Resurrection

by Jerry Fuller, OMI

Today we rejoice in the feast of the resurrection. Jesus Christ, our King and Savior, has risen from the dead. We say and sing "Alleluia!" or "Praise the Lord," the most fitting exclamation on this day when we are snatched from the jaws of sin, death, the devil and hell, and become children of the Father, heirs to heaven, filled with the Holy Spirit just as Jesus was and is.

• A priest speaks of taking scuba lessons. He had grown up loving the water, and this new way of enjoying the water excited him. The lessons started out in a swimming pool. Being able to stay under water in the crystal clear water was incredible. Then the time came to dive in a lake - and the fun left.
  The priest recalls getting into a wet suit for the first time, something that had not been done in classes. It was confining and claustrophobic. And, then, his instructor-partner took him under, and the water was not clear. In fact, there were no immediate reference points, and instead of crystal clear water, there was only fading light and then darkness beyond. The priest says he experienced a wave of fear like he had never felt in his life, and all he knew to do was to shoot back to the surface.

History tells us that some early Christian communities, when they baptized, would dunk the neophyte under water and then hold the person there until they began to panic and struggle thinking they were going to be drowned. The idea was that the community wanted the newly baptized to connect baptism with the death and resurrection of Chris. We go down into the waters of death so that we might rise to newness of life.

Water is often used in the Scriptures to represent chaos and death. Genesis tells us that the earth was covered in water but that God made the dry land, an act that brought order into the chaos. The Egyptian army was destroyed by water. In the gospels, Jesus calms a storm emphasizing his power over chaos. The Scriptures use the boat as a symbol of the Church. With Jesus in it, the boat (church) protects its occupants from chaos.

The Resurrection changes the image of water from chaos and death into something that gives life. We must never forget that going into the water represents death, but because we go into it, we can rise to a new life.

The scuba diving priest says he'll never forget the fear he experienced in that first dive. But he was so determined to master this new sport, he didn't give up. He simply went to a shallow spot where he sat on the bottom with his head just below surface. Slowly he inched deeper. Finally he spotted some fish and became so fascinated by them that before he knew it, he was actually swimming underwater going deeper and deeper.

All of us have many fears, and the fear of chaos in our lives, the fear of death, the fear of the unknown - so many fears - impedes us. Some fears absolutely immobilize us. But Easter is about conquering fears. It won't help our phobias necessarily, but it will help with our spiritual fears bout suffering and death, about loneliness, about lives without hope, about the fear that the world will never be a safe place. Easter is a promise from God himself that all good things are possible. Most of all, Easter is the promise that death is no longer our enemy.

Just as the priest's fascination with the underwater world conquered his fear of the darkness of deep lake water, the Resurrection can help us conquer our fear of death. Rather than fearing death, we can now be fascinated by it. Our faith allows us to see death not as an end but as a beginning. Our faith in the Resurrection allows us to refuse to let tragedy destroy us. [i]

So today we rejoice in Jesus' resurrection. He rose from the grave.

• A gentleman wrote in to The Christian Herald magazine. In their family, he said, it was a custom to have a sing-along while traveling by car. It helped keep their boys out of trouble and in a good mood. On one trip their eldest son, Aaron, asked if they could sing the "Gravy Song."
  "What's that?" the rest of the family asked. "Teach it to us."
  With all innocence Aaron began singing the Easter hymn, "Up from the gravy arose."

It's sad that the only day of the year when churches sing the gravy song is Easter Sunday. Jesus rose from the grave! He was dead. No breath in him. No life in him. Sealed up in a closely guarded tomb, already forgotten by the ruling authorities, mourned by his closest disciples, decomposing in the ground. But, as Fred Beck says, "the stone at Jesus' tomb was but a pebble to the Rock of Ages inside." [ii]

• For several decades now, the country of South Africa has been one of the most troubled and most troubling spots on earth. On one occasion, when asked if he remained hopeful as he looked at the pain of uncertain future, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu responded, "I am always hopeful. A Christian is a prisoner of hope. What could have looked more hopeless than Good Friday? But then, at Easter, God says, 'From this moment on, no situation is untransfigurable.' There is no situation," concludes Desmond Tutu, "from which God cannot extract good." [iii]
• Two men were studying a painting depicting Jesus' healing of the blind men of Jericho. Both of these men surveying the painting were impressed by the beauty and detail of the picture. But one man noticed something more. He pointed to a small cane lying in the street. The two blind men in the painting must have been begging in the street when they heard that Jesus was passing by. As they approached Jesus, one of the men left his cane behind. He left it behind! His faith in Jesus was so great that he assumed he wouldn 't need his cane anymore after meeting the Master. That is what Easter faith is all about. It is about hope. [iv]
• Tony Campolo tells of the wonderful example his father-in-law, Pastor Robert Davidson, provided for him while he was dying. Pastor Davidson had been slowly deteriorating in mind and body for many years. It hurt to see such a great man becoming diminished by time and age. In spite of his decline, he seemed to be a complete peace. Then, in the wee hours one morning, Mrs. Davidson heard her husband reciting in a clear, strong voice, these words from 1 Corinthians 15: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our lord Jesus Christ." After repeating that passage of Scripture three times, Pastor Davidson closed his eyes and died at peace. [v]

Two familiar stories bring out the true meaning of Easter and what Jesus did for us.

• A shepherd awakened one morning to find that one of his ewes had given birth to a lamb, but the lamb had died. As he continued his daily inspection of his woolly charges, the shepherd also discovered that in another part of the flock, a ewe had given birth but had died doing so. So he had a childless mother on one hand and an orphaned lamb on the other. Quick thinking and sensible logic would tell him that he should put the orphan with the childless mother. Should work, shouldn't it? However, it doesn't work, not at all, because the mother knows from the scent that the lamb is not her own and the lamb is too confused and miserable to relate to her.
  "The prophets and shepherds of old," says Methodist minister and gourmet chef Jeff Smith, who tells this story, "saw in this all-too-common circumstance a perfect image of our relationship to God. We are so alienated from one another and from God that we, like the newborn lamb, are dying from starvation, and God is, as it were, 'dying of a broken heart.' However, and as wise shepherds know, there is a remedy to this situation. If the shepherd takes some of the blood from the dead lamb and washes the orphan lamb in it, the mother, recognizing a familiar scent, will immediately begin to feed and care for the orphan as her own. In other words, the orphan is saved and brought to life by its adoption through the blood."

Today, we celebrate the fact that humankind, that once was orphaned, alienated and marked for death through sin, has been washed in the blood of the Lamb of God who is Jesus. Washed, healed, forgiven and redeemed, we are thereby reconciled to God who, by virtue of Jesus' blood, recognizes us, welcomes us and cares for s as beloved sons and daughters. [vi]

The second familiar story brings out the goodness of our Father, God, who gave his all.

• Once there was a young boy who repeatedly came home late for supper, thus delaying the meal and interrupting family relationships. He was told that if he did not change, he would one day end up with an empty plate. And one day he again came late to the dinner table. He just sat there staring at his empty plate under the gaze of his family, who all had full plates before them. After a pause, his father took the boy's empty plate for himself and put his own full plate in front of his son. Everything became right again. Because it was more than a matter of food - it was the family sharing a meal together. It was a matter of the love of a father for his son.

So, too, Easter is a matter of the love of a Father, our Father in heaven, for his Son, Jesus, whom he raised from the dead, and of our Father's love for us, whom he redeemed and made his children by the passion, death and resurrection of his Son. And so we say with all our hearts on this Easter Sunday: Alleluia! Praise the Lord!

[i] Fr. Edwin F. Steiner, "Easter Sunday: The resurrection of the Lord," The Priest 57 (03): 24 (The Priest, 200 Noll Plaza, Huntington IN 46750),
[ii] R. Douglas Reinard, June 1989, The Christian Herald, as quoted in "If we had known you were going to win . " Dynamic Preaching 16 (2): 21 (Seven Worlds Corporation, 310 Simmons Road, Knoxville TN 37922), April, May, June. 2001.
[iii] Christianity Today, October 5, 1992, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, "A Prisoner of Hope." Cited in "Ministry as the Marketing of Hope," by David Wesley Reid, The Clergy Journal, August 1994, p. 15, as cited in Dynamic Preaching, p 22.
[iv] Illustrations of Bible Truths, compiled by Ruth Peters (Chattanooga TN: AMG Publishers, 1995), p. 60, as cited in Dynamic Preaching p. 22.
[v] Tony Campolo, Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God (Dallas: Word Pub lishing, 1997), pp. 41-42, as cited in Dynamic Preaching p. 23.
[vi] Patricia Datchek Sanchez, 'Washed and freed by the blood of the lamb," Celebration 30 (4): 169 (Celebration, 115 East Armour Boulevard, Kansas City, MO 64111-1203) April 2001.

(Comments to Jerry at padre@tri-lakes.net. Jerry's book, Stories For All Seasons, is available at a discount through the Homiletic Resource Center.)