Passport to Life

When was the last time you looked at your driver's license or your passport? Or if you don't have one of these, ask to look at a friend's or parent's. The last time I got my photo taken, it was taken with strict instructions.  Don't smile. Look up. No glasses. Get your hair off your face. Then the bright flash seems to suck all the color our of your face and the results are ghastly. Pale, dull, emotionless blank look that in all honesty looks way older than you actually are. Boring and lifeless.

I imagine that's how Mary Magdalene and the other women looked when they hurried to the tomb that first Easter Sunday. Shocked and maybe even traumatized by the experiences of Good Friday, they would have been going through the motions, numb and empty. Their faces blank, putting one foot in front of the other, doing the traditional mourning rituals that were a part of their culture and religion. Trying to organize the details of what to do next. The community was in turmoil, and rather than a cohesive group looking to a leader to guide all their decisions, they had no one to fall back on. Did James and John make plans to rejoin their dad's fishing business? Did Matthew think about going back to his job of despised tax collector? Would Mary and Martha have felt trapped back into a life where they would only be allowed to cook and clean and never sit with the men as equals? Would Lazarus have thought about going back into his tomb and never dream of coming out again? Would the Samaritan woman plan to go back to her well and her village, doomed to go from one man to the next as she used to, or the man born blind wish he could close his eyes to the pain he saw in the faces of his new friends?

At times of terrible pain, we can go into such a state of numbness, and many of us can relate. Our days feel meaningless and empty. We slip into states of apathy where even getting out of bed seems too onerous. Now in the days of Jesus, life was far shorter and folks might have been more prosaic than we are with our modern medicine and hygiene, we don't know for sure. But even though Jesus tried to prepare his followers, they hadn't listened, they rejected what they heard as gloom and doom nonsense. So Good Friday would have been a real shock to them all.

It also would have been a time of great guilt and shame for the men who had all either run away or denied their connection to Jesus. The women didn't run, but witnessing the ordeal must have been dreadful.  The United Church’s Song of Faith describes it this way, “Because his witness to love was threatening, those exercising power sought to silence Jesus. He suffered abandonment and betrayal, state-sanctioned torture and execution. He was crucified.” It could have become the stuff of nightmares.

The historian Josephus, writing his book for the Roman Empire of the history of his Jewish country wrote that Jesus was executed. This we know is fact. Jesus was real and he was killed in the most public and shameful way possible, on a hill that could be seen for miles, nearly naked in a culture that treasured modesty, and slowly as a traitor, to remind other potential rebels never to question authority.

That should have been the end of the story. This Roman execution should have snuffed out their small movement before it had a chance. End of story. Except it wasn't. The morning when the women came to the tomb, the one thing they weren't expecting was that it would be empty.

Death was not the last word. Now, there are a lot of theories and explanations trying to debunk the resurrection.  Those theories started from day one, trying to discredit Christianity.  Over and over, the detractors attacked, mocked, belittled and even tortured people believing in a Risen Christ.  The Roman Empire and modern Communists alike made it illegal.  Atheists like Richard Dawkins and Carl Sagan wrote book after book ridiculing the Easter Story, and they expected their scientific debunking to end Christianity and all other faiths.  Their motives were sound, they wanted to end violence and religious wars.  But often religious wars are using people’s faith to manipulate and convince people that war is necessary, it isn’t because religion itself is warlike.  Interestingly enough, even with atheists and countries declaring faith illegal, a research project found that the only faith shrinking in 2026 was Buddhism.  Christianity grew by 5%.  Rather like the Monty Python knight, Christians can claim that “I’m not dead yet!”

The truth is that a stolen body can’t inspire a spiritual revolution, a lie can’t inspire people to come together and risk their lives to talk about teachings of respect, compassion and faith.  A scam doesn’t inspire quiet resistance to tyrants, a plot doesn’t embolden people to protest against discrimination.  The Resurrection story has inspired people for centuries.  Without it, William Wilberforce wouldn’t have worked to end the Slave Trade, Charles Dickons wouldn’t have written about the oppression of impoverished children which inspired the establishment of public schools as a human right, monks and nuns wouldn’t have built hospitals and hospices, and people like Martin Luther King would not have preached equal rights even at the risk of their own lives. 

Easter, like God, is Holy Mystery, beyond complete knowledge, above perfect description.  It inspires us to love our neighbors, love ourselves and love that holy mystery whatever we name it.  Easter helps us work in hope for a better world.  Easter brings people to life, giving them purpose and a vision.  We become more than our passport or driver’s licence photos; we come to life.  Easter inspires us to deeper spirituality, both in our daily lives and in community here.  Easter inspires us to engage in learning more about our faith and our world so that we can practice bold discipleship.  Easter inspires us to also work daringly for justice, whether it’s joining in protest rallies, voting in elections or sending e-mails and phone calls to people who need to hear that we believe in human rights and equality for all.  Easter empowers us to speak against racism, homophobia or discrimination.  Easter is the ultimate “No Tyrants” event, not started by Jesus, or the disciples, but started by Holy Mystery itself. Our Song of Faith says, “in love, the one eternal God raised Jesus from death, turning sorrow into joy, despair into hope.  We sing of Jesus raised from the dead. We sing hallelujah.  

Today, let us choose to have the mystery of Easter, however we understand it, inspire us to continue the work for justice and human dignity that Jesus started so long ago.  Because the empty tomb didn’t stop the followers of Jesus back when they knew what Herod and Pilate did, and they followed Jesus anyway.  Not because he was a passport to power or wealth, but because he was a passport to community, love and abundant life.  Thank God for this passport we have that is the Risen Christ.  Christ has risen, Halleluiah!

We’re Still Standing!

Did you know that the most frequently written about event in the Bible is not crossing the Red Sea or getting the 10 Commandments or the Christmas story?  We only have two stories of Christmas, and they are different from each other in many ways.  But guess how many resurrection accounts there are in the New Testament?

There are the four accounts in each of the four Gospels, and another three sermons in Acts, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Peter.  There are over 50 other references sprinkled throughout the Gospels and the letters.  Something very significant happened to folks that first Easter morning.

So significant that it felt like an earthquake that shook them up like nothing before.  It turned their understanding of the world on its head.  They found the courage and the enthusiasm to go out into the same world that had killed their leader and preach exactly the same message that got him killed in the first place!

Now folks like Richard Dawkins think they conspired to lie or else they were stupid idiots.  But the lie theory doesn’t hold water to me.  To put it in a modern context, while I might promote the lies of someone whom I look up to, especially if he is a rich billionaire and ex-president of a democratic country, I won’t promote it if it means risking myself getting involved in a lawsuit.  And Jesus was neither a rich billionaire nor a former president.  Jesus was a peasant rabbi, a faithful Jew.  Who on earth would want to die for such a poor homeless person?  The lying theory doesn’t hold water for me.

What about the ‘stupid idiots’ theory?  That Jesus came up with an elaborate scam that made David Copperfield or Chriss Angel look like amateurs, and pulled the wool over his followers?  But Peter and the rest sound like down to earth, no-nonsense people.  The one truth they all agreed on was that Jesus taught them to build a community based on sayings like “The Truth will Set you Free”, and “Don’t be like the lying hypocrites”.  That is not a conspiracy scam.  These were rough and ready, cynical men who were more interested in fame and power than humbleness.  Yet, after Easter they left their homes and families, gave up fame and fortune, and turned from self-serving students to passionate witnesses willing to risk their lives.  Wow!

The earthquake that was the death of their beloved teacher should have dropped them in their tracks.  They should have, as Matthew colorfully put it, “fell down as though they were dead.”  That’s exactly what the Roman officials expected.  They were old hands at disrupting political opponents.  They knew the best way to diffuse rebellions was to take the leader out.  It worked like a charm repeatedly over and over.  Lop off the head and the followers slink off into oblivion. It was one of the main reasons why the Roman empire lasted for 300 years.  Public executions kept the local peasants afraid and obedient.  Until one day it didn’t.

That one day was Easter.  Three days after his friends and family had experienced the devastating and humiliating execution of their beloved teacher, suddenly they experienced the message to not be afraid in a courageous new way.  Suddenly the earthquakes of life had no power over them.  Suddenly they had strength and endurance and passion for the boldest message they had ever heard.  Love is unstoppable.  Bullies will not win.  Power has no power.  Empire is no God.  Death is not the end.

We are living in earthquake times.  We have endured our world being turned upside down.  We have seen the deliberate preaching of intolerance.  We are seeing the fragility of banks, world peace, and our environment.  We hear of more gun violence, the rise of mental illness, the undermining of democracy and good governance.  We feel the challenge of inflation, and rising crime rates. These earthquakes are real.

Or are they?  While on one hand we have lots of bad news stories, we also are called as Christians to look for God working in the world in unexpected ways.  Look at the statistics of crime from our government: 

The violent crime index went up because of domestic violence during Covid lockdowns, but everything else is dropping!  Our local RCMP are cracking down on drugs and guns, with lots of stories in the paper about their latest seizures. Solar panel businesses are on the rise as are solar panels on Canadian rooftops.  EV car sales are increasing too.  Hybrid heat pumps that use less natural gas are being sold faster than expected.  All good news for the environment.  The number of people hospitalized for Covid in Alberta is down to 450 now, and that is also good news.

God’s good news has been working for centuries.  Don’t be afraid!  Jesus is still with you!  Death is not the final answer, the final defeat.  This good news destroyed the corrupt Roman Empire and stopped the large-scale slaughter of innocent people.  This good news led to ordinary followers like you and me establishing schools for all children, and hospitals for anyone in need.  This good news led folks like us building hospices a thousand years ago for Muslim, Jew, Christian and pagan alike so they could die in dignity.  This good news continues to end the power of elites to do whatever they want and avoid justice.  Even now, research done by reputable universities are finding that being involved in a healthy faith community can improve our happiness, our health, our longevity and our emotional resilience!  Gathering together on Sunday mornings, doing crazy things like collecting coins and supplies for Ukraine or socks for the homeless, combats loneliness and meaninglessness.  It gives us the strength and courage to withstand the earthquakes in our lives and helps us boldly proclaim that in life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us, we are not alone, Thanks be to God, halleluiah!