Easter 2023, St. Agnes Scott Murray
As per my custom, today (like Christmas) is an actual sermon, not a discussion sermon which we would normally have when I’m here. Doing a sermon is a blessing and curse (not just for me, but likely for you as well!). It is a blessing in that I have hopefully put something coherent together of my own thoughts in order to have some sort of teaching moment, but a curse for that same reason. I have come to see that the only thing I can offer, in way of honest teaching, is my own life. It is truly the only thing I know and which I can share. Theological explorations hold little off interest to me these days. Rather, I now understand that each of us is on an unique path. No life journey is the same. It is solitary. At times we are blessed to be woven in with others (like this morning) to create a wonderful and meaningful tapestry, but the journey remains singular. Each of us has an unique worldview, and so our path into understanding our place in the world is different from another’s.
For example, let’s consider a simple three letter word. At surface level, we would probably agree that of course, we all would know what the other is saying/meaning when it’s used. It is only three letters. So when I use the letters G O D, do you know what I mean? Think hard. What images or concepts does that encompass? Endless. Bearded old man holding a thunderbolt to the Higgs Bosun particle. That simple three letter word sends us racing to books to find more words and phrases to explain what it means.
So I am moved to simply share my own story, knowing full well that its images and concepts to you may not mean what I think they mean, but telling my story is the best I can do. Although your own journey is different, perhaps a spark from my torch will help illuminate parts of your path.
Resurrection is real. I have experienced it. I’m not talking about reviving a dead body, which many folks gathering for Easter celebration today have in their minds. Jesus comes back from the grave. For me, Jesus coming back to life is actually a cover story for a bigger truth about resurrection.
St Paul hiints that Christ is meant to “truly arise in us.” Does that mean that Easter is also to be about our own resurrections, not specifically Jesus’?
Thomas Aquinas teaches that there are two resurrections: The first is waking up in this lifetime; If we do this, the second will take care of itself. In other words, the first takes precedence. The first resurrection is about Waking Up. Being asleep is a kind of death from which we need to rise up and resurrect. He cites Paul in Romans: “’As Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also must walk in newness of life’ (Rom. 6:4).
Around this time three years ago, I was preparing to go into the hospital for throat cancer. Much of my preparation was inner work, doing meditation in the hopes of keeping some sort of balance while being hospitalized for two months. During one meditation session, I had a vision of standing on the edge of cliff, holding on to some branches. I sensed these supports were more than mere props, they represented the most important things in my life. Behind me, though, from the emptiness, came a voice, saying, “Let go. I’ll catch you.”
And when I entered treatment, I pondered that vision for a week. And I woke up. It was like jumping out of a plane. Flying, falling, free from everything. The bad news was, I didn’t have a parachute. The good news was, there was no longer any ground underneath me. In my reading of Meister Eckhart, he spoke of a final leave taking in one’s journey, taking leave (letting go) of god. By that he meant letting go of trying to define god (that simple three letter word) and possessing god, and rather live as if (as if…) there were no god in order that god would be set free to be completely god, not my construct of god. And I in turn was free to be me. For me, that was the moment of resurrection. I was alive. This I knew for sure. And this was enough. I was whole.
For me, then, the gospel stories of Holy Week reflect this letting go, this taking leave of our desire to mold god into our image and move into a place where god will not likely do as I expect or demand.
On Good Friday, Jesus on the cross cries out “my god, my god why have you forsaken me?” Are we to imagine that God truly turned away at this point? When has god forsaken any of us? Rather, I think this points to Jesus’ leave taking, letting go of his own concepts of god and feeling the forsakenness that can bring. I think the resurrection for Jesus begins at this moment, when he states,”It is finished.” He is now complete and what we label as the resurrection evidenced in the empty tomb, is rather happening here, on the cross.
And the third day accounts (Easter Sunday) as well exhibit the power of letting go. The image of the empty tomb is just that: emptiness. Nothingness. ‘Whom do you seek?” the angels ask. If you seek Jesus who was crucified, he is not here.’” (Mt 28: 1ff) Says Eckhart: For God is nowhere….God is not here or there, not in time or place. Jesus and god end up not being where we expect or demand that they be.
And in John’s gospel, Mary’s story retells this. She mistakes Jesus for a gardener. What does the gospel writer mean to tell us with this? Mary does not recognize Jesus. To me, Jesus is telling Mary and us, according to John, to let go of what your own image of Jesus should be. Set Jesus free to be Jesus. Let him be found in a gardener. Let him be found in the stranger on the road to Emmaus. Let him be discovered in the catching of fish. Resurrection resets how we will encounter Christ in our lives.
By letting go of my desire to have my own version of god, I now find my self constantly surprised by the breaking in of the divine thorughout my day. Moments come out of ordinariness which take my breath away. In setting god free, my sense of unity in the divine now has be strengthened. It shouldn’t make sense, but there it is. For me, this is how I would define resurrection; being alive in the wonder of life as it comes to me in every direction and moment. This is the resurrection I celebrate today. What resurrection might you be celebrating this morning?
I’ll end with this Celtic prayer which is also sometimes our dismissal:
Go in peace,
May the Holy God surprise you on your way,
Christ Jesus be your company,
And the Spirit lift up your life.
Amen.
As per my custom, today (like Christmas) is an actual sermon, not a discussion sermon which we would normally have when I’m here. Doing a sermon is a blessing and curse (not just for me, but likely for you as well!). It is a blessing in that I have hopefully put something coherent together of my own thoughts in order to have some sort of teaching moment, but a curse for that same reason. I have come to see that the only thing I can offer, in way of honest teaching, is my own life. It is truly the only thing I know and which I can share. Theological explorations hold little off interest to me these days. Rather, I now understand that each of us is on an unique path. No life journey is the same. It is solitary. At times we are blessed to be woven in with others (like this morning) to create a wonderful and meaningful tapestry, but the journey remains singular. Each of us has an unique worldview, and so our path into understanding our place in the world is different from another’s.
For example, let’s consider a simple three letter word. At surface level, we would probably agree that of course, we all would know what the other is saying/meaning when it’s used. It is only three letters. So when I use the letters G O D, do you know what I mean? Think hard. What images or concepts does that encompass? Endless. Bearded old man holding a thunderbolt to the Higgs Bosun particle. That simple three letter word sends us racing to books to find more words and phrases to explain what it means.
So I am moved to simply share my own story, knowing full well that its images and concepts to you may not mean what I think they mean, but telling my story is the best I can do. Although your own journey is different, perhaps a spark from my torch will help illuminate parts of your path.
Resurrection is real. I have experienced it. I’m not talking about reviving a dead body, which many folks gathering for Easter celebration today have in their minds. Jesus comes back from the grave. For me, Jesus coming back to life is actually a cover story for a bigger truth about resurrection.
St Paul hiints that Christ is meant to “truly arise in us.” Does that mean that Easter is also to be about our own resurrections, not specifically Jesus’?
Thomas Aquinas teaches that there are two resurrections: The first is waking up in this lifetime; If we do this, the second will take care of itself. In other words, the first takes precedence. The first resurrection is about Waking Up. Being asleep is a kind of death from which we need to rise up and resurrect. He cites Paul in Romans: “’As Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also must walk in newness of life’ (Rom. 6:4).
Around this time three years ago, I was preparing to go into the hospital for throat cancer. Much of my preparation was inner work, doing meditation in the hopes of keeping some sort of balance while being hospitalized for two months. During one meditation session, I had a vision of standing on the edge of cliff, holding on to some branches. I sensed these supports were more than mere props, they represented the most important things in my life. Behind me, though, from the emptiness, came a voice, saying, “Let go. I’ll catch you.”
And when I entered treatment, I pondered that vision for a week. And I woke up. It was like jumping out of a plane. Flying, falling, free from everything. The bad news was, I didn’t have a parachute. The good news was, there was no longer any ground underneath me. In my reading of Meister Eckhart, he spoke of a final leave taking in one’s journey, taking leave (letting go) of god. By that he meant letting go of trying to define god (that simple three letter word) and possessing god, and rather live as if (as if…) there were no god in order that god would be set free to be completely god, not my construct of god. And I in turn was free to be me. For me, that was the moment of resurrection. I was alive. This I knew for sure. And this was enough. I was whole.
For me, then, the gospel stories of Holy Week reflect this letting go, this taking leave of our desire to mold god into our image and move into a place where god will not likely do as I expect or demand.
On Good Friday, Jesus on the cross cries out “my god, my god why have you forsaken me?” Are we to imagine that God truly turned away at this point? When has god forsaken any of us? Rather, I think this points to Jesus’ leave taking, letting go of his own concepts of god and feeling the forsakenness that can bring. I think the resurrection for Jesus begins at this moment, when he states,”It is finished.” He is now complete and what we label as the resurrection evidenced in the empty tomb, is rather happening here, on the cross.
And the third day accounts (Easter Sunday) as well exhibit the power of letting go. The image of the empty tomb is just that: emptiness. Nothingness. ‘Whom do you seek?” the angels ask. If you seek Jesus who was crucified, he is not here.’” (Mt 28: 1ff) Says Eckhart: For God is nowhere….God is not here or there, not in time or place. Jesus and god end up not being where we expect or demand that they be.
And in John’s gospel, Mary’s story retells this. She mistakes Jesus for a gardener. What does the gospel writer mean to tell us with this? Mary does not recognize Jesus. To me, Jesus is telling Mary and us, according to John, to let go of what your own image of Jesus should be. Set Jesus free to be Jesus. Let him be found in a gardener. Let him be found in the stranger on the road to Emmaus. Let him be discovered in the catching of fish. Resurrection resets how we will encounter Christ in our lives.
By letting go of my desire to have my own version of god, I now find my self constantly surprised by the breaking in of the divine thorughout my day. Moments come out of ordinariness which take my breath away. In setting god free, my sense of unity in the divine now has be strengthened. It shouldn’t make sense, but there it is. For me, this is how I would define resurrection; being alive in the wonder of life as it comes to me in every direction and moment. This is the resurrection I celebrate today. What resurrection might you be celebrating this morning?
I’ll end with this Celtic prayer which is also sometimes our dismissal:
Go in peace,
May the Holy God surprise you on your way,
Christ Jesus be your company,
And the Spirit lift up your life.
Amen.