Easter Sunday
John 20:1-18
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from it. So, she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
The Miracle of Life
My first niece was born this year in January, in California to my sister and her husband. Her name is Mykaila James, MJ for short. And, even though I have yet to meet her in person, I already love her, and I look at the pictures and the videos that my family sends to me, and I think about the day when I’ll finally be able to hold her, and look into her eyes, and know that she is looking back at me. Babies have a sort of magic about them. Every child is a miracle, and MJ is no exception. She’s my sister first child, and she had a very rocky road to get here. It wasn’t easy for my sister to conceive, and there were a lot of complications with the pregnancy. If I’m going to be totally honest, I was worried for pretty much the entire time that my sister was pregnant.
So, I put her on our prayer list, and we prayed for her, as a congregation. People would ask me now and then about how she was doing; it was so wonderful to have the support of a community, especially since I’m so far away from the rest of my family. I’m happy to report that MJ my sister are both healthy and happy, and hopefully, they’ll be visiting us this summer, so you can all meet MJ, too.
Every baby is a miracle, none more so than the person whose resurrection we celebrate today. Jesus came into the world a miracle, God made flesh, God in the midst of us, and his departure was no less miraculous, being raised from the dead, and then ascending into heaven. The church calendar always gives me a little bit of whiplash every year. We celebrate the birth of Christ at the end of December, and four months later, we’re observing Maundy Thursday, to remember the Last Supper. The next day is Good Friday, to remember the crucifixion. And then comes Easter, today, when we celebrate his resurrection.
Christmas is by far the more popular holiday. Billions of people all over the world celebrate Christmas, whether they’re Christian or not. At its heart, Christmas is a birthday celebration, and who doesn’t want to celebrate a birthday. We all love Christmas, but Christmas isn’t all candy canes and mistletoe. We have to remember that by time Jesus was born, he had already experienced persecution and threats of death, even though as a baby, he didn’t know or understand any of that. And to this day, people are still arguing about his birth and what it means, and if he was even born at all. And, things only get even more complicated and contentious when we start talking about Easter.
We hold these 2 figures up in our culture, the Baby Jesus and the Crucified and Risen Christ. almost as if they weren’t the same person. And, for people who aren’t familiar with the church calendar, it’s easy to forget at Christmastime that Jesus is going to grow up and experience Easter. But, you can’t have the miracle of Christ’s birth without the miracle Christ’s resurrection. And, regardless of what you believe about the resurrection, we are all here today because we acknowledge that something special happened that day. The power of God was on full display for the world to see, but even then, two-thousand years ago when it all was happening, the people who were there witnessing it with their own eyes, even they couldn’t agree on what was happening or what it meant. How could we, two-thousand years later, possibly agree on what happened that day, or what it meant. It makes sense why there are so many different Christian denominations, and why there are so many different ideas about what really happened during that first Holy Week, two-thousand years ago.
What we can agree on, is that it was important. Something miraculous happened. God was there, and God’s presence was felt and acknowledged by at least some of the people who were there. Our lives were touched and changed forever, and we tell this story every year, because it’s the foundation of our faith.
Our lives are filled with miracles, so many, in fact, that we take them for granted. Each of you is a walking miracle. Life is a miracle. Love is a miracle. Our lives are touched by the divine every day, because God is with us. Our lives are so filled with miracles, that we don’t even notice them anymore. Until something happens to shake things us.
When I look at pictures of my niece, a tiny baby who I haven’t even met yet, and I feel all of the love that I already have for her, I know God is real. The Holy Spirit connects us to each other, is our connection to each other. We are not just piles of matter, existing in space and time with no purpose, no destiny, no relationships. The Creator breathed the miracle of life into us. The Holy Spirit gifts us with the miracle of relationship and community. And, Jesus lived and died and lived again, so that we could experience the miracle of life everlasting.
That’s the whole point of Easter. Jesus died and rose from the dead to bring us into God’s family. All of us are brothers, and sisters, and non-binary siblings in Christ, joined together through this eternal, sacred, divine act of grace, to free us from sin and free us from death.
After his resurrection, Jesus makes his various post-resurrection appearances throughout the gospels. He ascends into heaven, and the church grows. We are the descendants of faith from the movement that Jesus started, a movement based on equality and peace. A movement based on generosity and love. A movement based on mercy and justice. In order to call ourselves Christians, in order to claim that we are God’s children, we have to stand by these values. We have to turn away from our baser instincts that pull us towards selfishness and greed, bigotry and dominance. For his entire life, Jesus worked to dismantle all of that. Jesus died to dismantle all of that. And, he came back to life to prove that he was more powerful than selfishness and greed, to prove that love is more powerful that bigotry, that justice and fairness are more powerful than dominating other people.
Easter is the holiday of resurrection, renewal, and rebirth. If we have sinned, we can put that behind us. If we have held on to self-serving ideals, we can put those behind us, too. Jesus took all of that to the cross, and left it there, and we are a new and resurrected people, living in God’s grace and God’s mercy. You are God’s beloved. Show the world who you are. Share your gifts with a world in desperate need of hope and joy and love. Be strong for the weak, kind for the downtrodden, and be the light for those living in the shadows. Jesus is alive inside of you, empowering you to do all of these things, so be bold and courageous, and know that you are loved. Amen.
~ Rev. Charles Wei
