The Real Miracle of Easter By R. Larry Snow April 16, 2017 Matthew 28:1-10 As you know, for Lent, I ve been inviting people to come watch and then discuss The Story of God with Morgan Freeman. It s been fun mostly because when the episode ends and the lights are turned back on, the room gets really quiet and you can almost hear people processing the information that s been presented. That was especially true with the episode on miracles. In listening to the after- discussion what I found most interesting was the inability for the group to agree on a definition of the word. For many years I ve been defining miracles as an event that contradicts natural law. You know, people walking on water; a virgin birth. Dictionary.com agrees with me when it defines miracles as a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws. But dictionary.com goes to give a second definition; a highly improbable or extraordinary event, development, or accomplishment that brings very welcome consequences. In other words we use miracle to talk about good things that things for which there is a natural explanation but happen very rarely. While no one has talked about God yet, I would suppose that the first definition implies that God is doing something to violate natural law because we can t and that the second definition doesn t necessarily involve God only random but fortuitous chance. This morning is Easter. We are here this morning to celebrate the resurrection. Jesus who had been killed by the Romans and laid in a tomb, was seen, heard and touched by those who loved him most. 1 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him. This is my message for you. 8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, Greetings! And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped
him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me. (Matthew 25:1-10, NRSV) After reading this story, some things are just not clear to me, the most important being the nature of the resurrected Jesus. Was the resurrected Jesus a physical being as he had been before the crucifixion or was Jesus a spirit, ephemeral, without physical substance or was Jesus able to switch back and forth from one nature to the other? Matthew doesn t make that clear; the Gospels don t make it clear. We are left to wonder. The Gospel of Matthew does make it clear that we are talking about a miracle of the first definition. This event defies natural law on a couple of accounts. An angel appeared and rolled the stone from in front of the tomb. When the women looked in they could see that the tomb was empty. The angels told them that Jesus had been raised from the dead. When the women got back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples what had happened, Jesus appeared in their midst and the disciples fell at his feet. Then Jesus told them not to be afraid but to go to Galilee where they would see him again. You have to admit that as miracles go this was about as good as they get. It would be tough to come up with an event that could be seen and touched that would break any more physical laws than the resurrection of the dead. This was something that happened through the power of God. That s why we have come here this morning; to celebrate that the man who was dead came back to life. That s why we can sing, Christ is risen! Shout hosanna! Celebrate this day of days. Christ is risen! Hush in wonder; all creation is amazed. That was a miracle! Part of the message of the resurrection was that Jesus was no ordinary man. Ordinary men do not rise from the tomb and visit with friends and followers. Jesus was extraordinary and his resurrection was a miracle. But the resurrection wasn t just about Jesus, it was a message that God was sending to us. It was a message of hope and love. The resurrection proved that not even death could conquer Jesus or God s love. For me it s all summarized in 2 passages written by Paul, Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55 Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 15:55-57, NRSV) and 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38, 39, NRSV)
Part of the message of the resurrection is about Jesus; that he was no ordinary man; that he embodied God in a way that no one else has. Jesus had been sent by God who would not let him die. And part of the message of the resurrection is about us; that we are beloved by God and nothing will ever be able to get between us and God; not even death. No matter what, we are all loved, forgiven and accepted. Because of the resurrection we can be sure of a life beyond this one Jesus has shown us that the love of God has broken the power of death. No matter what, in any situation, we can be assured that everything is going to be all right. The resurrection was a miracle of the highest order. But I wonder. I wonder if the resurrection is the biggest miracle of Easter. I wonder if there isn t a bigger one here. I wonder if the real miracle of Easter isn t us; isn t the church. I wonder if the real miracle of Easter isn t us, 2,000 years later, still celebrating the resurrection, still trying to make that resurrection real to the world. The church did survive persecution by the Roman Empire. For the first 250 years of the church s life the Empire did mount successive waves of persecution in which Christians did die for their faith; sometimes in incredibly cruel ways. The church survived. Faith in the risen Christ survived. The biggest challenges came in when the church became the power behind the throne when we began appointing kings and calling for crusades on foreign lands. And even though we know that mixing religion and politics means that religion is going to lose its soul, we keep trying. And as shallow and vacuous as that kind of religion is, the church survives. We still celebrate Easter. The church has used its message to keep slaves in their place, to keep women in submission, to give missionaries the right to seize land. The church has been led by men and women who used their position for private gain, amassing great wealth at the expense of the church s mission. And still we are here to celebrate the resurrection. The church has repeatedly gone nuts over the Second Coming of Christ. Over and over we ve been sure that the end was at hand and it didn t matter how we treated the earth. If only we could have back all the time that Christians have spent looking up into the sky and haven t been of any earthly good. And yet the church survives. And yet we are here to celebrate the resurrection.
Maybe we re the real miracle of Easter. Through the centuries we ve done more than just exist. Through the centuries the news off the resurrection has brought hope to millions and millions of people. Through the centuries the church has done its best to share the news of a living savior with the world. Through the years we have tried hard to put our faith into action by feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, welcoming the stranger, speaking truth to power, guiding people in living lives of integrity and joy. Through the centuries we have done our best to make disciples of all nations. And in our worship we have experienced the risen Christ. When two or three of us have gathered together, Christ has been in our midst. The miracle of Easter isn t just that Jesus was known to his followers on Easter morning, although that was a pretty good miracle. The miracle of Easter is that through the intervening centuries, up to this moment, the resurrected one has been with us and the church has survived and this morning is gathered in praise. Through the centuries the risen Christ has been present to guide and empower us to be light in the midst of darkness, to be hope in the midst of despair, to be forgiveness in the midst of anger, to be joy in the midst of hardship, to be truth in the midst of lies. Through the centuries that risen Christ has been in our presence making able to do more than we ever could by ourselves. We are not here because we have been so faithful but because God has been so faithful. We are here because the Spirit of God has drawn us together, pointed us in the right direction and held us together. We are here because the risen one continues to live in our midst. Lots of religions and religious movements have come and gone in the last 2,000 years. Without God s Spirit empowering us might we have gone extinct? Which means that the church needs to remember that we are a miracle, not just a group of nice, like-minded people who get together to do good things. We are the church. We are a miracle of the resurrection; created and empowered to share God s love with the world. Which means that in our time the question isn t institutional survival, it s about sharing the news of God s love. If we cannot remember that then why should the church exist? Which means we cannot be satisfied with lots of bodies in the pews and lots of dollars in the offering tray. The goal we ve been given is transformed lives transformed by God s love transformed into the image of Christ. Unless lives are transformed why should the church exist?
Which means that we should be thankful for the church. The church is our home and our family supporting us in times of struggle and encouraging us on when our faith is shaky. The church is a school teaching us that we are always loved and encouraging us to find ways to share that news with the world. The church reminds us what the Kingdom of God looks like and the things that are getting in the way of that kingdom becoming reality. The church welcomes us and affirms that because of God s love we are good. Which means that on this Easter Sunday we need to consider what was the real miracle. Was it the resurrection of Christ or is it the church? Are we the real miracle of Easter? Praise be to God. The Church s One Foundation The church s one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord; We are his new creation by water and the Word; From heaven he came and sought us to be his holy bride; With his own blood he bought us, and for our life he died. Called forth from every nation, yet one o er all the earth; Our charter of salvation; one Lord, one faith, one birth, One holy name professing and at one table fed. To one hope always pressing, by Christ s own Spirit led. We now on earth have union with God the Three in One; And mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won. Oh, happy ones and holy! Lord give us grace that we like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with thee.