Preaching text: None
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Why does that matter? It’s a neat miracle and all. God incarnate gets murdered by a coalition of the jealous and cowardly. He’s put in a tomb and after three days, he rises again. Neat trick. But why does it matter? What does it all mean?
We think we know. Like so many other fundamental things in our faith, I fear we often take this day for granted. And like all important things that we take by rote, it helps to remember why.
So let me tell you. Why does Easter matter?
This day is for Ivan Flanscha and Zach Anthony, the two firefighters who lost their lives in York less than two weeks ago. This day is for their families, their friends, their loved ones who grieve their loss. It is for all those who serve others who have had their lives taken in the line of duty and for those who mourn them.
This day is for the students at Stoneman Douglas High School. For those who watched as their classmates and friends were murdered before their eyes. For those who now cry out for change in our society. For those who grieve and mourn and fight for the innocent lives taken in senseless violence.
This day is for David and Mike, for Barry, for Fred and Vale and Paul, for Suzy, for Amy and Millie. It's for Dick and Don and Ms. Ida. It's for my friend Dan. It’s for all those we’ve buried, all those we’ve had to say good-bye to, those I’ve named and those I have not. It’s for them and for those of us who love them, for whom the memories still carry the sting of their loss.
This day is for those who face death. Those who are in our last years. Those who struggle with illness and disease. Those whose time is short.
This day is for those who fear for their lives in warzones. It is for those who live in areas where crime threatens life and livelihood. It is for those who wonder where their next meal will come. It is for those who must sleep in cars and under bridges because they have nowhere else to go.
This day is for those without hope.
And it is also for those who have made this world this way. It is for tyrants who think brutality and cruelty is the answer to their deepest desires. It is for the corrupt among our leaders who believe money and power will fill the void within. It’s for the Parkland shooter, so damaged by life that he felt that violence was the only answer to his pain. It’s for CEOs who think greed will give them what they need. For white supremacists who believe hate is the answer.
This day is for all who suffer and for all who inflict suffering (intentional or otherwise). This day is for all those in bondage to sin and death in all of their forms. This day is for ALL OF US.
We are why Christ died. We are why he rose again. We are why he came as the fulfillment of ancient promise and prophecy.
Yes, him too, no matter how much I may personally dislike him. God loves him.
Life is hard. Granted, we can make it worse for ourselves or others by embracing vice or committing errors. And we can make it better by embracing virtue. But, no matter, regardless of our choices for good or ill, it will hit us all eventually. It will knock us flat. It will make our head spin.
We will be hurt. We will lose. We will have our hearts broken. We will despair. We will weep. All of us. It is inevitable. It is unavoidable. And that pain can turn us bitter. That pain can turn us evil if we let it. But we will never escape it.
The cross and the empty tomb is God saying to us “No more.” This will end. Life will be eternal. There will be no more sorrow. No more tears. No more pain. It is finished! Christ is risen!
At the heart of our sin and sorrow is fear. We fear death. We fear pain. We fear loss. We fear meaninglessness and purposelessness. We fear that we do not matter. All that fear is now taken away. For thanks to Christ, thanks to the cross and empty tomb, we will have life, not death. Pain and loss will only be temporary, for one day those we have lost will be restored to us. All have meaning and purpose in life. ALL matter to God. ALL are loved.
THIS IS EASTER.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! Amen.
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