"Where Is He?" - Sermon for Easter Sunday

Where Is He?
Easter – Narrative Lectionary 1
April 5, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Matthew 28.1-10

“Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. His not here; for has been raised, as he said.”

I would love to regale you with warm, fuzzy stories about my fond memories about Easter growing up, but I can’t. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have bad memories of Easter growing up, I just don’t have any memories at all. I’m sure we went to church and I’m sure we had a special dinner. I do have vague recollections of Easter baskets, but maybe that’s from when our girls were children. But, I just don’t remember. Maybe it’s because of all of those knocks to the head I’ve taken in life (without a helmet). Or maybe it’s because of what Frederick Buechner said about Easter, that the main symbol of Easter is an empty tomb, and it’s hard to string lights and have a pageant and make people give presents when your symbol is nothing.

There is no account of the actual resurrection in any of the Gospel accounts. There is the irrefutable witness that Jesus died, particularly in Matthew. But none of the gospel writers dares try to tell of something as deep and mysterious as the resurrection. There’s only the empty tomb. Even with the earthquake and the fantastically arrayed angel, the message is simple: “He is not here.” What the early writers do relate to us is what those first followers saw and experienced: the risen and alive Christ. Death remains very real as we all know too well, but death does not have the last word any longer. This story tells us that the risen, living Jesus can and does show up, often in unexpected ways.

In the history of the church, there have been many conversations about just where Jesus is and can be. Some, in the time of Martin Luther, wanted to say that Jesus couldn’t possibly be in the bread and wine of Holy Communion because Jesus ascended to heaven and is at the right hand of God. Luther agreed that’s where Jesus was, but said Jesus could be wherever he wanted and where Jesus is that’s where God’s right hand is as well. In a related conversation, Luther sought to counter the notion that Jesus was this wandering spirit whose presence was undependable. He said that, yes, Jesus can be anywhere, but if you want to be sure to meet Jesus, you can definitely meet him in the bread and wine of Holy Communion and the waters of baptism. Those are the places he promises to show up.

A number of years ago, I was asked by a funeral director to do a funeral for a person whose family who wanted a Lutheran pastor who “wouldn’t preach to them.” I wondered how I was going to bring Jesus into the conversation with them. When I arrived at their home to discuss arrangements, lo and behold, Jesus was already there! Of course he was. Within these past few years I have had a number of people who have told me that they came to Grace as broken, hurting and wounded people and that they were embraced, nourished and healed by this congregation. And I know of many others who literally stood on the brink of death and experienced new life here. The presence of the living Christ in the world and our lives is not fable; it is an ongoing reality.

Easter means that the closed tombs of our worlds are broken wide open and those old perceptions about what is possible are shattered. Because of Easter everything changes; we don’t see the world in the same way anymore. Like those first witnesses, the women, we may experience fear about this, but fear no long defines us. I may not remember anything about those Easters of my childhood, but I have experienced the new life that Jesus comes to bring all of us, to a world that desperately needs to hear this good news. This news is not too good to be true; it is too good not to be true. Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! Alleluia, amen.