Why Do You Seek the Living Among the Dead?

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Brook Johnston
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"Why Do You Seek the Living Among the Dead?" a sermon preached in Duke University Chapel by The Reverend Robert T. Young Minister to the University Apr i 1 6, 1980 Sermon Text: Luke 24:1 11!".. --------------~----------------------------------------~-------- e.

1 "Why Do You Seek the Living Among the Dead?" a sermon preached in Duke University Chapel by The Reverend Robert T. Young Minister to the University Apr i 1 6, 1980 Sermon Text: Luke 24:1 11!" ~ ~ e. e. cummings has a word for us this blessed Easter morning: "i thank you God for most this ~mazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything ' which is natural which is infinite which is yes 11 We do give thanks to God for everything this day, everything whi ch is natural, which is infinite, which is yes. As we do, t here ls one word I want to share this morning, that is at the h~art a nd soul o.f the Easter story,. that comes singing through in our Gosp e l Lesson, and that has become clearer and clearer to me this Holy Season: The promises of God are true and can be trusted! The word of the Lord is fulfilled! Death has been overcome! Jesus Christ is risen! That is why we can say Easter. Easter crosses! Easter. Easter flowers, Easter sunshine, Easter is dawn after the night; life after death; light after darkness; walking when you have been lame; seeing when you have been blind; hearing when you have.been deaf; knowing when yru have been unsure; assurance when you have been afraid; loving when once you did not care. Easter is not teaching - but proclaiming; not doubting- but affirming; not questioning - but answering; not holding back - but sounding forth; not for stealing quietly in the shadows of dawnbut for moving triumphantly in the glory of the new day; not for humming softly or mumbling beneath your breath but for singing, shouting, praising: "Jesus Christ is risen! The Lord is risen! He is risen, indeedl 11

- 2 - Easter is the holy time- the Holiest of Holy days for all who believe in JeSus Christ. Easter is a beautiful time. A glorious time. A victorious time.. "Now.

2 - 2 - Easter is the holy time- the Holiest of Holy days for all who believe in JeSus Christ. Easter is a beautiful time. A glorious time. A victorious time.. "Now.is Jesus Christ risen from the dead and become 'the ft rst fruits of them that slept." I 1 m ready to say I be 1 i ev.e in Easter. I believe in the God who sustained J bsus through Easter. I believe in the Jesus Christ who gave himself to death, hell, and the grave, and was raised that we might know life now and forever! Yes, I believe in Easter. To bel~eve in Easter we must believe in dying: The words on the lips of the middle-aged wife, mother, and caring friend of many in her church came out haltingly but convincingly as she talked with me. Forty-three years old, mother of three, leader in her church, she learned Just six weeks earlier of malignant cance.r in several organ.s,,and throughout her body. She looked me straight in the eyes and said, "I don't want to die. I want to 1 i ve. I have so much to 1 i ve for. 11 And, she does. Dying is that mysterious experience in life that many can describe but no.one understands. - But, the Easter message responds to that deep and mysterious threat that everything :that is possible is not always possible! Easter puts into perspective the plight of those who sufferwho are dying slowly but surely day by day: the migrant worker in California, Florida, Mexico, or North Carolina who suffers because he or she just does not khow what to do; the parolee from prison who is in no one's land.- no one wants him- no one claims him - no one trusts him - no one seems to care for him - and, there's no where to go; the.teenage alcbholic,and we have some right here on this campus this morning, who started drinking to prove he or she was really somebody and now longs earnestly to feel and believe that he or she is.a somebody; dying takes many forms as it captures our lives and the lives of those around us right here, right now. The Easter message reaches in and touches those hidden rooms and hidden thoughts of many men and women described by Marilyn French when she wrote in The Women's Room, "I feel like a survivor who has lost everything but his rrre, who wanders around inside a skinny shrivelled body, collecting dandelion greens and muttering to himself." But, we don't have to wander around inside ourselves! We can become a part of Him who is the living among the living! Before we look at Easter flowers, Easter sunshine, Easter crosses, we must know that Easter belief begins with dying. To believe in Easter, we must believe in death: The glory of Easter is jut that because of the power of death. we. have to know the horror of death to appreciate the victory of resurrection. Peter J. Kreeft, in his book, Love is Stronger Than Death, rem.inds us that, "What death is depends on how we meet 1 t, "

- 3 - Abraham and Isaac faced death - the sacrificial death of young Isaac hi~self. Abraham and Isaac faced a moment of death that no one and nothing could disguise.

3 - 3 - Abraham and Isaac faced death - the sacrificial death of young Isaac hi~self. Abraham and Isaac faced a moment of death that no one and nothing could disguise. There are no words of mystery, no tricks of magic, no excuses because the time is not right. Abraham and Isaac faced the final question, "Is there more than death? Is this the last, all there is?" We are taught many things in public school, in this place, in other places of learning; we learn much on street corners; but we are never taught to confront the reality of death itself; to look it face to face; to feel the real possibility of nothing where once there was something. To believe in Easter, we must, just like Abraham standing over his son with his knife held high, face the reality of death.. r Before we look at Easter flowers, Easter sunshine, Easter crosses, we must know that Easter belief begins with death. To believe in Easter, we must believe in life: In the li.fe, death, resurrection of Jesus. Christ, "love constructs a human self that is stronger than death," that is life i tself. Easter is a loud "yes'' to the questions that Richard Bach's God asks any would-be Messiah in his book Illusions, "Would you do anything that I ask?" Thinking of some sure suffering but glorious martyrdom, the answer came quickly, "Sure, just ask it!" And God said, "Be happy!" In Easter,God says be happy. Yes. Live. Know life. Be. "What life is depends on how we meet it!" Easter is a positive, loving, and constant "yes" on the part of God to our lives, to us as individual, specific persons. Easter makes it possible for each of us to say, "Death is not the end of usl" Death, for no one individual person - young or old, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, black or white, north or south, have or have-not, - death, we know, for no one, is ordinary! Easter says loudly, "Life for no one is ordinary. Life for each one is important. Life has eternal worth!" Easter is God's yes to you and to me! To each of us! Without demanding that we always win, it is like the racer in "Breaking Away", that simply tries his best. Without being trapped by wondering what will happen in the future, it is like Dustin Hoffman learning how to make french toast for his son for the first time in "Kramer vs Kramer". It is always new, always promising, always alive, always hopeful. This is the promise of Easter. Easter is coming down from the frig h t ~ ning,precarious mountains in our lives; or, coming up from the very pits of hell themselves as we live there day-by-dragging day. Easter is a return, a new Exodus, a re-birth, a new being that frees us as quickly as Jesus Christ freed the adulterous womal"), "Go, and sin no more!" Anyone who has lived, who has been 6n the

0 ' - 4 - mountain's edge or the valley's depths, anyone who knows lifean_yone, - any~ne. of us who h.as sinned- needs.easter'!... Before ~e look at Easte~ flowers, Easter sunshine, Easter cr_o?

4 0 ' mountain's edge or the valley's depths, anyone who knows lifean_yone, - any~ne. of us who h.as sinned- needs.easter'!... Before ~e look at Easte~ flowers, Easter sunshine, Easter cr_o?ses, we must know that Easter belief p~gins with 1 ife. To believe in Easter is ~o believe in ~thers: When our Lord stepped into the Jordan waters, he didn't enter there to wash all his sins away; rather,jesus went down into the Jordan to identify with us, with our customs, our concerns, ou~ lives, our. sins as we know and live them altogether. As the Law spoke of fulfillment through obeying Go.d's precept~, it was Jesus Chris~ who came to announce that we must love one another! No longer were we to be forgiven by the keeping of the Law, but rather we are forgiven ''as we forgive others. 11 No 1 onge r is sa 1 vat ion to the nation, to the peop 1 e, to ~he community- but - to those who "care for the least of those" among usl As Elie Wiesel put it in The Madness of God, "Some things are just. too important to be done. a 1one. 11. ''lt.is always shocking to meet life just.when we think we are alone" - but are not! The Living One is not among the dead but among the living. The living ones are not among the dead but are among the living. Easter is that time when Jesus Christ came back to life for others! Easter is that time when we rise to new life to care for others! Easter, above all, is. a time when we feel the.consequences for what we have done or not done for others! Jesus says, "Not every one who says to me,. 'Lord, Lord', will enter the Kingdom.of Heaven, but those who do the will of our God who is in heaven. ". Ea~ter 0 0 is the cause for the presence of the Church; why we wait and why we hop.e and why we believe. Easter is the cause,for the presence of us who are Christians - who are en Christo - as we have died in Ch~ist, with Christ, so shall we rise with Christ. Easter makes all the difference, my friend. There is no other experience this earth has ever seen that shows how deeply we are cared for as does the crucifixion/resurrection. Easter is God's Word to you and me and to every other child of God that says, "I lov.e: you. I love you. I love you." Before we look at Easter flowers, Easter sunshine, Easter crosses, we must know that Easter belief begins with others. To believe in Easter we must believe in Jesus Christ: Standing in the gardens this mornlng, watching the brilliance of the rising sun cast its glow slowly but surety on the beauty of the flowers and the trees and the water - and on the faces

- 5 - of those gathered all around us- listening to the stirring music of Mahler's "Resurrection Symphony" as this Service opened - singing with all the vibra'nf.!:.

5 - 5 - of those gathered all around us- listening to the stirring music of Mahler's "Resurrection Symphony" as this Service opened - singing with all the vibra'nf.!:.'altveness and all the feeling we could call forth, the power 1 f.t:jl iwords of praise to our rfsen Lord and Savior, "Thine be the Glory Endless is the victory, Thou o'er death hast won 11 - you cannot help but have an answer to the question posed long ago, 11 How can you be an atheist if that means you have no one to thank?" Easter is "Thanks be to you, 0 God! 11 The response to Easter is not words of acceptance, of belief, or even of obediencethe response of Easter is doxology - doxa logos - Glory - Praise to the Lord! For all of this, for thecj'ying, the death, the excitement of life, the presence of others, there surely must be Someone to tha~k. No, there must be even more! And, there. is morel There is Someone to tell us, 11 You are welcomej 11 There is Someone - Someone who was/is human - the Someone we call Jesus the Christ- Someone who became human at Christmas- Someone who redeems us all now, at Easter! Jesus the Christ, that radical human being who invites us all 'to that same radical stance, tha't is, to defy that last temptation to come down from the 'cross and lead a good,.] i fe. He invites us to follow, if necessa:ry, even to the.cro ss! And,.. to remain there! To remain there - for our own Easter! His radical stance invites others to follow as he invited Mary Magdalene, and she learned to recognize his words so well that with just a whispered, 11 Mary 11, she knew it was her Lord. His. radical stance that invited those who followed to say to him, ''Yes, we believe you have the words of eternal 1 i fe." His radical stance that invited others to follow so that he could send us forth with his ever-caring message: "Tend. Heal. Forgive. Love. 11 We all know of Lazarus. Lazarus was a friend of Jesus. Lazarus' death brought forth tears of heartache from Jesus. Lazarus had to wait in his tomb - to hear the words of Jesus. Lazarus waited, even as we must wait in ours. Waiting for the words to come to us, as they came to Lazarus, "Come out! Come out! 11 Try! "Come out, this day- and live!" Only. Jesus Christ can give us those words!. Easter! This is the Lord's Day! Easter I A day for hearing not our words, but for hearing God's Word: 11 Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen!" 11 0 death where is your sting? 0 grave, where is your victory? Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

- 6 - Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that be li eves in me, even though he di ~ s, ye t shall he live; and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

6 - 6 - Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that be li eves in me, even though he di ~ s, ye t shall he live; and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? 11.If so, know that for the truly living there is change and this is true of the gospel message, the message of Easter. Before you look at Easter flowers, Easter sunshine, Easter crosses, know that Easter belief begins with change. "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fuits of them that sleep.. For as by man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." Easter! The day of resurrection! And He shall reign forever and ever and ever! ~allelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen. NOTE: Many of tha ideas and much of the material in this. sermon may be found in Volume 13, Number 1, April 1980, Homily Service, An Ecumenical Resource for Sharing the Word,.. pages

ORDER OF WORSHIP April 20, 2014 Easter Sunday

ORDER OF WORSHIP April 20, 2014 Easter Sunday *Congregation Stands (If you prefer, It is acceptable to remain seated.) Welcome to Knox Presbyterian Church! We invite you to sign and pass the Friendship