Easter 2004
"On the first day of the week, the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee
came to the tomb … they did not find the body."
But everybody wants to find the body. The women desire to minister to the body,
so that ritual respect for the dead, their dead Jesus, might be observed. The
men, probably trying to piece together the next step after the death of their
leader, suddenly are missing a piece:
"What do you mean, no body? The women must be mistaken."
Yes, perplexed and terrified, the first followers wondered where the body went.
We want to find the body too--so much so that throughout Christian History we've
painted it into art, noted it in music and captured it to best effect in film.
Furthermore, when we are anxious, when we try to piece together some certainty
about where things are going and who this resurrected Jesus Christ is, we sometimes
labor to reanimate the corpse instead of allowing God to raise us up! Why do
we look for the living among the dead, as the people at the tomb were asked?
Because we want resurrection on our own terms. We want to know what God is going
to do to help me rather than being open to where Christ is going to lead us
to help him. Paul recognized this tendency even during the Church's earliest
days.
"If we have been raised with Christ, we need to live that life. Set
your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."
Paul doesn't say this to disparage the goodness of earthly things but
to question an 'earth-bound' view of life that looks no further than planning
my next step out of a bad situation or into a better one. So Paul exhorts people
to seek the things that are above putting one foot in front of the other. With
your minds set on Christ, lift up your heads and broaden your vision; lift up
your hearts and deepen your commitment.
Who better to illustrate the Resurrection effect on the eyes and heart than
Peter preaching about the Easter reality of sins forgiven? Peter is not referring
to the particulars that an individual or group might label as sin (which is
often a covert social process people use to classify and judge others). No,
Peter reminds everyone that judgment of the living and the dead belongs to God
alone. The basic human sin of which Peter speaks, from experience, is that of
breaking one's self off from the Other. The cock crowed; Peter turned away from
Jesus and fellow humanity. God raised Jesus on the third day and allowed him
to appear to Peter who receives forgiveness of sins. Peter experiences first
hand that the Resurrection Effect is the power of reconciliation: Peter's break
with Jesus is healed by the Risen Christ. And if God will forgive the very one
who denies the Christ, then Peter can preach with conviction when he says:
"I truly understand that God shows no partiality… Anyone who trusts
in God and endures for what is right and good is acceptable to God."
Peter's sermonic message is the Church's mission-- Peace by Jesus Christ.
Peace: wholeness and health--care and concern for each person.
Peace: reconciliation and well being--people rejoined in community.
Peace: broadened vision and deepened commitment--community centered in Christ.
Peace: all people, all nations, all faiths raised up to what God envisions and
loves: People at one with each other and all that God has created.
Peace is the Resurrection Effect that comes from living the Paschal
Mystery. In Baptism, we are buried with Christ. Whatever keeps us from fullness
of life dies. For we now know that to hold on to these things for dear life
actually brings about sure death. So, with Christ, we die to death and rise
up out of the waters, no longer gasping but breathing peacefully.
This Baptismal dynamic, this tidal flow between Good Friday and Easter, is the
current that carries us into the Paschal Mystery. However, while everyone wants
to claim Resurrection hardly anybody wants to survey the Cross. But Easter cannot
happen apart from Good Friday. The Cross is prophetic in its critique of any
'side' on any issue. The truth of the Cross overcomes polarization and reconciles
all sides. No matter where you stand geographically, politically, or theologically
you/we stand in the shadow of the Cross. When you accept its verdict, Christ's
Cross becomes a living beacon of light, shining the way to Peace.
Peace in our time? We cannot control that. Peace is God's time.
Live into God's time. Walk on this earth in the rhythm, the timing, of the
Holy Spirit and you walk in the way of Peace. Peace happens.
The Cross shows us what happens when partisan agenda is made the center. The
Cross reminds us that Christ is the center for the good of all. The Cross motivates
us to allow Christ into the center of my heart. Then Peace happens, when the
Cross is planted in our hearts.
We talk and act as if discord, violence and war happen 'out there', 'over there'.
But before you ever see it erupting on the scene, it is festering--in here:
in me, in you.
Look. Listen. What is going on in society? Our agitation and divisive
attitudes keep us on edge. Naming our 'enemies' at home and abroad primes us
all the more for warring. Our banners and battle cries, some subtle/some blatant,
claim that our enemies want to alter life as we know it. But it is not that
simple. For the problem, the real enemy camps within us. We are not at peace
in ourselves. We are a people afraid (understandably afraid, but afraid nonetheless).
We are a people afraid of a changing world. As a result, instead of exhibiting
faithful courage, we are frantically exerting control, which invariably leads
to violence. There can be no life flow from a restive, fearful, anxious heart;
only waste and toxins. As a result, the world in which we are living no longer
asks if violence is absolutely necessary. Rather, everyone mobilizes for the
offensive with supposed evidence justifying how much violence, when to unleash
it and who is targeted for firepower.
Into such a warring world God says Yes-- yes to a preemptive act of reconciliation.
That's what the Resurrection is. New Life possibilities made real by the living
commitment to self-giving, not giving up when the undertow of death and destruction
is strong. Jesus dies because he would not give up on true life. We live because
of the death he died. The Risen One, who reconciles us with God and each other,
calls us to join him, to be one with him, in the work of reconciliation. We
are called to be upbuilders of community. Centered in Christ, as Church, we
taste and see true community. More, we are nourished for this waging of peace.
Therefore, instead of burying each other under the strewn wreckage in the wake
of violence and retaliation, we can rise up in reconciliation.
It all starts small, in ways that you and I can say Yes.
* Be gentle with yourself. Admit your weaknesses, share your gifts.
* Listen; be open to need.
* Do not dismiss the other as 'stranger' or, worse, as 'enemy'. Rather, care
for them. By virtue of the Cross planted in your heart they are your sister
and brother.
* Be kind of speech to one another. If liberals and conservatives have wars
of words, it proves they are ideologues grasping tightly to a position rather
than seeking to embrace people and renew the commonwealth.
* Handle everything, everyone and every situation with reverence. For each moment
is a sacramental opportunity for conciliar action and movement towards wholeness.
Yes, we do have a choice. In each moment we can add to the Resurrection Effect
or to the frenzy of a gathering storm. Our faith is not about hoping against
history that God will finally act to bring Peace. God did! Christ's death on
the cross and Resurrection to new life delivered us from the power of the enemy.
God's Triumph in Christ is our strength and our song. Enough with devastation.
Centered in Christ, we are a people of celebration. In Christ God has acted
on the side of Life and Love. We shall not die, but live declaring the works
of the Lord. We have a choice. We can leave a blessing behind.
Thomas Reese
4/11/04