Easter - Its About Life

Now and Forever

Easter Sunday

Matthew 28:1-10                   Rev. Todd B. Freeman

Bethany Presbyterian Church, Dallas          March 27, 2005

Contrary to what many might think, Easter Sunday is not necessarily the favorite day of the year for preachers. One reason is that expectations are usually so high, both on the part of the congregation and the pastor, that those expectations are rarely met. Another reason has to do with the message itself. There will be many preachers this day who proclaim, as was once proclaimed here at Bethany many years ago (several of you will remember this), that if you don’t believe in the literal, historical, bodily resurrection of Jesus, then you can’t be a Christian. But the last time I checked, that is not the litmus test to being a Christian.

On my first Easter Sunday here at Bethany, back in 1998, I intentionally preached a sermon that focused on the traditional doctrine and understanding of Easter. It didn’t go over very well with many of you.

The year after that I intentionally preached a sermon that focused on a very progressive understanding of Easter, i.e. a non-literal, spiritual interpretation of the resurrection stories. That didn’t go over very well with a different set of people in this congregation.

So this year I want to make the following disclaimer: My primary responsibility as a preacher, as I understand my role, is not to try to convince you whether biblical stories are literal, factual, and historically accurate or not. Instead, I believe my responsibility lies in trying to get behind the meaning of why these stories were told and recorded as they were. Then, it is important to try and find ways to apply such understandings to our daily lives, both as individuals and as a congregation.

Ultimately, even though the resurrection itself is shrouded in mystery, I believe the Easter message is fairly simple. I summarize it every time I officiate at a funeral or memorial service. The message is one of hope: Death does not have the final word. There is life beyond this life, whatever that may be like, and it is lived eternally in the loving presence of God.

This message is especially meaningful to those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and to those who may be facing their own death. This message became more meaningful to me just one year ago on March 29th when my father died of untreatable cancer. The Saturday before Easter was the Interment of Ashes service. I wore a cross last Easter, and am wearing it again this morning, that contains some of his ashes. This message stays meaningful to me as I continue to watch my mother slip away into the recesses of her mind because of Alzheimer’s. She still recognizes me as one of her children, but now can’t quite remember my name – that’s been hard for me to deal with.

Yet due to the promise of Easter, it is possible in the midst of our pain and grief to experience a sense of comfort and peace. The promise revealed in the story of Jesus’ resurrection is that God, who created each one of us and gave us life, will continue to give us life, even in death.

Not too very long ago, back in 1991-92 when I was a seminary intern pastor, like Nancy Willet is now, I served a church in Canyon, Texas, just outside Amarillo. I became very close friends with many in that congregation, including a family named the Nesters. The grandfather was a retired medical physician, and in fact was at one time the town doctor. I found him to be quite intimidating.

I was invited to their home, along with their extended family, to share a meal on Thanksgiving Day, and then to watch the Dallas Cowboys football game, of course. During the meal, this patriarch of the family asked me what my views were (as someone going into the ministry) concerning “right to die” issues, as in the ethics involved with keeping people alive or not by artificial means. Not knowing where he stood on the issue, I assumed that he, being a physician, felt strongly about keeping patients alive at any cost. Yet my reply reflected what I truly believed (and still believe to this day), that if we keep people alive, like with breathing machines or feeding tubes, then we are just as guilty of “playing God” as if we were to pull the plug or remove the feeding tube. In other words, there is no easy or even right answer, either for a doctor or a pastor, let alone family members.

I then waited, nervously, for his response. Much to my relief he didn’t ask me to leave his house, but said, with a bit of relief in his voice, that my position had, in fact, always been his as well. We both had a similar understanding that the value of our lives is not to be determined by the length of our day nor bounded by the number of our years. For ultimately, it is not about our quantity of life, but our quality of life.

I bring this “right to die” issue up today because on this particular Easter Sunday, with the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus so much on our minds, our country is engulfed in a debate involving the life and death of a Florida woman named Terri Schiavo. It has been the lead story on nationwide news for an entire week now – and it isn’t over yet.

There are intensely strong feelings on both sides of this issue: like whether or not Terri’s feeding tube should be removed, as it was a week and a half ago, or re-inserted; whether Terri’s wishes are being represented correctly by her husband or by her parents; and whether the legislative and executive branches of our federal government had any right to interject themselves in what is believed to be a judicial court matter, and an issue of states rights.

What has disturbed me most about this case is when one of our U.S. Congressman said that Terri’s feeding tube should be re-inserted because, “It’s what God wants.” How presumptuous and arrogant, in my opinion, to assume to know with such certainty God’s will on such a complicated issue. There has been more than enough hypocrisy and manipulative politics to go around. For cannot the accusation, “you’re playing God,” be applied to both sides? And why does the media continue to portray the “Christian view” as only that of the conservative, evangelical religious right?

Regardless of which side of the issue you agree with, however, the message of Easter has something very important to say. In this week’s current issue of the Presbyterian Outlook, compiled before the Terri Schiavo case became a national phenomenon, there is an article entitled The Significance of the Resurrection, written by Cynthia Rigby, Professor of Theology at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. In explaining our confession of the resurrection she states, “The cross – and the suffering and death associated with it – are not the end of the story.” She continues:

Thankfully, our confession reminds us that resurrection is not resuscitation. In contrast to a culture that seeks vainly to perpetuate bodies (endlessly promoting new ways of resuscitating them), to confess resurrection is to acknowledge that our bodies will pass away and will be created, again, anew.

Because we believe the One who created us out of nothing will re-create us free of sin and free of sorrow, we are empowered both to resist efforts devoted to perpetuating life at all costs and to care about and nurture every life so loved by God, however insignificant in the eyes of the world.

In the case of Terri Schiavo, just as with any person facing death, the response of the church should be to remind us of Jesus words, “I am the resurrection and the life… Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for they shall find rest from their labors.”

There are times in life when we must let go, and allow ourselves to truly hear the words, “Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant… Receive her (or him) into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light.” There will come a time when each of us enters a well-deserved eternal rest. That is the promise of Easter.

For as George Stroup, Professor of Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary (Presbyterian) stated in another article in that same issue of the Presbyterian Outlook:

Christian faith is Easter faith. It trusts that all things, in life and in death, belong to God. And Christian love is Easter love. It is that love from which no one or no thing can separate us. And Christian hope is Easter hope. Because God has already raised Jesus from the dead, it is the confident anticipation of “that day” when all the dead and all creation will be raised and transformed.

Easter! It’s about life! Life lived to the fullest now, and forever.

Amen.