Domes - Our Monthly Newsletter
Dunbar UCC
Easter
April 8, 2007
Mark 16:5-8
- This morning is Easter, so we talk about Jesus rising from the dead. Resurrection is the word for it. I’m still trying to understand what this word means. We say, “Do you believe in the resurrection?” And answer, “Well, of course -- you can’t be a Christian without believing in the resurrection.” No you can’t. But what does it mean? An Easter tradition I grew up with is that we’d greet each other with one person saying: “Christos Aneste!” (Christ is risen!) and the other replying: “Alithos aneste!” (Surely he is risen!) People say this all day, and then continue their other conversations, like what the Easter meal is going to be, or spring vacation, or the best places to catch good sales. But I’ve never heard someone say: “Christos Aneste -- Christ is risen -- what does that mean?”
- Maybe today when you go home, you’ll talk with your families about what the resurrection means. Imagine you’re at your big Easter dinner later today -- and people are talking about the work they’re doing, and trips planned to Cancun, and some are remembering past Easters -- and then you say, “Let’s talk about the resurrection.” I bet people would look at you like, “What? That’s “church-talk” -- we don’t talk about that stuff at family meals!”
- But I don’t want us to leave here today without having some idea of what this thing is -- Easter -- the resurrection. And I wish I could tell you. I probably could have two or three years ago. I’m not sure now. It’s become more of a mystery to me. But -- I can tell you where I’ve seen the power of the resurrection showing itself. Do you remember when the Apostle Paul was struck on the road to Damascus? He saw the risen Christ. Before that, he was “breathing thoughts of murder.” And after -- he never lifted a hand against anybody -- he mediated conflicts -- he healed people. He became Christlike. He spent the rest of his life doing the kinds of things that Jesus did when he was alive.
- As simplistic as that sounds, I think that’s what the resurrection is. The power of Jesus Christ comes into us, and we become more like him. We can’t explain how that happens -- or when. But now, when there’s injury, we want to help bring healing. And maybe before we were “breathing thoughts of murder” -- like Paul was. But we don’t do that now -- or we do it less. Something’s changed in us. We might even have sympathy for our enemies. Or maybe one day you read the verse in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, ...” and before, you just kept reading. But now, something is different. You stop reading and say a prayer -- “Yes, Lord, please let me be a peacemaker.” That’s all the proof you need for the power of the resurrection. If you’ve ever said a prayer like that, you can be sure that the power of the resurrection is in you. And that’s about all I know now about the resurrection. A power that was in Jesus comes into us, and we become more like him. That is really THE miracle in this life -- seeing Christ come alive in us.