“No Explanations”

(Luke 24:1-12)

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.  They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body.  While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.  The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here but has risen.  Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to the hands of sinners and be crucified and on the third day rise again.”  Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.  Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who, then, told this to the apostles.  But these words seemed to them an idle talk, and they did not believe them.  But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

            You may notice that Luke’s account of Easter morning is a little bit different from the other Gospels.  Each one has their own take on the day of Resurrection.  John’s is the one the church almost always goes to.  It has the most detail.  It’s the default almost every year in our lectionary readings.  I am most fond of Mark’s version which we heard at Sunrise service.  That reading is shorter and leaves us with excellent questions but, still, lots of hope.

            Luke’s version of the Resurrection is similar to Mark’s with some added details, such as, the women went to tell the disciples after they had seen the empty tomb.  The women got the men involved!  Peter, then, had to see it for himself, and, sure enough, after he viewed the linen burial cloths, he went home (rather than ran away), amazed.

            I titled this Easter sermon, “No Explanations” for a very good reason.  Now, you need to know that I approach preaching on Easter with fear and trembling, even after these many years.  It seems like there might be a lot to say, but, you know, it’s mostly been said before.  It is hard to be original on this day.  But sermon or no sermon, I think that the story really kind of speaks for itself.

            …Now, we preachers tend to use too many words.  We think, “If I just go on for another 5 or 10 or 15 minutes, I’m sure everyone will understand this complicated theological thought that came to me this past week.”  …No, you probably won’t because you’ve been numbed; you’ve been put to sleep or, perhaps, entertained by some story that probably has little or nothing to do with the text.  I know this because I have tried some of these tricks.

            I read in a 2019 copy of the Christian Century an article by a guy named Jim Friedrich.  He talks about entering Jerusalem’s Church of All Nations and sees a sign that says, “No Explanations.”

            In the last few decades, or more, maybe, Christians have felt like they have had to defend resurrection in a way that makes sense to our modern minds.  In other words, we preachers and parishioners are attempting to tame a beautiful mystery into something that is more palatable on this happy, amazing day.

            Friedrich suggests this, and I like it:  How about we talk about the Living Christ and how his presence in our lives has the potential to transform us, to make us brand new?

            In this world in which people seem to have lost sight of the presence of the Living Christ, I wonder how we might be able to rediscover him?  We’ve been so busy fighting amongst ourselves about such things as who is reading the Bible correctly or who knows what God has in mind or who is practicing the traditions in the way intended or who claims to be a follower of Christ, but we wonder…. We may be overlooking the way in which the whole idea of the Risen Christ needs to be at the center of our existence, certainly the center of our worship.  We may be overlooking how we need to remove ourselves from the center of the conversation.

            The question that was so trendy a few years ago, that is, “What would Jesus do (or say or wear)?” that question can inform us again as we decide to live with the Risen Christ amongst us. 

            Easter is not something we need to prove or explain or show off with.  No, we need to live and breathe it, keeping the Risen Christ at the center.

            The women and the disciples were broken and bewildered when they saw that empty tomb because they had no idea what had happened.  They left frightened and amazed.  It took them awhile until they could remember that Jesus had told them he would meet them again in Galilee where his ministry had taken place. 

That means, all of us Jesus People are directed back to the beginning of the Gospel.  Only this time, the Risen Christ is among us all, not just as a historical figure but a real presence in the Word and Sacrament of the Church, the Church that has the potential of witnessing to and performing Christ’s love in this sad, despairing, lost world.    

            I would suggest that we are broken and bewildered in our world today where so many things are happening that we don’t understand.  Things have taken off in a direction that feels very out of control.  There are powers in play that are driven by ego and revenge.  There are grabs for power that are contrary to what Jesus taught, what he demonstrated and what he preached. 

His miracles were intended to help the helpless and to direct people’s attention to his way of loving and drawing people together into community.  Even his death on the cross was an opportunity for his followers, then and now, to witness to God’s amazing love, grace, power and acceptance of all people. 

            As broken as we are, though, there is hope.  Easter gives us the opportunity to become brand new, to leave behind our old destructive ways and to declare as individuals and communities that we believe in the transforming power of the Risen Christ, that we believe in the power of love, that we don’t spend precious time trying to explain ourselves, but, rather, commit to love, the love that points always and ever toward our Risen Christ. 

If you have ever wondered what it means when we say or sing on Easter, “death has been overcome,” know that this is about Christ’s love that is the very definition of eternity.  This love flies in the face of death.  Our practice of Christ’s love is what lasts long after we are alive on this earth.  This love is the Living Christ among us today and forever.  Christ among us is what we celebrate on Easter.  …Christ is Risen.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.