Fourth Easter
John 10:22-30, Acts 9:36-43; Revelation 7:9-17
Life and death. Death and life. There is an order--life precedes death --At least that is normally the way the story is told. And the story of one life and death is always easier to comprehend than the report of more than one death. A listing--of say 721 deaths--begins to loose the human quality --even with a picture attached to the name of each soldier --And 2,996 deaths overwhelm us as a national tragedy requiring some quest for a 9/11 memorial to give meaning to a fatality list that risks becoming just a number --A number beyond which we begin to remove ourselves and our feelings --A number like 24,000 deaths from hunger each day --A report of deaths to which we attach little if any living value --A number that becomes little more than an abstract concept that has value only in assisting us to feel that we are making progress in the battle against hunger since that number used to be 35,000 deaths a day. But the story of a death with name and details --a story that makes us wish that we had had an opportunity to know this person --such a story is not found in the reporting of numbers or the reading of names --This type of story celebrates a life and names the threat that death represents to each of us. We live our lives between the personal stories that give meaning to our lives and the abstracts of information over load that wake us each morning with the latest reports of lives cut short --military casualties--car crashes--building fires --we have discovered an almost endless variety of death causes to be highlighted by the daily media reports --and when that list becomes too familiar and we begin to loose interest we can all turn to that list of people we personally know and have heard of battling various diseases, cancers and heart conditions.
But the fact is that no healthy person expects to die--plans to die--at least not today --My three sons have now all entered into what some psychologists refer to as "the eternal age" --The time between 18-30 years of age when young men in particular see themselves as being as close to indestructible and immortal as they will ever be --They participate in athletics and various forms of risky behavior with unparalleled energy and abandon --They may get hurt--strain a muscle--break a bone--total a car or two --knock out a few teeth --but they expect to hear with certainty the promise that "We can rebuild him--as good if not better than he was before." As I sat watching Friday evening the chronicle of those who have died in Iraq in service to our country during the past year --I was struck by how the overwhelming majority of the 721 named were of the eternal indestructible age--18-30 years old. I was haunted by the words of one of my seminary professors --"It is every parent's desire that their children live forever." One study of the American public found that 80% of us believe in immortality --Yet what is interesting is that such faith in immortality is not a self-serving narcissistic desire --After a certain age most of us begin to be reconciled with the likelihood that we will die some day --The older we get the more people our age seem to be reported in the news as dying --we are thankful of course that it is not our name we hear --But the real immortality we yearn for is for those around us--those whom we love. While I have no desire to die soon --I have an even greater desire that those around me live on.
When someone we loved dies we suddenly realize what a blessing that person had been to us --how much we miss them --We long for them to live on--we do not want death to have the final word. That is the context for our first lesson read today from the Book of Acts --This is one of the early stories about the disciple Peter as he begins his ministry to the communities outside of Jerusalem --Death comes to a woman known for her good works and acts of charity by the name of Dorcas--that was her Greek name --in Arabic her name was Tabitha. Peter is reported to have been near by and upon her death the other disciples --followers of Jesus' teachings--send word for him to come without delay --It is not clear exactly what those who called for Peter expected of him --Had they expected a miracle of healing as he performed in the story immediately preceding today's lesson I suspect they would have called him sooner. It appears at first that he simply joins the others who are grieving the loss of this much loved member of the community --but then he goes a step further --In the midst of his prayer with the grieving community Peter suddenly is led by the Spirit to see beyond death --Peter prays and then turns to the body and says "Tabitha, get up" --in Greek it is the word "arise". This is not the first time Peter has witnessed the grief over a beloved friend --not the first time he has stood by a lifeless body --Some years earlier Peter had seen the Widow of Nain's son carried out from the city and watched as Jesus approached the body. --Peter had seen the grieving family and friends standing at Lazarus' tomb when Jesus wept. --Peter witnessed time and again the power of God to go beyond the grave --to resuscitate--to restore to life. Most important--Peter had gazed upon the empty grave clothes in an empty tomb on Easter morning. With this vision of life beyond death Peter commanded "Tabitha, arise". And the Bible says she opened her eyes and seeing Peter, she sat up.
William Willimon notes that There are those who think that the Christian faith is mainly about immortality. They think that Jesus came so that we can have immortality. They have the notion that you have to believe in Jesus in order to go to heaven and live eternally. The truth is--the Christian faith--like the Jewish faith before it --has very little to say about immortality or life after death. Many pagan religions--in the area of the Middle East around Israel --had what we would call to day a veritable cult of the dead. They talked about death and immortality all the time. Like the Egyptians their most impressive religious buildings were tombs --massive monuments to their obsession with immortality. When we consider how seldom the Bible actually mentions life after death --it seems almost as if the Jews--and Christians after them --were striving to distinguish themselves from this pagan fixation with death and the infatuation with the afterlife. From the very beginning Christians made it clear that they did not worship Jesus as Lord in order to get a ticket to the afterlife. They worshipped Jesus because he was quite simply Lord --Lord of all the living and the dead. What Jesus demonstrated again and again --first in his ministry on earth and then through his own death and resurrection was that God is a God who is not limited by death. Jesus is declared the Lord of life and that also means that he is Lord over death. In today's Gospel lesson Jesus says, "My sheep hear my vice, I know them and they follow me". That voice was heard not only in life--but also in life after death. We are here as followers of a risen Christ who calls us to life today and into the future--even beyond the grave. Jesus said, "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand." After Easter we do not believe that there is any realm --including the realm of death that is impervious to the intrusions of God's love. The resurrection of Jesus is for us like an unveiling --a revelation of God's ultimate way with the world. Jesus was the "first fruits" of a more general resurrection. Just as God would not let Jesus and his work be defeated by the power of death --so it is that God will's for us to also triumph.
Those unfamiliar with scripture often speak of the immortality of the soul as if it were some inextinguishable essence that resides in the human being that cannot be obliterated by death. This view holds that the human spirit is so strong, so indomitable --that somehow it just goes on forever. I don't know about you --but I find that the human body (especially after 50) and the human spirit as well --to be increasingly frail and weak. The dreams of immortality of younger years must confront a reality that increasingly identifies limits of mine and the world's making. Resurrection is really not about us--it is about God --What God is like--What God does--What God will do. God the giver of life is on the side of life. God's will for the world does not include defeat by sin, evil or death. God is into resurrection. We are celebrating today the fourth Sunday of Easter --Notice it is "of" not "after" Easter--We are in the Resurrection Sundays --This is clearly a mystery--it makes no rational or scientific sense --People die --While we may hear of miraculous cures and amazing recoveries --We may read of out of body experiences and near death encounters --we cannot explain what God is doing in the resurrection. Maybe that is why in some faith communities Easter becomes "resurrectionless" --where the main images used are descriptions of the first birds of spring and the first buds blooming. But Easter is not just a change of season --Resurrection is not the natural order of the universe --Resurrection is God's grace moment for creation --the in-breaking of a new vision--a new understanding --a new way of living. Life beyond death--a way to pass through the valley of the shadow and fear no evil. We who live by faith--and die in faith--are expected to see the world differently. When Peter entered the room he saw the body of a woman who had died --when Peter left the room he walked with the woman who had died.
I will admit that I have never raised anyone from the dead --at least not as Peter did --but I also know that death takes many forms --I have seen the poor unemployed who have been written off as dead to society --the AIDS suffering parent of two children --the severely handicapped child unable to speak or even smile --the family who lost their home and job to a tornado's rage. I have seen those who must walk through the valley of the shadow --surrounded by the evil that is our world --And I have seen the church prepare a feast before them --a gift of life beyond the world they have known. This is no easy miracle to describe or explain --I am not sure Peter had any idea what he was doing after he prayed --in his confusion he turned to God and then said simply "Arise." This is what Easter is really all about --the "arising" of the people --the entering in to the vision of new life that is revealed through Christ's resurrection. Today we are invited to act as Peter and pray for the miracle of resurrection --not that a loved one might be raised from the dead but that we might see beyond the grave --see into God's resurrected future. The stories in the Bible of those raised from the dead Are not stories as Pastor Chris mentioned last Sunday with "happily ever after" endings. The widow of Nain's son--the beloved brother Lazarus--the charitable Tabitha --all eventually and ultimately had to face death But they did so the second time with a new understanding of God's great love --God's power to reach beyond the grave. Jesus also rose beyond the grave --but his resurrection was the complete revelation of God's power --His resurrection was the definitive statement of God's intention for all creation. We are now the post-Easter resurrected people --we are the ones who walk and talk to the resurrection rhythm of God's grace --Life and death--Death and Life --There is an order to it all that is beyond our understanding --a personal order that makes each death another moment of grace --a miracle of God's preservation and re-creation. The Sundays of Easter are a glimpse into our future --God's future for us --God's reminder to each of us to live in the rhythm of God's grace --Life and death--Death and Life--Everlasting.
Amen.