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The Sunday Of The Resurrection: Easter Day
Almighty God, who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by thy life-giving Spirit; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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The Sunday Of The Resurrection: Easter Day
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A Sermon by
The Rev. Canon Carl Turner
✛
When things are dark, God acts.
Over the past week, Archbishop Rowan Williams has explored with us how the trial and death of Jesus transforms how we understand and exercise power. One of his most striking addresses, before Tenebrae on Wednesday, described the silence of Christ and how silence, especially in our noisy world, can become liberating so that we can discover the truth. We live in a world that wants explanations and proofs and is filled with chatter and noise and constant communication – yet, are we really communicating with one another? Are we really listening to one another? Archbishop Rowan said: God does not feel under any pressure to explain himself to us. When God comes among us in Jesus, he doesn’t explain; he accompanies, he listens, he heals, he embraces.[1]
It is easy to think that what we are celebrating today is a belief or a creedal formula, but we begin our liturgy during Eastertide with a greeting – the Easter greeting – and it fills the hearts of the faithful with joy. “Alleluia! Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!” It takes us back to the garden and to the empty tomb. Easter Day is about a personal encounter with God in Jesus Christ. Having conquered death, the risen Lord continued to accompany, listen, heal and embrace his followers and continues to do so in the life of the Church.
All four Gospels are clear; Jesus died and was buried in a tomb and on the third day he rose again from the dead. This Resurrection changed everything and made his death salvific. How significant that when Jesus appeared to his followers he not only talked about what he accomplished in his death but he showed them his hands and his side – the wounds of love.
We are told in the Gospel that it was early in the morning of the first day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead; John’s Gospel, which we head a few moments ago, states that it was still dark when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. We must remember that we are in a ‘Jewish time zone’ in the Gospels – the new day begins at sunset, so when the sun went down on Saturday, Sunday had arrived – the first day of the week. This first day resonates with another first day – the first day of creation when we read in the book Genesis those wonderful words: “In the beginning…” and the creative word of God speaks – “Let there be light!” In the account of the creation we are told that God found it to be good – the creation is inherently good and, at the end of the sixth day it is described as very good. The seventh day becomes the day of rest and this is the day that Christ rested in the tomb.
It is very poignant that Jesus is laid to rest in a tomb in a garden and rests in that tomb on the Sabbath Day. In the book of Genesis, a garden is used to describe the goodness of the created order in which humankind lives. The effects of the fall spoiled that garden experience and Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. Jesus, the creative Word of God, is laid to rest in a tomb in a garden and it is in that garden that he begins his new creation. His resurrection was on the first day and it echoed the creativity of God. Easter Day is a new beginning – a new creation – the old order has passed away and our noisy and angry world has been silenced.
Writing to the Corinthians, Paul says “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Easter is a time for new beginnings and the first disciples were changed because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We, too, are changed because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “God does not feel under any pressure to explain himself to us. When God comes among us in Jesus, he doesn’t explain; he accompanies, he listens, he heals, he embraces.”
“Mary” – one word is all that Jesus needed to say to her and she embraced her risen Lord. We too, can embrace the Lord, weeping over our sins and feeling his forgiving love in our lives. All of this is at the heart of the church’s ministry – to accompany, to listen, to heal, and, like Christ, to embrace. St Paul continues: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation;”
(2 Corinthians 5:18)
In the noise and the chatter and the ugliness of our world breaks in glory and joy. My dear colleague, the Rector of St Mary’s Times Square, was so excited last Tuesday! Father Gerth had discovered something about the resurrection account in Matthew that he had not noticed before; with a great big smile on his face he said “Matthew’s account has one wonderful difference to the others; when Jesus says to Mary, “All hail” or ‘Greetings,” the Greek word is actually Rejoice!” And I could see it in his heart – in the middle of Holy week he was already rejoicing!
Philippians 4:4 – “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again, I say, Rejoice.”
Psalm 118:24 – “This is the day that the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!”
My dear friends, what we celebrate today is a new beginning; a new creation; a fresh start and the chance to make a difference to our world and to the people, around us. On Palm Sunday, our brother and sisters of the Coptic Church in Egypt were targeted by cruel and evil men but we know that today, on Easter Day, they will be rejoicing.
Some words of Michael Ramsey:
“When things are very dark, when human possibilities are exhausted, when we are at the end of our tether, God acts. Easter defines for all time the character of Christian faith: human weakness, divine power; I can’t, God can; I am weak, God is strong; I am a sinner, God forgives.”[2]
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
_______________
[1] Address given on Wednesday, April 12, 2017
[2] Sermon preached at Canterbury Cathedral Easter 1970 (‘Canterbury Pilgrim’ p.161)
