Terry Paul Choyce
Easter Sunday, April 16, 2006, Brunswick Street United Church
I am going to begin my sermon today with a poem written by Rev. Sally Harris, who is the minister at Trinity United in British Columbia.
"Easter is not about having the mystery solved; It is not about having arrived.
It is about new beginnings and a hope that says in spite of appearances... God is at work, laboring to bring forth new life. God is somewhere in the middle - stretched between heaven and earth, pinned between left and right, pulled in every direction, claimed for the good by everyone, pushed about by everyone for their own ends, held without a voice, trapped in a failing body, used and abused by the powers. [from a poem by Chris Udy] ...
All we can do is listen to the story, experience the deep emotions and wonder at the love that draws a faith community together to celebrate a few drops of water on a forehead, to embrace a story of new life and resurrection. We come sharing our stories of waiting; of fear and great joy. We offer prayers and hugs; tears and laughter and the Presence comes among us once again. Once again the stone is rolled away. Once again there is an empty tomb. Once again there are signs of new life breaking forth from the darkness and despair of a Good Friday. You belong to a community. You are not alone. You live in God's world. You have been named as God's very own. You are precious in the Creator's sight. You are honored; you are loved! Yes, no matter; the water carries a promise: I will be with you till the end of the ages!
Yes God is somewhere in the middle; stretched between heaven and earth... And the presence of the divine comes to us in the most ordinary of elements and places... in water, in community, in a manager, on a hillside... Sometimes in the midst of birth cries, sometimes with sobs of lament, Sometimes with songs of joy; sometimes in the rolling away of a stone.
Be not afraid I have redeemed you, I have called you by name! Thanks be to God!"
Paul and I belong to a spiritual discussion group that meets twice a month at Bedford United Church. For the last two sessions we have discussed "What is God?" The discussion has been fascinating. We have more or less decided that God is undefinable. God is beyond the words in our vocabulary to express. God is a mystery.
Several years ago I created this piece of art. It is a collage of painted paper, ripped and glued, one on top of another, with threads weaving in and out, and seeds interspersed through it. The quote I have in the corner is "May we know once again that we are not isolated beings, but connected, in mystery and miracle, to the universe, to this community and to each other." We are all connected through God. God permeates everything. There is nothing that is not a part of God.
Today is Easter, the day when we celebrate one of the greatest miracles to ever occur on this earth. On this day a man, Jesus, who was brutally killed by crucifixion, rose from the dead. Three of the women who loved Jesus went to his tomb to anoint his body with spices, as was the tradition of that time. They were worried about how they would roll back the heavy stone that covered the tomb. When they got there, the stone was rolled back, and inside of the tomb was an angel, who told them that Jesus had risen. He told them to go and tell the disciples to go to Galilee, where they would see Jesus. But they did not tell anyone. The next day, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, and told her to tell everyone she had seen him. She did that, but she was not believed. This was a miracle too unbelievable for them to grasp. It was not until they saw Jesus themselves did his disciples believe.
How Jesus came alive after he was dead, is a mystery. But why he rose from the dead is not, to those who believe in him. Jesus needed to show us that anything is possible with and through the love of God. When he was alive, he brought Lazarus back from death. And when he himself died, he was brought back to life as well. He gave us the ultimate message of hope, which is that even when the very worst happens to us, all is not lost. No matter how bleak and black things are, it is possible that a miracle will occur. It is possible that something wonderful will rise from this time of sorrow and despair. Jesus showed us that God's love can transcend all evil, and that miracles do happen.
I don't know who said this, but I love this quote: "Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, mirth and reverence within you. And you who seek to know Me, know that your seeking and yearning will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery: For if that which you seek, you will find within yourself, and you will never find it without."
In each of us is the presence and the essence of God. Often huge stones are blocking the entrance to that knowledge and that knowing. We do not know how to move those heavy stones, but sometimes a miracle happens and we are opened by the love and grace of God, to know our own truth and beauty - to know that we are a part of all creation and all of the universe and all of the mystery that is God. When that opening happens, most of us are fearful, just as the three women were afraid at the open tomb they found. The truth of God's love and power may be too overwhelming for us to accept, or to tell anyone about. But when we come face to face with Jesus, a man of God who lived a remarkable life, died a horrendous death, and then was brought back by God to tell us that we are loved, and that nothing is impossible - then we can believe that nothing is impossible for you or you or you or you, or for me. Because inside of each of us is God.
I will end with another quote by Rev. Sally Harris. She writes:
"There is something more to God then closed-minded beliefs and restricted ways of belonging. Perhaps it was the witness to the Divine that began my love affair with a new kind of religion - one that opens up the mystery without defining its limitations, one that extends the boundaries of belonging and believing and gathers our very being into acts of gratitude and wonder."
Let this Easter miracle open your heart to the wonder and mystery of God.
©Terry Paul Choyce. Used with permission from the author.
