Year B Easter THURSDAY Living Life (for Westminster-Canterbury)

 Year B Easter Morning 2024, 4 April 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Living Life”

Collect: Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Mark 16:1-8

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

The Lord is Risen!

The Lord is Risen indeed!

Friends, it is Resurrection Day. It is a remembrance that Jesus lived, that Jesus died, that Jesus rose again.

Stay with me here. What if Jesus coming is not about death, and getting us a ticket to the Good Place? 

We can get sidetracked that the point of Jesus coming was to get us into heaven. That is only partly true. It is like saying you go to a restaurant for someone to hand you a bill. There is a lot of water that goes under that bridge before we get to that part, in fact, the whole point of the exercise is missed if we make it about the end.

What if Jesus came to bring heaven to earth, and earth to heaven?

Jesus came and taught us how to live, not how to die. He declared from the beginning of his ministry, according to Mark:

1: 14-15 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

The Kingdom is here, now. Not pie in the sky by and by. Now before we go any further, Jesus coming back means that there is somewhere he went. But that is not, was not the point.

He came to teach us and enable us how to LIVE.

“I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly!!” John 10:10b

Friends, when Jesus talks about following him and obeying his commandments, he knows that it is a hard ask. He knows that we need to undo, unlearn, relearn from him because what he teaches and what he calls us to do goes against most everything that the world teaches us. 

If you want to know what a Jesus kind of life looks like, simply look at the Sermon on the Mount. It is either a single sermon, Jesus’ stump speech, as it were, or an encapsulation of his teachings. More and more I am convinced that this was his lessons on living that people flocked to hear, and he brought up the differences between the self-righteousness of the Pharisees and God-blessedness of Jesus’ way of Love. That is why it starts with the Beattitudes. “Blessed are…” You can read it in less than 10 minutes. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 of St. Matthew, and in it we see just how different Jesus’ way of life is. This is just the highlight summation: 

• Don’t let Anger get a foothold in you, that leads to murder.
• Don’t succumb to lust, which is the seed of cheating on your spouse.
• Don’t swear to heaven or anything else, speak plainly and truly.
• Don’t seek revenge, ever.
• In fact, love your enemies.
• Be generous.
• Lean on God for everything, and pray for that.
• Fast, in secret, and get a hold on your physical self.
• Treasure God, not anything else.
• Surround yourself with light, not darkness.
• Serve God alone.
• And don’t fret. Worry has no place with God in charge.
• Don’t judge others, those tables are easily turned back on you.
• Don’t profane the holy.
• Seek God, and you’ll find God.
• Treat others the way you want to be treated.
• In fact, the only thing that comes close to mentioning heaven are Chapter 7, verses 13-14, and I will read them verbatim so that we are clear. Even here, it is about living not heaven or hell:
• “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
• Even here, Jesus’ worry is about the life we are living and where it leads.
• He concludes with those who do what he says, some do and live, some are posers, and some really get it and bear fruit of a life lived that way. 
• Chapter 7 ends this way:
• Now when Jesus had finished saying these words, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as their scribes. (vv. 28-29)

People ran to Jesus because he offered to them something that gave them Life and Hope, not misery and despair.

And today, Resurrection Day is when we knew for sure that Jesus had the Authority to say what he said, and that his way of Life, the Way of Love and Grace, was and is the way to Live. Don’t settle for anything less.

I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus, because I only get one ride on this Merry-Go-Round. I want to live each and every second of each and every day that I am given. Of all the philosophies, theories, concepts, or religions I have encountered, the Grace of Christ is the only thing I have ever found that makes sense of this life I have been given. And this choice has repeatedly been confirmed to me to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life that I must live. 

The more and more I let go of going my own way, and going Jesus’ way, I find that the things I cared so much about were so trivial and insignificant. The hours I spend caring about trivialities makes me sad. But thankfully I found a better way. St. Augustine said of living this life, “Love God, and do what you will.” It is not saying we can do anything! But rather, when we put God first then our will becomes more and more God’s will and we need not worry that we are doing things “right.”

We have been wandering the last few days of Lent through some of the hardest parts of living life. Betrayal by loved ones, abuse and condemnation, and even death. It happened to Jesus. It happens to us. If the cross had not killed Jesus, he could have died from a broken heart for all that happened to him in those last days. We all will continue to face this reality that bad things happen, to the good, the bad, to all of us. It is horrible, and yet part of making our way in this world. If we follow Jesus, it is not that we have an easier path, for the hardships still happen, but Jesus’ way gives us an approach to handle it differently. The universe is not harsh and cruel, God’s love and gifts are abundant. The universe is what we make it, and in Jesus’ way we are invited in to re-create the world into what God dreamed for it to be. “We are put on earth but a little space, to learn to bear the beams of love.” [William Blake] And as we do, to share them with all of God’s beloved, our family, our friends, our enemies. All.

Today, as you share that Love you have been given, it can make a difference in someone’s life. You may be the first, the only, Good News that they have received in a long time. You may be the only Bible they ever read, the only Jesus they ever meet.

Our two Marys and Salome, in our reading for the day, went to the tomb. And in their grief and confusion upon seeing the stone rolled back did not know what to do. A young man, all in white, gave them instructions and what to say. There was response was about as human as could be. It says they were terrified and amazed. And because their fear won out, they told no one. Thank goodness someone eventually did.

In the John version of the story, Mary sees Jesus, but thinks him the Gardner until he calls her by name. She then immediately calls him Rabbouni, Teacher. 

Friends, if I have one prayer for you this Resurrection Day, or if not today then sometime on this Merry-Go-Round we call life, I pray that you will hear God call you by name. Once you do, everything changes. Your eyes are opened. Your fears are gone. You move from what was to what could be, should be, can be, forever!

When Jesus calls her by name, she responds, “Rabbouni!” TEACHER! When we hear him call us by name we start the long journey, the pilgrimage toward wholeness and becoming our true selves. He teaches us, confronts us, corrects us, blesses us, to go and do his work in this world that needs his way more and more each day.

Another key difference in John’s account, is that she does tell the disciples that Jesus is risen, and says “I have seen the Lord.”

And as you share Jesus’ love, people may be able to say like Mary said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”

May you hear the call of God, calling you by name. May you answer the call by not just letting Jesus be your Savior, but also you Teacher and Lord. And may it be said of you, as you follow God’s Way of Love, that people see Jesus in you, by what you say and how you say it, by what you do and how you do it. And when this life slips into the next, maybe someone will be able to say, “I have seen the Lord!” by the life you have lived.

Blessings this Resurrection Day! The Lord is Risen!

The Lord is Risen indeed! Amen