A Sermon for the Feast of the Resurrection: Easter Day
April 4, 2021
Text: John 20:1-18
I speak to you in the name of our loving, liberating, and life-giving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Life was quite different last Easter, wasn’t it? This time last year, rather than sitting in church on Easter morning, ready to celebrate the glory of our Lord’s resurrection, my family and I sat on the couch in our living room, watching a live broadcast of the Easter service from the Washington National Cathedral. The Most Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, preached a lovely and timely sermon while the Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, Bishop of Washington, celebrated the Eucharist. Our family watched the live-streamed service on our television and listened to the beautiful music, and we did our best to muster up as much Easter joy as we possibly could! We even had a makeshift altar set up in the living room with candles and a colorful arrangement of flowers.
Normally, we would’ve invited other family members over for the weekend to help us celebrate the holiday, but since times were so uncertain a year ago and there was no possibility yet for a vaccine, we decided to “play it safe” and not take any risks. So, our family celebrated Easter alone last year, as so many families did. It was just the four of us.
As you might recall, the weather was awful that day with heavy rain and thunderstorms, which meant that we couldn’t even go outside and enjoy an Easter egg hunt in our front yard. But, some things remained the same, and we weren’t going to let a global pandemic and thunderstorms prevent us from enjoying the day. The Easter Bunny still showed up, leaving gifts and surprises for the kids. We still enjoyed a delicious meal around the dinner table and enjoyed being together. And, most importantly, we still celebrated Easter with shouts of, “Alleluia,” giving thanks to God for the gift of new life we’ve been given through our Lord’s death and resurrection.
Yes, Easter was quite different a year ago, but then again, so were a lot of things.
At the time, we were in the middle of a statewide lockdown, and I was working mostly from home, trying my best to keep things running smoothly here at church and leading services throughout the week that were hopefully meaningful and comforting. At the same time, I was trying my best to be a full-time, stay-at-home dad and school teacher since all of the public schools were closed and teachers had no choice but to offer instruction online.
One memory that I’ve carried with me from that time was a conversation I had with Jude a few days before Easter, on Good Friday. His teacher had given him an assignment. She told him to choose any book he would like, read it, and then answer some questions about the book. Since it was Holy Week and we were getting ready for Easter, Jude decided to pick out an Easter story. He read the story by himself, and when he was done, he started answering the questions. One of the questions was, “What would you change about the story to make it better?” Jude carefully thought about it for a moment, and then, without hesitating, he said, “I would change it so that Jesus didn’t have to die.”
I looked at him, and he looked back at me.
He wasn’t upset, but I could tell that he understood the weight of the story. It had a happy ending, of course, with Jesus being raised from the dead, but in order to get there, Jesus first had to sacrifice himself. Jesus had to endure much suffering and die on the cross in order to be raised back up again.
I think Jude understood this, but it didn’t make the story any easier. For him, the happy ending of Jesus’ resurrection was wonderful, but the story would be so much better without the part about Jesus having to die on the cross.
Honestly, I can’t blame Jude for wanting to change the story. It’s difficult to read. It’s even more difficult to imagine what it must’ve been like for Jesus in those final hours of his life—the pain he endured, how alone he must’ve felt. How many of us, if we were given the opportunity, would change what happened to Jesus? How many of us would do everything we can to spare Jesus from the agony of the cross, even though we know what happens in the end?
Suffering is something we try to avoid at all costs, especially when it involves the people we love. I think that’s why the church is typically a lot more crowded on Easter Day than it is on Good Friday. We would much rather skip over the painful parts of the story and go straight to the joy of Easter. What we sometimes forget, though, is that Good Friday is part of the story, whether we like it or not. It can’t be forgotten or ignored. Without Good Friday, there would be no Easter. Without the suffering servant going to the cross and dying for all of us, there would be no redemption, no promise of new life with God. This is the Paschal Mystery—the mystery we’re invited to experience each year during Holy Week and Easter. The darkness of Good Friday gives way to the light of Easter morning. Jesus has passed over from death into new life, and we are changed forever. Jesus said it this way, just a few days before his death: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” As followers of Jesus, we are part of the mystery as well. By giving up our lives in the sacrament of Baptism, by renouncing the evils of this world and committing ourselves to the way of self-giving, sacrificial love, we too have passed over from death into new life.
This year, it’s impossible for me to hear the story of that first Easter Day and not immediately think about all we’ve been through over the past year with the pandemic. Last Easter, there’s no way we could’ve known what was coming. There’s no way we could’ve known that, one year into the pandemic, we would still be wearing masks, staying socially distant, and limiting the number of people we can seat in church. There’s no way we could’ve known at the time that so many lives would be lost before all of this was over. We’ve lost so much already. We’ve lost jobs. We’ve lost valuable time with family and friends. We’ve lost loved ones. We’ve had to give up so many things that make life worth living. And yet, if we know anything about the joy of Easter, we know that God has been with us every step of the way and that God will be with us until the very end. If we know anything about the joy of Easter, we know that death has been defeated, once and for all, and that nothing—not even a global pandemic—can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Like the disciples who fled from Jesus and went into hiding after he was arrested, we know what it feels like to be scared and alone. We’ve experienced it firsthand throughout this past year, every time we turned on the news and every time we were told to shelter-in-place at home. Like the disciples, who sat and waited after Jesus’ death, uncertain about what the future may hold, we know what it feels like to sit and wait with the fear of uncertainty. In some ways, we’re still waiting as this pandemic drags on.
But, unlike Jesus’ disciples, we have the benefit of knowing what happens on the third day.
On the third day, something happened that no one thought was possible. Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene discovered that the tomb where they had laid Jesus’ body was now empty. Jesus was risen. Death was put to flight, and love lived once again.
If we truly believe that, dear friends, if we truly believe that death has been defeated and that love lives again, then we have no reason to doubt that God is with us, even as we continue to endure the suffering of this present moment. If we truly believe that Christ is risen from the dead, then we have no reason to be afraid and every reason to spread the Good News of our Lord’s resurrection to the world. Say it with me, and say it like you mean it. Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Amen.
A video of this sermon is available below, beginning at the 20:40 mark.
The Rev. Eric Mancil 