Easter - B

April 12, 2009

The Very Rev. Peter Swarr

They trudged along the path in the dim pre-dawn light, carrying what was left of their hope in their hands. Instead of celebration and joy, their hearts were filled with sadness. Their spices and embalming oils trickled over the edge of the containers just as their tears trickled down their cheeks. This was not how it was supposed to be. In Jesus, Mary, Salome, and Mary Magdalene had found joy and hope. In him they had seen the wholeness of God, the power of love, and hope for their people. In Jesus they had found a teacher in whom they could believe, in whom they could hope, in whom they could trust. But all that was dashed and destroyed by the events of Friday, where the One they believed in, the One who gave them hope, had been killed. That early Easter morning knew something of broken dreams and broken hearts. And so, with their hopes shattered, they continued on towards the tomb to say goodbye one last time, to bid farewell to the One who had caused new hope to rise within them. This had not been their plan.

We know something about things not working out. We too know about making plans that fall apart, plans dashed to pieces by falling stock markets, businesses closing doors, and failing health. We know about stunned silence, facing a reality we had never expected. We know, in some way, the feelings that the three women felt that early Easter morning.

Easter always begins in places such as these. There is no resurrection without dashed hopes, without the pain and sting of death. There is no great burst of resurrection joy until all that had been hoped for and dreamed of seems to be taken from us, be that in the person of Jesus, in the security of financial well-being, the joy of good health, or the life-giving reality of family and friends. Easter always begins in darkness.

But Easter does not end in darkness, it does not end in a grave filled with death and despair. Easter does not end with only broken dreams. As Madeline L’Engle writes, “All the evil in the world is no more to the mercy of God than a live coal dropped in the sea.” For in God we see new life, in God we see broken dreams and dashed hopes made new once again, transformed by the life-giving reality of God. The power of the Resurrection of Christ which we celebrate this Easter is that all the evil of this world, all the pain and brokenness cannot overcome the God of life and love.

I’ve seen this Easter hope in action in a poor neighborhood in the Dominican Republic.  In that community there was a dream that had fallen apart and yet, in the power of God, been transformed and brought to new life. Two brothers had built a funeral home in an expanding town. These brothers knew that the local residents had little money, but a deep love for family members and a desire to celebrate their lives. So the two brothers built a modest building, and went into the funeral business, helping people mourn the death of loved ones and celebrate their lives. Their plan was dashed to nothing when a massive hurricane struck the area, reducing that already poor neighborhood to nothing. Their hopes were shattered. A few days after the hurricane, four Episcopal nuns approached the brothers and offered to buy the mangled funeral parlor. They sold their property and suddenly, a new vision, new life began to appear out of wreckage and chaos. Easter began to dawn.

Within a year that building which had been a place for funerals became a place for life, as the sisters began to offer free medical care to the community. A few years later they opened a school. In a place where dreams had been dashed, in a place where plans had been ruined, in a place where death and destruction had seemed to have the last word, new life had sprung forth. In that poor neighborhood, God’s plan was being worked out, resurrection was being lived.

So too did Resurrection become real for Mary, Salome, and Mary Magdalene that Easter Morning. As they arrived at Jesus’ tomb the unexpected started to occur and new life began to enter their broken hearts. In place of a huge stone covering the entrance to Jesus’ tomb, these faithful women found the stone rolled away. Their hearts still broken, they stepped into the tomb only to see a young man, dressed in white, who told them that their broken dreams might be made whole again. “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.” With those simple yet life-changing words those faithful women confronted new life, they confronted the resurrection.

Seeing new life, seeing the Resurrection, does not mean we immediately recognize it. When the women were told that Jesus was alive, instead of rejoicing, they were seized with terror and they ran. Resurrection can take time for us. And yet we know that the Resurrection did eventually become life-giving and joyful for these terrified women.

Just as resurrection took time for Mary, Salome and Mary Magdalene so too did it take time in that poor Dominican neighborhood. New life springing up amidst the ruble of that old funeral parlor did not appear overnight. Fear, frustration, confusion were not immediately wiped away, and yet, new life, resurrection-life, did transform that neighborhood. What began as a simple medical clinic expanded and today the Sisters of the Transfiguration use the building that had been a funeral home to offer not only medical care, but also purified water, food for the hungry, worship services, education for all, and technical training for young people. Today, new life continues to spread to people in the midst of pain, sadness, and sickness through the work and faith of those sisters and the power of the resurrection.

Resurrection takes time for us as well. We gather together, with hope, with sadness, with joy, with pain. We gather together confused, hurting, and fearful, yet yearning for the new life which has been promised through Jesus’ resurrection. We gather unsure of what our future holds for us, for our community, for our state, for our world. Yet in the midst of that uncertainty, in the midst of our grief, in the midst of our broken dreams, the resurrection shines forth. In the midst of all the brokenness of the world, Jesus is alive. In the midst of all that seems wrong, we see that life has triumphed, not only for Jesus, not only for Mary, Salome, and Mary Magdalene, not only for the Sisters of the Transfiguration and that Dominican neighborhood, but for us as well.

In Christ life has won the victory. In Christ we are able to hope for tomorrow, to dream dreams even when we are trudging down a hopeless path with broken dreams all around.

My friends, no matter where you are on your Resurrection journey, walking to the tomb in the pre-dawn light, seeing the stone rolled away, confronting the man who tells you Jesus is alive, running in fear and confusion, or feeling new life begin to stir within, know this, Resurrection is real. Christ is alive. Jesus is risen. Life has triumphed. Hope is alive. 

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!