say.
But perhaps that’s the problem. The goal here is not to find something original to say, but to share something deeply true that Jesus’ resurrection points to.
Oh, we could talk about empty tombs and frightened women. We could talk about angels appearing and saying that Jesus is risen. We could talk about the women and their fear replaced by joy at Jesus’ appearing. We could even talk about miracles and the promise of eternal life.
But none of that will get to the truth that all of us believe. There is something every one of us believes to be true and likely has believed for quite some time. Except in some rare occasions involving things like lifesaving technology or extreme cold, when something dies it is dead. Dead things, regardless of what they are, do not get back up. Death is the end.
And, in one sense, we would be right. But I would ask you a pressing question. Why do we assume that the end of macro-biological life means that life is over? Why do we assume that just because a body has ceased to function that all is lost?
The universe is a mystery my friends, and I would invite you into that mystery. Just think about the miracle that is your body. Your body is a complex collection of organs, all of them working together to make up a whole person. And while we have gotten very good at describing how the body functions we, even now, still don’t know why it functions. The level of complexity at work is mind boggling. Just think about all the systems at work in the body.
But it doesn’t end there. Each of those organs is made up of a community of cells all functioning together to carry out a specific task within the body. Working together they become a liver, or a pancreas, or a ganglion. And all told there are trillions of cells within the body.
But the complexity doesn’t stop there. Each of those cells are made up of organelles. It is as if each cell is a body unto itself. And those organelles are formed of complex molecules. And each of those molecules are made up of atoms, about seven octillion of them.
But again, it doesn’t stop there. Each of those atoms are made up of subatomic particles and those subatomic particles are made up of vibrating strings of energy.
So, while we are material beings, underneath all of that there is the equal truth that we are ultimately made up of energy. And energy can neither be created nor destroyed.
So, I can hear what you’re thinking, “That’s all great! That’s all interesting! But what’s the point?” Well, if reality is so much more complex and nuanced than simply what we perceive with our eyes, then why is it such a stretch to believe that life does not cease when the body stops to function?
If energy can neither be created nor destroyed, then our bodies ceasing to function is simply the end of one process, but what makes up who we are continues in new and different ways.
And you may say to that “I’ve heard something like this before, how we’re all made out of star dust, or how things return to the earth to become something else in the future.” And while I would affirm that, what I’m getting at is something far more mysterious and far more significant.
I am arguing that what makes you you does not simply cease to exist when the body stops functioning. What makes you you is an integral part of that mysterious universe of existence.
I would invite you to do an exercise with me. I want you to remember back to when you were 10 years old. Remember what it felt like, what you cared about, who you cared about. Now remember when you were 20. Do the same thing. What did it feel like? What did you care about? Who did you care about? Now do 30. If you’re old enough, do 40. Now do now.
Isn’t it true that in some ways you are the same person today that you were then? And while there have been changes over the years isn’t there a sense of continuity between who you were and who you are now?
You can do this also thinking about someone you’ve known for many years. Even as their body ages and changes we can still easily recognize who they are, can’t we?
Well, if all we are is our matter then how can that be, since the cells in our body change every seven to ten years? If we’re just biological machines then one might suspect that every seven to ten years who we were would be no longer, and be slowly and steadily replaced by someone new.
No friends, what persists is the pattern of our selves. The energy that makes up who we are. And resurrection isn’t simply the resuscitation of a body. No, resurrection is transformation. One way to think about resurrection is to imagine it being nothing less than a quantum shift of energy. That what was is no longer but has been transformed into a new and yet familiar reality.
To think about the resurrection of Jesus is to affirm the truth that in this universe that God has created life does not end but is transformed. It is to be open to the experience of the ongoing existence of life beyond the limits of our senses.
The story of the empty tomb we heard this morning is just the beginning of the story. In the weeks ahead we’ll hear about the disciples’ experiences of Jesus still being with them in new and different ways. We’ll hear about how he can come into a locked room like a spirit, and yet then be touched by them and eat with them. We’ll hear about his disciples traveling with him along a road for hours not recognizing him only then to have him behave in ways that open their eyes to the truth before them. We’ll hear about a simple breakfast of fish and bread that is so marked by the pattern of Jesus that even though the person before them does not look like Jesus they know it is the Lord. In short, we hear about the disciples living into and experiencing resurrection more and more.
For the next 50 days we will proclaim that Christ is risen. May we experience that quantum shift that was revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. May it be for us more than an idea to believe, but something that we actively seek to experience. May the hope of a life transformed be something that we come to know every day of our lives and beyond..