Easter

April 11, 2004

 

“THE SONG OF THE EASTER BIRD”

by John Christianson

 

John 20:1-18

   ¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ² 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." ³ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes.

    ¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹² and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³ 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." ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" 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." ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because 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.' " ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

1.      The Tasmanian Lyrebird

 

I will tell you of a far-away and very different place.  About one hundred and fifty miles south of the southeast tip of Australia, lies the island of Tasmania.  It is a large island, about half the size of Wisconsin.  There are probably many interesting things that could be said about Tasmania, but what interests me the most is the report of the brilliant songs of birds in the rain forest of Southern Tasmania.  From sunrise until sunset, you can hear the beautiful songs of scores of species of the best, feathered singers that our God created.  Curiously, the songs come, not from the treetops, but from the underbrush. They include the songs of many species of birds who don’t live in Tasmania – who have NEVER lived in Tasmania – but the songs are there nonetheless – courtesy of a bird, about the size of a pheasant.  The male bird has two fascinating characteristics.  One is a big beautiful tail that it spreads like a peacock.  When spread, it looks remarkably like the ancient harp-like musical instrument that the Greeks called a “lyre”.  From this, the bird is called a “lyrebird”.  The other characteristic is the lyrebird’s song.  The lyrebird is probably a singer without equal on earth.  You see, it doesn’t just sing the song that God gave it to attract a mate.  It also listens carefully to the other birds in the forest and perfectly imitates any songs that it enjoys.  I read  that the lyrebird spends the first two hours of every day singing it’s own special song, and then spends the rest of the day singing songs of other birds.

 

It is interesting that the lyrebird is not native to Tasmania.  It used to be found only on the mainland of Australia.  But about seventy years ago, a colony of lyrebirds were carried across the ocean water to Tasmania.  They thrived.  They learned the songs of the native birds of their new home, but they also remembered the songs they had learned from other birds that continued to live only in Australia.  Those songs also have been passed down from generation to generation, until, today, the rainforests of Tasmania continue to echo with songs that were carried over by their forefathers.  I can only say, “Sing, lyrebird!  Sing the most beautiful music you can find, even if you didn’t write the song yourself.”

 

2.      Mary Magdalene and John

 

Music begins early in the Tasmanian rain forest, but not in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Mary Magadalene rose before the birds and came to the garden, but there was no song in her heart.  In her heart was the awful silence of Execution Day; it had not yet become Good Friday.  She came in silence to finish the hasty preparation of Jesus’ body for burial.  Instead, she found an empty tomb.  She ran to the upper room where the disciples were staying, but she still didn’t have a song.  Just a cry of despair:  “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 

 

Peter and John ran to the tomb.  It says that John “saw and believed.”  There must have been just the start of a song in John’s heart, but he didn’t sing it.  Instead, he went home. Mary came back to the tomb.  She saw Jesus.  He ordained her as the apostle to the apostles, and now she had a song.  She came back to the disciples, and she sang her poor heart out.  She sang, “I have seen the Lord.”  Have you heard that song?

 

And John, did he finally find his song?  You bet your life he did!  He sang the whole story!  In his song, he sang of Jesus and Mary Magdalene and all the other followers – all except himself, that is.  John’s name never appears in his song.  What a humble singer!  He sings, instead, about “the disciple Jesus loved.”  Our text is from the 20^th chapter of his song.

 

3.      The Easter Songbird Today

 

Eventually, Mary Magdalene died.  So did John – an old, old man, they say.  But that doesn’t mean their song can’t be heard any more.  On the contrary, their songs have been passed down from generation to generation and carried across ocean water.  There’s not a country in the world where their songs will not have been heard this morning.  Those songs have been written in the hearts of a billion people.  We sing them, down through the ages, in millions of forests and churches and homes.  God bless us through Mary Magdalene and that disciple that Jesus loved!  I have tried for forty years to sing their song, as best I could, from under a collar.  And I’m not going to stop on June 30^th.  It’s the one song that must be heard. 

 

If we could only be like those Tasmanian Lyrebirds!  If we could sing OUR song two hours a day and then, the rest of the time, fill the forest with the songs we’ve received.

 

John’s song is very complex.  It has many verses.  One verse starts out, “In the beginning was the Word…” another “For God so loved the world . . .”   Many of the verses of his song he got directly from the Lord, “I am the Bread of Life…” “I am the Light of the World…” “I am the Good Shepherd…” “I am the Resurrection and the Life…” Some, he said, came in visions:  “Hallelujah!  For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns.”  So many other verses you’ll never sing them all.

 

Mary’s song is much simpler.  “I have seen the Lord.”  So you disciples whom Jesus loved.  Sing!  Never stop singing.  Sing the song of John!  Sing the song of Mary!  Sing the song of the Easter Songbird!  Amen

 

(Comments to John at john.christianson@comcast.net )

Lyndale Lutheran.