The Promise of
Resurrection 4-20-14a
When the women,
distraught from losing their teacher and friend, discovered that Jesus was no
longer in the tomb, their broken hearts had to relearn the ability to
sing. At first simply confused, that
confusion turned to joy as they went running back to find the disciples and tell
them of this glorious turn of events.
Did you ever wonder why they were so surprised? Jesus had performed miracle after miracle,
healed and raised from the dead, and had steadfastly told them that he was
going to do exactly what he did. And,
yet, they were surprised, shocked even.
We know that the disciples did not often really understand what Jesus
was saying to them or asking them. They
weren’t good listeners; but, surely, they had absorbed enough from Jesus to
know that such a miracle was possible.
So, what happened?
Here is our
learning moment. What happened is the
same thing that happens to many of us when trials pull us into the undertow of
despair or uncertainty takes over and erases our memories of prior miracles or
experiences with God. And, as our hearts
are broken time and time again by experiences in the world, our belief that God
is making the way plain grows more and more dim with each disappointment. Just like us, I would think that the
disciples experienced two primary feelings.
First, and very importantly, they experienced fear. They were fearful that they were about to
meet the same end as Jesus. They were
fearful that all that Jesus had told them was going to amount to not much; and,
they were afraid that everything they had come to believe would be ignored and
forgotten by the world after Jesus was gone.
Secondly, they experienced the feeling of betrayal. There they were; they had given up everything
to follow this man around the countryside and he was, well, dead. What was the point of it all? Perhaps he had not been the Messiah after
all. Can’t you just hear them
talking—one might say, “You know, he never really acted like a Messiah, I
should have seen through it sooner.” Or
another might say, “Perhaps it was all a show and we just got caught up in
it. I’m embarrassed that I’ve been so
gullible.” Or maybe, “What in the world
are we going to do now? We gave up our
businesses, our boats and nets. What are
we supposed to do?” Fear and betrayal
are pretty strong emotions and are front and center in the disciples’
experience of these past few days. We
would be unrealistic to believe that these feelings would not get in the way of
their believing that Jesus was, indeed, alive.
So, what does
the Resurrection bring to us in those hours of confusion, fear and
betrayal? The promise of the
Resurrection is transcendence on all levels.
Transcendence, used in many spiritual communities, means the overcoming
of one set of circumstances by another set of circumstances or to rise
above. Sometimes to transcend means to
triumph over. Transcendent is one of the
adjectives used to describe God; that the divine spirit is greater than all
else. And yet, the Resurrections gives
to us that same promise of transcendence.
How is the
gift of transcendence made manifest in the Resurrection?
As an act that went far beyond what any human being could have imagined
or expected, the Resurrection pulls us into a discussion in unknown worlds—a
discussion that pushes us to think beyond our usual ability to think—we
transcend our own expectations of ourselves and find ourselves pondering the
resurrection of Christ and it’s meaning for us in this day and age. Regardless of the outcome of our ponderings, our
exploration has called us to think beyond our usual thinking and to evaluate
the role that faith plays in our explanation of those things we say we believe
or don’t believe. Such an exploration as
this helps us grow and mature in the way we think and respond about faith. We begin, like adults in the faith, to look
at questions free from earlier fear of violating old taboos of knowledge; and,
we give ourselves permission to think and act for ourselves. We transcend earlier interpretations; and
though we may return to those interpretations, it is after we look at those
beliefs from new-found eyes and ears. We
transcend what we have always been told and come to our own understanding and
claim it for ourselves. This is a
crucial aspect of spiritual growth and the Resurrection gives us the
opportunity to mature.
Through the
experiences of the disciples we are also shown that we can transcend despair
and hopelessness when God or the Cosmos invites us to participate in a miracle
or an unexpected outcome. Not one of the
disciples expected to ever see Jesus again—not one! I find that amazing in light of all he taught
them; but, it is true, not one! Focused
on their hopelessness and self-centered despair, it never occurred to them to
simply wait for God to work the promised miracle. What if we could transcend our own
self-centered despair when things are going badly and wait for the promised
miracle. In fact, God has promised us
that as we trust and learn to flow in sync with the rest of the creation, that
things will work out along a path of divine grace. Our only job is to stay faithful to the knowledge
that the Universe and God, her creator, is guiding and protecting us when we
open ourselves to that guidance. So,
though the resurrection, we can transcend the impatient, grabbing at life, and
learn to trust God and ourselves. The
transcendence that we learn from the gloriously happy women is that similar joy
awaits us when we wait for the miracle.
The promise of the resurrection is that all things are made new—the old
is transcended, and we see and experience only the new. And together, we experience and find
joy. Christ is risen, Christ is risen
indeed. Alleluia and amen.
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