Sharing in Christ's resurrection now. Easter Sunday 4/9/23 The Rev. M. Stoddart.

 Colossians 3:1-4; Matthew 28:1-10

Easter Day

9 April 2023

Church of Our Saviour, Charlottesville

The Rev. David M. Stoddart

So a guy is walking by a house one day, and sees a sign that reads, “Talking Dog for Sale.” He is, understandably, very intrigued by this, so he knocks on the door and asks the dog’s owner, “Does he really talk?” The owner says, “Yeah, he sure d0es. Come in and see for yourself.” Well, this guy has never spoken with a dog before, so he asks the dog, “Can you tell me about your life?” And sure enough, the dog answers him in this rich, sonorous voice and says, “I’ve had a full and interesting life. When I was younger, I rescued avalanche victims in the Alps. I’ve been on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with the Archbishop of Canterbury. And now, I spend my days reading to the residents of a nursing home.” The man is just flabbergasted, and says to the owner, “That’s incredible! How can you get rid of such an amazing dog?” And the owner replies, “Because he’s a liar! He never did any of that!”

The story of that first Easter morning as Matthew recounts it is certainly an amazing one. There’s an earthquake, and an angel descending like lightning, guards paralyzed with terror, and astonished women who actually see Jesus alive. We could stop there and say, “That’s incredible,” but then we would miss the greatest wonder of all. That wonder is not that, some 2,000 years ago, Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified. The greatest wonder is that the Risen Christ is here among us in Charlottesville at Church of Our Saviour in the year 2023. It’s not what the dog says that’s so amazing: it’s the fact that the dog talks at all. It’s not just the story of Jesus rising that’s so awesome: it’s the fact that he lives and people experience him alive even now.

And the Gospel points us to this. It pushes the disciples out of their grief and into the future. At the very end of this passage, Jesus exhorts the women to tell his other disciples that he is going ahead of them and will meet them in Galilee: they need to get going and get up there. And then when he does meet them in Galilee, he sends them out from there into the whole world. This is not just a local miracle story for the people of Jerusalem. This is a new reality that touches people around the world and through the ages. So you and I are not here this morning to indulge in some religious nostalgia by listening to a remarkable old story that we really like. We are here to celebrate the reality of resurrected life that we have begun to share in now and which we will continue to experience after we die.

So as important as the Gospel passage is, I want to call your attention to that great reading from the letter to the Colossians, which says, If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. The Greek here could just as easily be translated, since you have been raised with Christ, and that’s clearly Paul’s intended meaning: you are sharing in Christ’s resurrection now —  so think like it, feel like it, live like it. What are these things above that we are supposed to seek? Well, he’s not talking about clouds and rainbows: he’s talking about the blessings of resurrected living which we can know and enjoy even now. 

There are many such blessings, but I want to focus on one today because it comes up so often in my pastoral ministry, and that is freedom from catastrophic thinking. So often I hear in others and recognize in myself this deadly tendency to anticipate disaster. Lots of bad things can happen in this life, of course, and lots of bad things do happen. So catastrophic thinking is commonplace: it assumes the worst will happen and fears it. We might think that the worst thing is physical death, or separation from loved ones, or humiliating failure, or just becoming more feeble and less capable as we grow older. And sometimes the worst thing comes to pass: we do fail, the diagnosis is terminal, the people we love do die, sometimes at a young age. And so people can spend so much of their life’s energy dreading this, imprisoned by their own worst fears.

But we have been raised with Christ, and we don’t need to do that. Just about every worst possible thing happened to Jesus: he was physically tortured, emotionally abused, abandoned by his friends. They killed him at a young age in the most painful and shameful way possible, while his mother watched, heartbroken. And even when they bury him they don’t leave him alone: they actually place guards around the tomb as if they are going to keep him dead. And still he rises! And he doesn’t rise as a broken, embittered man, but as one filled with joy. The very worst thing happened, but disaster does not get the final word. And it never will. I like the way Emily Rutledge put it in one of her recent children’s homilies. She told the kids, “the worst thing is never the last thing.” Since we have been raised with Christ, we know that the last thing for each and every one of us will be life, love, and eternal bliss.

So we don’t need to make ourselves miserable with catastrophic thinking. Take Paul’s words to heart: Seek the things that are above, where Christ is. Notice that verb: seek. Just look for it. Ask for it. We don’t need to have superhuman faith. We don’t need to have heroic virtue. We don’t need to persuade God to be on our side: God is already on our side. The gift of resurrected living is just that: a gift. And we can all practice looking for it, asking for it, receiving it. So when we fear the worst, practice giving that fear to God. When catastrophic thinking takes over, practice asking Christ to set us free from such thinking. And when the worst does happen, practice trusting that it is not the last thing that will happen. And here’s how God compounds the gift: we don’t have to do any of this perfectly. We just have to do it at all. If we just want to do it, if we just want to want to do it, we will give the Holy Spirit room to help us. And she will. The Spirit will gradually set us free from dread, worry, and fear. And as that happens we will know, really know, that Easter is not just about remembering some fabulous old story, but about our sharing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ even now.