Rise Up

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.

John 20:1–18 ESV

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Isaiah 65:17–25 ESV

Acts 10:34-

Acts 10:34–43 ESV

So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Rise Up

When I was a kid, I used to hear people talk about “the C&E” crowd. Those were the people you only saw at church on Christmas and Easter. This term was used in a pretty derogatory way and it always made me uncomfortable. It still does. I know it’s not always intended this way, but it just feels like another way to divide people rather than bringing us together. It’s a way of sorting out who’s “in” and who’s “out”. Even when it’s not meant to do that, that’s what it sounds like.

As I look out here on faces I haven’t seen in a while, I don’t see a bunch of people who are just coming coming to church out of guilt or obligation or a bunch of people who don’t really belong or have the secret handshake memorized. I see a bunch of people who made it a point to come to church for the most important celebration of our faith. And that’s a pretty great thing!

When I was a kid, I used to hear people talk about “the C&E” crowd. Those were the people you only saw at church on Christmas and Easter. This term was used in a pretty derogatory way and it always made me uncomfortable. It still does. As I look out here on faces I haven’t seen in a while, I don’t see a bunch of people who are just coming coming to church out of guilt or obligation. I see a bunch of people who made it a point to come to church for the most important celebration of our faith. And that’s a pretty great thing!

God is not keeping score. There is no record book in heaven of how often you made it to church. Now, I will say there are 6 more weeks of Easter and I’d love to share the rest of the story with you over those 6 weeks. But that’s just because I get really excited about sharing stories with people. It has nothing to do with trying to guilt anyone into coming back.

And shame on anyone who tries to say God plays favorites or who puts up religious dividers between people based on their piety or attendance record. God does not play favorites. God’s love and renewal and new life is for all people. Period. Jesus did not rise up from the grave just for a specific group of people who do things one specific way.

Easter - the resurrection - this is the key to everything we believe. Without this piece, Jesus was just a pretty cool guy with some great things to say. So it is exactly as it should be that today is the most exciting service of the year with the most people in attendance at pretty much every church in the world.

If we’re supposed to share the news of God’s love and shown to us in Jesus Christ, then we should be excited for opportunities to celebrate it with others - whomever they might be and whenever they might be with us. Old friends, new friends, people we see 3 or 4 times a week, people we see once or twice a year. Everyone deserves the message of peace and hope that comes with the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.

It’s so much easier to worry about somebody else’s piety than to just focus on our own. We want a neat set of rules that everyone follows the same way, but that’s just not what we are given. The Bible is a large and often confusing book that is wide open to a great deal of interpretation. We want to be able to say definitively that we know who is “in” and who is “out” but we just aren’t given that in scripture. We are just told that Jesus came for everyone and this celebration is open to all people who care to join it. No hazing or secret handshake. No entrance exam or dress code. Just people who want to figure out this God stuff and try to love one another.

Trouble in the Text

Recently, three historic black churches in Louisiana were burned in acts of domestic terrorism. This is not remotely the first time someone has acted out in hate in exactly the same way against black churches in the United States. Still in 2019, there are black churches in the US trying to balance the joy of Easter with mourning over the loss of their worship space.

Just this week, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris suffered a devastating fire as well. This fire was not likely arson like the churches here in the US, but was probably due to restoration efforts, which, somewhat ironically, is why much of the artwork there was already out of the building and safe from the flames. During Holy Week, one of the most iconic and beautiful worship spaces in the world is devastated.

In South Africa, during Holy Week services on Thursday night - a night that we too gathered for worship - a church wall collapsed killing 13 people. Another church trying to navigate Easter joy in the midst of tragedy. Another church that has lost their worship space, as well as beloved church members.

And this morning, in Sri Lanka, several churches were bombed during Easter services, killing 207 people as of my reading of the news at 8:30 this morning. The death tolls there keep rising.

Two of these tragedies were just things that happened: a wall weakened by a storm and a fire sparked by chemicals used to restore an elderly building. Two of these are the result of targeted hate - people drawing lines in the sand and living into division not unity. Ironic that on the day we celebrate the thing that brings us together as brothers and sisters and gives us the opportunity to live new and light-filled lives, there are those targeting that message with hate.

Hate is nothing new. Divisiveness isn’t something that was recently invented or introduced into the world. It’s not even something that has increased in modern times. We just have more access to the news about it these days. Even as recently as 10 years ago, we didn’t have things like news alerts popping up on our phones and watches about something that happened in Sri Lanka. People have been arguing and fighting about how to live life since the dawn of time. When people disagree, we have some weird human urge to make them do things our way. If we feel unheard, we try to find ways to make sure our message gets out there. Even if it’s a terrible, hateful, and/or untrue message.

Even the Christian church has been disagreeing since the very beginning about how we should be living out and spreading the message of Jesus’ resurrection. In this morning’s passage that from Acts, Peter is giving a sermon not long after he’s eaten a meal with a group of non-Jews. This is highly unusual -the dinner part, not the sermon. I think Peter liked to preach at least as much as I do. This is unusual because the non-Jews wouldn’t have been eating a kosher meal. Eating with them would have been a violation of Kosher law on Peter’s part. There was a big debate in the early Christian church about if Jews who followed Jesus had to keep kosher or not and here is Peter - THAT PETER who followed Jesus all around during his ministry here on earth - eating with non-Jews.

Basically, the early Christians were arguing over the rulebook of piety - just like we tend to. Peter is saying, “Hang on a minute, folks. God’s love is shown to all people in Jesus Christ: Jews, gentiles, and everyone in between.”

Just a few days ago (in our time - it’s been a while for Peter from his perspective), Jesus gave us the command to love one another just as he loves us. That means we don’t get to just talk about how nice and welcoming God is - we have to go be all nice and welcoming ourselves if we are going to take Jesus seriously. We are called to care and take action when a black church in the US falls victim to hate crime and when the Roman Catholic Church suffers a loss as historic as Notre Dame and when a church in South Africa collapses and when churches in Sri Lanka are attacked viciously on Easter Sunday morning.

This also means actively seeking out peace and reconciliation with one another. Not just those we only have little beefs with. Not just the people we’re going to be stuck with whether we make nice or not (family, coworkers, neighbors). Not just the people who live in our community or country or even our side of the planet. Everyone. All the people. Individuals and groups or communities of people. Is there a group of people that make you uncomfortable? That’s exactly who we are being told here to go seek peace with. Are you nursing a grudge against someone? Peter says you have got to go sort that stuff out because we don’t get to choose who God does and doesn’t bring into the family or how God brings people in.

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 2 Pastoral Perspective

The news of God’s impartial love is not just abstract information about God. It places a clear demand on us, to love impartially as God loves. Peter enacts God’s impartial love by eating with Gentiles. At the table, Peter actively works out reconciliation with Gentiles; he actively seeks peace with them.

Peter is saying that this isn’t about choosing sides based on how we do or don’t do things. This is about how we are to be in relationship and community with others, even when we disagree or struggle to understand one another. Jesus came to earth, died, and rose again to reconcile us to God, to one another, and to ourselves. And we can’t have reconciliation without being involved with other people!

Peter’s not about to let this new revelation go unheard. This is not something to be kept quiet.

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 2 Pastoral Perspective

We are not supposed to hear Peter’s proclamation of God’s cosmopolitanism and feel good about ourselves because we know and love a God who knows and loves all. Rather, Peter’s insight—what really might be termed Peter’s conversion—should chasten us. The words should strike us as a critique. God wants to be in relationship with all kinds of people. Because God loves all people, we are able—indeed called—to expose ourselves to those people too. Because God is the God of impartiality, we are called to be a people of impartiality. Because God makes peace with us and with all, we are called to make peace with other people.

Grace in the Text

Reconciliation is how we live out resurrection lives. It is relationships that are dead or dying being healed and restored. Our relationship with God is sick from sin. And yet in Jesus, that relationship is healed - restored - resurrected. Our relationships with one another are dead or dying because of the ways we hurt one another and yet, in Jesus, those relationships can be healed and restored - resurrected. This is great news! Resurrection life is not something to be kept quiet.

We’re not just supposed to make nice with those who look and act and worship like us. We’re supposed to go the extra step and tell everyone about this crazy loving everybody mission that we’ve been given by God! We should not keep resurrection to ourselves! It’s a celebration for all people!

And that new life starts when we gather to celebrate with one another, and it continues when we rise up and leave this place, and carry the message of good news and celebration and love and acceptance to all the world around us.

Jesus says to the women at the tomb - GO! Stop being so sad and gloomy! Go tell people about this! The world needs to know that there is more than hardship and sin and death! Go to those who don’t look or act or live like you and tell them this good news! Our black brothers and sisters in the south need to know that we believe with them that hate does not get to win. Our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters need to know that they do not mourn alone for the loss of the cathedral. Our South African and Sri Lankan sisters and brothers need to know that we stand in solidarity with them in telling the world that death is not the final word. The world needs to know that there is a love so great it overshadows everything else! The world needs to know that there is new life! There is resurrection!

Peace isn’t something we can quietly have on our own. Resurrection

Grace in the World

This is hard. That part where I said to find the people who make you uncomfortable and seek peace and reconciliation with them? I don’t say that lightly or as a throwaway line. Peter knows that he’s asking alot of his colleagues to hang out with people who are considered “unclean”.

Jesus rose from the dead so that we can live new, resurrected lives. He lives so that we can fully live in peace and reconciliation with God, with ourselves, and with all other people around us. But it’s something we have to work at - actively participate in and model for others and care about. That participation happens both inside and outside of the church walls - often even more outside than inside.

Grace in the World

You might need to start small. Just work for peace with that annoying coworker. But this goes way beyond that.

“That’s nice, Pastor.” You might be thinking. “I love your optimism, but that just isn’t how the world works.” And you would be right. That isn’t how the world works. At least, not in the broken, sinful, dead way the world tends to work. But because of Jesus’ resurrection, this broken, sinful, dead old world can be made new. And we can see glimpses of that if we look in the right places: when we look for the places that God’s people are living out resurrection lives.

Many of you know that myself and two elders from Emsworth and St. Andrew’s just spent two weeks in Rwanda with the Presbyterian peacemaking program. And I’d like to share with you just one of the stories of resurrection that we experienced there. Rwanda is another place where division and hate caused some terrible things and in which the church suffered greatly.

No part of Rwanda escaped the trauma of the 1994 genocide, but some places were more violently hit than others. In one such village, in the hills outside the capitol city of Kigali, there is an incredible thing happening. During the genocide, neighbors turned against neighbors. Church members turned against fellow church members. In some cases, family even turned against family. Village members lost husbands, wives, children, parents, siblings, and friends to violent murder.

As we know well in Western Pennsylvania, everyone knows everyone in a small town or village. After the genocide, as perpetrators were tried, served their sentences or reparations for their crimes, and went home, they found themselves living among the family and friends of those they had harmed or killed in 1994. Those who survived the genocide, found their families’ attackers and murderers moving back into their village. Rwanda is a tiny country and most people do not have the means to simply pack up and move to another part of the country. Perpetrators and survivors found themselves living side by side.

The local church could see only one reasonable, Christ-like solution to this problem: reconciliation. We’re not just talking about tolerating sitting in the same sanctuary together or eating a cross-cultural meal together. We’re talking about survivors of the genocide and perpetrators of the genocide sitting side by side, talking about what happened, getting to know one another, asking for and granting forgiveness, and rebuilding the fellowship of their community one person at a time.

They call the group that gets together with this purpose the “Light Group”. They call it that because they are bringing the light of Jesus - the peace and reconciliation of the resurrection - into the community so that the love of God might be known to all people. They gather regularly, they worship together, they eat together, they run a craft co-op together, they do community life together as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Can you imagine purposely sitting down with a person who had taken a loved one away from you and seeking peace and reconciliation? Like. . . on purpose? But that is what real victory over sin and death looks like in the here and now. It is sitting down with anyone and everyone - those we like and those we don’t. Even sitting down with those who have hurt us deeply - either as individuals or as communities - and figuring out how to not just live together, but to thrive and celebrate together.

Today, rise up like Mary did that first Easter morning. Rise up like Peter did to go to dinner. Seek out those who are new or different or those who have hurt you and celebrate the love of God with them! Find ways to love and mourn with black churches in the US or the Roman Catholic church in France or the the Pentecostal church in South Africa or the churches in Sri Lanka.

That is what living the Easter story looks like. It’s only sorta about where we go when we die. I’m sure heaven’s going to be great and I’ll see my dead cat again and eat as much french onion dip as I want without worrying about the nutrition value. But the resurrection story is at least as much about where we we are supposed to go while we’re living. Or rather, who we go to. It’s about how we rise up from dead lives of disconnect - disconnect from God, from other people, even from ourselves - and seek out meaningful connection.

That is what this is about. That is what we celebrate here this morning with our friends and family. What a blessed opportunity we have to declare today that we can all live lives full of restoration, reconciliation, hope, healing. Lives of resurrection because of the Resurrection of the one who laid it all on the line for us.

Jesus says to the women at the tomb - GO! Stop being so sad and gloomy! Go tell people about this!

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