Pastor William R. White
April 8, 2007 - Easter Sunday
Bethel Lutheran Church, 312 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison, WI

The Sermon Text —LUKE 24:1-12

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

In early January I was talking to a group of people at the Concourse Hotel where the family of Barb Underwood was holding a reception following her funeral. Someone told a funny story. As is often true, one funny story begat another. Soon two or three stories had been told and there was considerable laughter. Then there was a very short lull in the conversation and one of the people said, "We should ask the pastor if it is appropriate to be having such a good time right after a funeral." I managed to mumble something like, "I think it is ok." And the conversation continued.

Are you like me? Do you often play a scene over in your mind rehearsing what you should have said? Do some of your best responses, your most profound comments, take place while driving alone, or taking a walk hours or even days later? Here is what I could have said, "Laughter is one of the most appropriate ways to celebrate the resurrection. When we laugh we are really laughing at death. What is Easter but God’s joke on the Devil? At Easter believers bear witness to their joy by laughing when it is announced that the grave was empty and God has the power to snatch life from the very jaws of death." That of course would have made most of those present vow never to ask a preacher a question at a party and sent the rest to get more punch, but at least I would have spoken the truth about laughter and death.

The first mark of Easter is joy. Easter ought to be fun. "…Easter morning is the Sunrise of the coming of God and the morning of new life…it is the day of God’s delight…it features the laughter of the universe," writes a German pastor. (Jurgen Moltmann, The Passion for God). Easter should be celebrated with good food, good friends and lots of chocolate.

Of course Easter does not begin with fun and laughter. It begins in darkness, despair and shattered hopes. It begins with what people at the moment thought were failed dreams. It begins in ugliness and pain. It begins with Good Friday, a day of loss when the light of hope seemed to go out. The writer, Anne Lamont, who is coming to Madison in a week or so, comments on this in one of her books. "I hate it that you can’t prove the beliefs of the faith. If I were God, I’d have the answers at the end of the workbook, so you could check as you went along, to see if you’re on the right track. But noooo—Darkness is our context, Easter’s context; without it you couldn’t see the light. Hope is not about proving anything. It’s about choosing to believe this one thing, that love is bigger than any grim, bleak [stuff] anyone can throw at us" (Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, p. 274).

Lamott, by the way, is a most entertaining writer. She is irreverent, but there is no doubt that she is a believer. Her life was out of control when she was saved by an encounter with Jesus through a tiny Presbyterian church in Marin City, California. In her books she writes about her life as a recovering alcoholic and single mother. She knows the laughter of Easter, but again, she knows that it doesn’t start in laughter. "When God is going to do something wonderful, He always starts with a hardship. When God is going to do something amazing, He starts with an impossibility."

Easter starts with laughter, but it is also about justice and hope. It is about a very different kind of justice. It is our prayer that the world can learn from Jesus about his way of justice, a way that endures.

How different? When people with power feel they have been mistreated they attempt to get justice by dropping bombs and sending in tanks. They flex their muscles and believe that they can force the enemy to do things their way.

When people without power feel they have been mistreated they smash store windows, trash the neighborhood, blow themselves up attempting to take other lives with them or fly planes into buildings.

There is a bit of grim satisfaction for both the powerful and the not-so-powerful when they flex their muscles. The powerful, like a big bully, feels they have served notice that you don’t mess with us. You can’t get away with things. The not-so-powerful are like the bratty little brother, that wins by making life miserable. They too send the message that there is a price to be paid for treating them unfairly.

Neither the people with power or without power have found that their method has proved successful in obtaining long-standing justice. Violence almost always produces an equal and opposite reaction. Certainly, neither side has succeeded in winning the battle of public opinion. Neither side has established peace and made the world a better place to live in. Unfortunately, a lack of success hasn’t stopped people from using this method.

The method of Jesus is and was quite different. On the cross God took the anger and violence of the world onto himself. Jesus exhausted the powers of evil, allowing them to die under their own weight, refusing to pass evil on or keep it in circulation. The resurrection of Jesus was the beginning of a world in which a new type of justice is possible. It takes hard work for this justice to take effect, the hard work of prayer, persuasion and political action, the hard work of convincing governments and revolutionary groups to see that there is a different and better approach than violence. We need not fight force with force.

Many people insist that the way of Jesus is naïve. It just doesn’t work. The Christian response is: it is at least as effective as the use of violence. What did we ultimately solve in Vietnam? Is force making progress in Iraq?

On the other hand, when people have attempted to use the method of Jesus there have been successes. There was success in South Africa where Desmond Tutu and others used non-violent tactics after the fall of Apartheid. There was success when the Wall fell and Communism was defeated without guns and ammunition. In both cases the approach took dedication and tremendous courage. The method used was similar to one used by Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights era.

Abraham Lincoln summarized this method beautifully when he debated with Sec. Stanton, a member of his cabinet. The president announced that he intended to forgive the south. Stanton declare, "I don’t believe that we should not forgive our enemies; we should destroy them." Lincoln countered, "Do we not destroy our enemies when we make them our friends?"

That is what happened on the cross. Jesus destroyed his enemies not by killing them, not by mutilating them, but by forgiving them and inviting them to be his friends.

A friend of our family is attempting to bring this theory into practice in the divorce court through something he calls, Collaborative Law. Stu Webb writes that the way couples conduct themselves during such things as a divorce has a far greater impact on their children than the act of divorce itself. In Collaborative Divorce the couples hire counsel but agree to resolve differences with no intention of ever going to court. It is a method that stresses cooperation over confrontation and resolution over revenge. Opponents label it naïve. Perhaps it is, but it can be better than all out war.

Ultimately, Easter is about hope. It is about knowing that there is something instead of nothing in our future. It is about knowing that not even death can prevent us from our great reunion with God. Hope often reaches us in strange ways.

A student teacher was asked by her supervisor to visit a very sick little boy in the hospital and help him with his homework. The teacher said, "We are studying nouns and adverbs."

When the student teacher arrived at the hospital she was dismayed to discover that the child was in the hospital’s burn unit in very serious condition and experiencing great pain. She was embarrassed when she walked in the room and saw him in his state of misery, but like a good intern she pressed on and stumbled through the lesson, ashamed for putting him through such a senseless exercise. When she returned the next day the nurse on the burn unit said to the teacher, "What did you do to that boy yesterday?" Before the teacher could apologize, the nurse said, "We had given up on him, but ever since you visited him, he seems to be fighting back, responding to treatment."

Later the boy explained that he thought he was dying, but when the student teacher arrived he figured that they wouldn’t ask him to work on nouns and adverbs if he was dying. (Joanna Adams)

Go from this place today and laugh. Eat a little chocolate, do something enjoyable. Make plans to forgive those who have hurt you and love those who have made fun of you. Look for a place to plant a tree. Think about how you can reconcile with people who have separated from you. Do the kinds of things that people do when they suddenly realize they are going to live. As you head for home remember, now that Christ has risen from the dead amazing things are possible.

(In writing this sermon I borrowed ideas not only from Anne Lamott, but Joanna Adams and John Buchannan.)

Not for publication.