April 11, 2004
Death and Resurrection
by James Murray
I am so glad Lent is now finally over. It feels so good to cast off the gloomy sombreness of the past forty days. I feel ready to embrace the joy of Easter. Yet I don’t know why I am so ready. I don’t think I gave anything up over Lent. Lent certainly isn’t what it used to be. I remember in my first year of seminary some pious soul decided all the students should give up caffeine for Lent. Without giving any warning, they removed the cans of Coca Cola from the fridge, and put decaffeinated coffee in the coffee maker. What were they thinking? University students! In March! Just before exams! With no caffeine! Thankfully, no one was hurt in the incident. The caffeine returned the next day.
We don’t do penance the way we used to. It’s been years now since I heard of someone giving up something significant like alcohol, or television for Lent. Most of us just don’t do Lent any more. It is not always meaningful to suffer. Around here our Lenten Study and Spring retreat had very positive themes, focussing on Lent as a time for spiritual growth and discovering new ways of thinking about our faith. The times they are a changing.
Back in the 1930's, the German theologian Deitrich Bonhoeffer realized these kinds of changes were afoot. He believed we were entering a time when Christianity must come of age. He realized we were beginning to live in a secular world which believes it doesn’t need God. Because the world has grown up and has moved out of its dependency situation, the God of religion, is considered by most to be unnecessary. The patterns of religious life no longer rule society. There are those, Bonhoeffer says, who can make it today without God and without despair and without guilt. And their success is just as real as the fulfilment of those who have a God. Since Christianity no longer rules our society we can no longer use guilt to coerce people into participating in our community. If Christianity is to have a role to play in this postmodern world, it will require us to create new ways of expressing our faith which helps people to live meaningful lives.
In order to fully celebrate the joy of Easter we had to first endure the hardships of Lent. The goal of Lent was for us to die to the self, to put to an end to the desires of the flesh. We mortified the body, denied it, despised it. We denigrated the desires which sought fulfilment in the material world. The end result was we all felt guilty for just about everything. We were guilty if we had sexual desires or enjoyed a good meal. We were put down if we had a desire to excel in any activity we undertook. We were made to feel guilty for just being human. It felt like it was a sin simply being alive. In such a system, we were never going to be good enough. And as any psychologist will tell you, an excessive amount of guilt and self-loathing is not a healthy thing.
If Christianity is to come of age, we need to be able to voice more than just a list of ‘thou shalt nots’. If Easter is to be meaningful, it has to be more than just a release from the horrific sufferings of Lent. If we want to be a meaningful part of society, we need to be able to articulate what a healthy, positive way of living would look like. And our most persuasive argument will be how well we have modelled these beliefs in our own lives.
The most central belief in Christianity is of course the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our religious system is founded on the belief Christ rose from the dead. We believe he can be experienced as a living presence by everyone who is gathered here today.
In order for this belief to be meaningful, we must be sure to articulate Jesus rose from the dead. His death is as important as his resurrection. This is more than just a festival celebrating the return of spring after a cruel Canadian winter. This is more than a metamorphosis like the butterfly leaving its cocoon behind. The resurrection is something new, different, unique. It is only by confronting the reality of death we can appreciate the gift of life which has been so freely given.
We believe Jesus is God’s gift to us, showing us the true power of humanity lies in our ability to love, to forgive and to heal. The powers of violence and exploitation rejected the gift, causing his crucifixion. The resurrection is the gift given once again, forever and for always. At Easter, we celebrate the gift has been taken up. It has become the heart of God. Our God is one who is willing to die for us. Our God has rejected the way of power and domination. Easter shows us it is never to late to listen to the divine imagination, to heal our hearts and our world.
Saint Paul believes this resurrection is something which happens to us as well. In the sixth chapter of Romans he says, Do you not know all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so just as Christ was raised from the dead by God, we too should begin living a new life.” (Romans 6:3-4)
Truly, Good Friday shows us Jesus suffered just as we suffer. Jesus died just as we die. Paul believes since we share in a death like Jesus, therefore we will share in a resurrection like his. He wants us to live like the resurrected people we can become. He wants us to live like the resurrected people we are.
Paul reveals the path of dying and rising leads to spiritual fulfilment. It is a pattern echoed across many cultures and religious traditions. By facing the vulnerable pain of our Good Fridays we are brought to the new life of an Easter Sunday. By facing the shortcomings of our frail humanity, we can overcome our faults, heal our lives, and repair the damage we have done in this world.
By travelling the road of suffering and redemption, we can become whole, healthy people.
As Easter people, we will no longer see ourselves as perfect beings, having no need of anyone else, for we will know of our need for right relationships with our family, our neighbours, our community, our world and our God.
As Easter People, we will no longer see ourselves as demons, deformed sinners who are not worthy of love. We will know of our intrinsic goodness and beauty which will shine like an unquenchable flame.
In short, we will become the authentic, loving people we can be, because of God’s unstoppable faith in us.
Now I realize this is not a typical triumphant Easter sermon. Just as Lent has changed from a time of denial to a time for spiritual growth, so too Easter must change. For what good is it if Christ Jesus has been raised from the dead if each of here is not also risen? Easter happens when we live like the risen people we have the God-given capacity to become. In this way Easter is more than just a day on the calender. It is an ongoing process in our lives as well.
Among the pioneers of our faith, the person who understood the ongoing process of our resurrection best was perhaps Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation. I’d like to leave you with his words.
Luther says
Christian living does not mean to be good, but to become good.
Not to be well, but to get well.
Not being but becoming.
Not rest but training.
We are not yet, but we shall be.
It has not yet happened.
But it is the way.
Not everything shines and sparkles as yet,
but everything is getting better.
Hallelujah! And Amen!
- The Cross in our Context by Douglas John Hall. Fortress Press 2003
- Martin Luther, Luther’s Werke, 1883 edition