If God can = entrust the Messiah to a world like ours, with all its troubles and = dangers, then why should I be afraid

Easter Changes Everything = (John=20 20:1-18)

Rev. = Jennifer E.=20 Barrett Siegal

April = 12, 2009=20 (Easter)

Old = South Union=20 Church

Loving, Powerful God, excitement = floods over=20 our souls this day, for Christ is risen! =20 Open our hearts that we might receive fully the joy which has = been given=20 for us. Open our eyes = that we might=20 see the Risen Christ in our midst. =20 Open our mouths that we might proclaim the Good News=97that = Easter changes=20 everything. May the words = of my=20 mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, = O God,=20 our Rock and our Redeemer. =20 Amen.

It=92s beginning to = look a lot=20 like Easter=85 I know = things can be=20 busy this time of year, especially with all the Easter parties and = holiday=20 shopping. The empty-tomb = discounts=20 really can=92t be beat. I = hope you at=20 least remembered to put your resurrection sets out on the mantle. I love the ones with the = moveable stone=20 covering the tomb that you can roll away on Easter morning. Those are great=85 Oh, and don=92t forget about = the Easter=20 music=97you know it is hard to believe stores start playing it before = Valentine=92s=20 Day now=85

All this sounds a = little=20 strange, doesn=92t it? = That=92s because=20 we don=92t make the same boisterous fun of Holy Week that we do of = Christmas. Writer and columnist Frederica = Mathewes-Green remembers back to her childhood, when Christmas was full = of=20 excitement and fun and Easter was, well, boring. She writes of those early = years,=20 =93Chocolate bunnies: good. = [But]=20 scratchy new crinolines: bad. = Long=20 blah-blah-blah at church. = A lot of=20 wordy grown-up buildup leading to, it seemed, no payoff. You could always count on = Christmas to=20 change a lot of stuff, especially in the toybox. [But] Easter didn=92t change = anything.=94[1]

It=92s strange that = there isn=92t=20 more fanfare around Easter, especially with the astonishing claims that = we make=20 on this day. At Christmas = we=20 celebrate a birth, an experience all of us have shared. But at Easter we proclaim that = Christ=20 has been raised from the dead. = I=20 won=92t speak for all of us, but I know I haven=92t shared that = experience. In her essay =93Merry = Easter?=94=20 Mathewes-Green goes on to share a letter she received from her friend=20 Mitch. He wrote:

Looking at the = Christmas thing=20 as a man raised in a Jewish home, the big celebration in Christianity = should be=20 Easter. No Easter, no=20 Christianity=85 Why = Christians don=92t=20 whoop it up more at Easter is a mystery to me. How inspirational! How joyful! That is the time to toast each = other,=20 lay on gifts, attend worship services. =20 Pack in the rich food. Something really substantial and holy to=20 remember.^{^[2]}

Indeed without=20 Easter, Christmas would be meaningless. =20 So why don=92t we whoop it up more at Easter? Maybe we=92re taking our cues = from the=20 first disciples. This = morning Terry=20 read the resurrection account from the Gospel of John, which tells us = that early=20 on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to visit Jesus=92 tomb = in the=20 cover of darkness. When = she arrived=20 at the tomb, she found that the stone covering the entrance had been=20 removed. Fearing that = grave-robbers=20 had stolen Jesus=92 body, she quickly ran back to tell Simon Peter and = the beloved=20 disciple. Almost before = the words=20 had left her lips, Peter and the other disciple went racing to the tomb = to see=20 for themselves what had happened. =20 The beloved disciple overtook Peter and arrived at the tomb = first. When he bent down to look in, = he saw the=20 linen cloths that had wrapped around Jesus=92 body laying in a heap on = the=20 floor. When Simon Peter = caught up,=20 he boldly entered the tomb. = He,=20 too, saw the linen wrappings, as well as the cloth that had been on = Jesus=92=20 head. And then both of = them=20 returned to their homes.

No = fanfare, no=20 whopping it up. They saw = the empty=20 tomb, and then they went home. = It=92s=20 a bit anti-climatic, don=92t you think? =20 Peter and the other disciple rushed to the tomb to see if Mary = Magdalene=20 was telling the truth, but their frantic energy seemed to disappear as = they=20 peered into the tomb. = Going home=20 was certainly an anti-climactic response for disciples who had just seen = evidence of the resurrection. = It=92s=20 as if they thought nothing had happened to change things. Indeed, they didn=92t = understand what they=20 saw in that tomb=85 In = their eyes,=20 Jesus was still dead. = Their beloved=20 teacher and friend was gone. = What=20 more was there to do, really, besides return to their=20 homes?

But Mary had made her = way back to=20 the tomb, and she stayed there weeping. =20 We might imagine that she wept because she was sad=97sad because = Jesus was=20 dead, sad because her beloved teacher and friend was gone. Maybe she wept because she had = hoped for=20 so much, and it was as if = nothing at=20 all had happened to change things. =20 In the poem =93They Have Taken Away My Lord,=94 Janet Morley = tells the story=20 from Mary=92s point of view in this way:

I came early, as the = darkness=20 lifted,

To find the grave = ripped open=20 and his body gone;

Container of my = grief smashed,=20 looted,

Leaving my hands = still=20 empty.

I turned on the man = who=20 came.

=93They have taken = away my=20 Lord=97where is his corpse?

Where is the body = that is mine=20 to greet?

He is not gone

I am not ready yet, = I am not=20 finished=97

I cannot let him = go

I am not = whole.=94

And then he spoke, = no=20 corpse,

And breathed,

And offered me my = name.

My hands rushed to = grasp him

To hold and hug and = grip his=20 body close;

To give myself = again, to cling=20 to him,

And lose myself in = love.

He said, =93Don=92t = touch me=20 now.=94

I stopped, and = waited, my=20 rejected passion

Hovering between us = like some=20 dying thing.

I, Mary, stood and = grieved, and=20 then departed.

I have a gospel to = proclaim.[3]

The Gospel of John = makes it clear=20 that Mary was grief-stricken, but then Jesus called her name and she = recognized=20 him. She was called, and = then sent=20 to proclaim the resurrection to those who simply saw the empty tomb and = returned=20 to their homes as if nothing had changed. =20 She was called and sent to proclaim that Christ had risen and = therefore=20 nothing could ever be the same again. =20 As author Rodney Clapp writes, =93The crucifixion and = resurrection of Jesus=20 Christ have in fact changed the direction of the world, knocking it out = of an=20 orbit of perdition into the orbit of life.=94 It was when Jesus called her = name that=20 Mary realized this to be true. =

So on this Easter = morning, we=20 declare once again that Christ is risen and nothing can ever be the = same. And today, the world needs to = hear those=20 words more than ever. We = all need=20 to hear that =93the hope of the resurrection is that this world is not = just where=20 Jesus died=97this world is where Jesus lives! [But] sometimes that is hard = to=20 believe. The = principalities and=20 powers of evil often appear to be in control.=94=20 [4] The economy is stealing away = our sense=20 of security. We=92ve lost = our trust=20 in politics; the constant threat of terrorism erodes our feelings of=20 safety. The forces of = greed and=20 selfishness, addiction and despair are ever-present and = overwhelming. So yes, in the face of all = that is evil,=20 sometimes it=92s hard to see with eyes of faith.

But yet we have a = gospel to=20 proclaim. The forces of = oppression,=20 hatred, poverty, and injustice will never have ultimate power over the = force of=20 love made known through Christ. = The=20 forces of despair and mourning will never have power over the promise of = everlasting life made known in the resurrection. Like Mary, we are called to = proclaim to=20 others the power and the promise of the risen Christ. Like Mary, we are called to = proclaim, =93I=20 have seen the Lord, and nothing will ever be the same again.=94 Let=92s whoop it up, because = Easter=20 changes everything. = Thanks be to=20 God! Alleluia! Amen!