Easter 2008 Homily

• Most of our words are inadequate to describe this great event
• Church regulars zone out because they "already know the story"
• People who come to church only on special occasions are daydreaming about the more recreational aspects of the holiday
• And then there are tons of people who aren’t here. The recent Pew Forum "U.S. Religious Landscape Survey" shows the fastest growing religious group to be "no preference."

But what Jesus said to Mary Magdalene on that first Easter morning is sermon enough for preachers, church regulars, "Christmas and Easter" visitors and "no preference" types as well:

• "But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’"

To preachers, Jesus says, "Just go and tell people that I live."

• It takes the pressure off to know that I don’t have to be brilliant, just true. Jesus asks me to just get up here and say, "He lives!" Jesus will come to you at the right time and speak your name, just like when he said "Mary!" and she knew he was alive.
• Mary did not have to be brilliant or convincing – just true. The disciples did not at first believe Mary Magdalene’s message – in fact, Luke’s report of these events says that the disciples considered her words to be "nonsense." (Luke 24:11) But she said what Jesus told her, and that was enough at the time.

To church regulars, Jesus says, "I’m not a story, I’m your brother."

• He speaks to Mary first in terms of a relationship: "I am going to my Father and your Father…"
• Church members should not zone out, because Easter is not just the retelling of a story – it is the renewal of your relationship with God. Have your heavenly Father and Christ, your brother, become long-lost relatives? Jesus lives and invites you to a reunion today.

To special occasion folks, Jesus says, "Don’t hold on, but go and tell others..."

• He warns Mary not to cling to the wonderful moment, but to go and keep his message moving.
• The wonderful moments come and go, because we fail to put them in the eternal motion of Christ’s message. We make them like drops that evaporate instead of an ever-rolling river. We baptize because the baby is cute – we don’t raise the baby to know its eternal value. We come to the weddings because we hope for happiness – we don’t pay attention to the sacred vocation that matters to God. We come to Christmas and Easter services because they remind us of family – but we don’t connect as eternal brothers and sisters in Christ. And we come to the funerals because life slips away and we want to hold on – and we never hear the Word of God that can inspire hope and overcome death.
• Jesus says, "Don’t clutch at moments – give your life to me and let me fill your moments with eternal significance – with my own Spirit – with the ever flowing water of life."

To no-preference folks, Jesus says, "I prefer you, but you won’t understand that on your own."

• Back to that language of relationship – of brothers and sisters in Christ and children of the heavenly father. Most of the "no preference" people are not atheists or even agnostics – most are into "personal spirituality" or are convinced that "churches are man-made and God is much greater."
• But look at how God reveals himself in Jesus Christ – he reveals himself to human witnesses and sends them to other people. He speaks to Mary but doesn’t let her stay and keep this for herself – he sends her to share the news with others – even though they will be difficult. This is the start of what our Creed calls the "apostolic church" – it is built person-to-person in relationship, not by any individual isolated in self-satisfaction. One long-ago preacher said, "The Lord sends his disciples out to preach two by two to make it clear to all that no one who does not love another person is fit to preach" (St. Gregory the Great).
• Just as I have to stand up here and say, "Jesus is alive!" and trust him to do the rest in your soul, we have to go to our "no preference" friends and say, "God loves you, but you won’t really know that until you try it out with others." We just have to plant the idea – it is up to God to do the rest when the time is right.

OK, that’s enough for today. My words are growing inadequate; my regulars are zoning out; the holiday visitors are thinking about brunch, and the "no-preference" folks already decided to stay away.

But I’ll say what Jesus told me to say: He is risen from the dead! He is alive! And he is with my Father, who wants to be your Father, and with my God, who wants to be your God, too. Alleluia! Amen.