A sermon for Easter Sunday morning preached by Bishop Martin.
Alleluia, Christ is Risen! (He is risen indeed. Alleluia!) ….
Do you believe that?
Do we really live our lives knowing that God is real and that his love conquers all? That the price is paid, that we are free and that God’s love is stronger than death, even our own death?
Or do we think, well maybe… maybe the disciples made it up, maybe it’s because we can’t face the reality of death and need a way out, maybe its just years of tradition and we just kind of go along with it too. Jesus taught lots of good things and died a tragic death, but maybe all this resurrection stuff just got added on later?
Maybe, maybe..
But, as St Paul said, ‘If Christ is not risen from the dead then we Christians are of all people most to be pitied.’ Whatever the value of the Church to society, it would be based on a falsehood, at best a mistake, at worst a lie. St Paul was right. None of us are here just because of tradition or habit, we’re here today because in one way or another we seek after truth, the truth that will set us free.
So in the 21st century can we believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Can it still make sense?
Some say he never really died on the cross. He was just in a coma and came back to life in the coolness of the tomb. But this was a Roman execution. They were professionals, breaking the legs of those on each side of Jesus, piercing his side with a spear to ensure he really was dead. We can be sure they knew he was dead before releasing his body.
Some say the soldiers stole the body from the tomb. But why? And why not produce it as soon as all the talk of resurrection began?
Some say that in their grief the disciples just saw things,or heard voices. Bereaved people often do, but they don’t go into all the world telling people about it! Over 500 had seen the risen Jesus in the end, says St Paul, many of whom were still alive. If you don’t believe me, he says, go and ask them!
And the resurrection stories themselves have a quirky style to them that speaks to me of their truth. Today’s gospel for example. No First Century Jewish writer wanting to produce a proof story, would write one where a woman was made the first witness of the resurrection, and a woman with a doubtful past at that, Mary Magdalene. It would be crazy! Women at that time couldn’t even act as witnesses in court, only men could.
And yet today we hear this beautiful, tender story of the woman who once was lost, becoming the first human being to find the Risen Lord. You couldn’t make it up!
Or could you? Perhaps his friends did make up these stories then, to save face, to show their families they’d not just followed another deluded wannabe Messiah. But if you knew something to be a lie, would you spend your whole life proclaiming it? The disciples went from being a confused, fearful group hiding in an upper room, to fearlessly proclaiming that Jesus is Lord and God. Women and men building their life on the risen Jesus, who they knew was present in their midst. They willingly faced persecution and death for their faith. Would you do that for the sake of something you knew to be a lie?
The New Testament has stories of changed lives through faith in Jesus.
Not just the disciples, Mary Magdalene and the rest. But Mary the mother of Jesus, who we hear lived amongst the first Christians in Antioch, or Aeneas in Damascus, who courageously took in Saul, the persecutor of Christians, whose life was turned around by a vision of the risen Jesus calling to him on the road. ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ Julia, Lydia, Timothy, Barnabas, the list goes on and on.
Generations of Christians in this place, but the same Lord. Wulfstan, Oswald and all the rest. Saints and Martyrs of every age, right down to the present day. Right down to the young Sudanese bishop I met at the Lambeth Conference, with his wife and young children. He has no house of his own, but lives in the ruins of a bombed-out church. He has no set income but rises early in the morning to pray, and to grow vegetables to feed his family. He visits his clergy on a clapped out motorbike. Or at least he did until rebel soldiers stole even that from him, thankfully not taking his life as well. All this, and yet he continues to live with a smile on his lips, and with faith in his heart as he proclaims the reality of his crucified and risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Or the men and women I confirmed here in this cathedral only last night, even now wanting to proclaim their faith in Jesus Christ.
Or you and me, here today…
Do we believe in Jesus Christ, risen from the dead? Would anyone else know?
Christianity faces many challenges.
But at the heart of our faith is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and I for one am convinced that it makes best sense of the facts as we know them.
- The fact of the empty tomb.
- The fact of the resurrection stories that ring with truth.
- The fact of lives turned around.
Some years ago I was in Jerusalem, and very early on the Sunday morning was able to enter into the Holy Sepulchre revered for centuries as the site of Jesus tomb and resurrection. I’d waited so long to be there, and as I stooped to go in, I had just a few seconds to myself in that holy space. I didn’t know what to expect, but in the silence, I heard the words,
‘He is not here….
He is Risen.’
The Risen Lord Jesus is not in a tomb or confined to any one city or a country. He is not the property of any religion, people or culture. He is here with us now, in today’s Word, and sacrament. He is already out there too, ready to meet with us when we least expect him. For:
- Now we know that God is real and that he loves us.
- Now we know that His love is stronger than death, and nothing can separate us from that love.
- Now we know that our lives can be transformed by encounter with Jesus, our Risen Lord.
Let’s be quiet for a moment, as we come into God’s presence. Perhaps close our eyes as we pray.
Jesus, risen Lord, come into my heart. Jesus, risen Lord, forgive my sins. Jesus, risen Lord, direct my life. Amen.
