Hallelujah Anyway!
Easter Sunday
April 24, 2011 Year A
Let us pray: Holy God, powerful God, surprising God, we rejoice in this day that you have made a day of wonder and celebration, and a day of joy and trust. Make we abound in Easter joy. In Christ. Amen.Easter Sunday
April 24, 2011 Year A
I hope my title doesn't put you off! I realize that it might sound sort of ho-hum, like a grudging acceptance of the fact that it is Easter and so we had better be full of joy and alleluias even if we're not sure that's how we are feeling.
The truth is that that is something of how I was feeling when it was time to come up with a title this week. I was in the midst of preparation for Good Friday, with all the pain and sorrow of that story told again only days after having heard it last Sunday on Palm and Passion Sunday. And yes, this election campaign has got me down just a bit not strictly along partisan lines, but also because I have a feeling that none of the parties are spending a lot of time on the issues that I feel are important, and because they are for the most part telling me why I shouldn't vote for their opponent rather than why I should vote for them. And then if you can get past the election coverage in the news, the stories from Japan continue to be troubling, to say nothing of being reminded this week that it's been a year since the oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico which brings back all the remembered concern from that disaster.
So the title for the reflection was also a reflection of my mood. That phrase, Hallelujah Anyway! had been bouncing around in my thoughts during the week and before you know it, it was in the document that becomes the worship bulletin.
It's not a phrase of my own creation. I believe I first saw it as a tag line at the end of an email message you know the kind of little quip or quote that people often add to their signature, and as much as it may sound like a grudging acceptance of the need to celebrate because it's Easter, I have to say that when I first encountered it I had a much different reaction. I read it as a hopeful intention to make the best of things, that despite how bad things can get, there is still reason to celebrate.
Consider the first Easter. It could not have gotten much worse for the disciples. In the space of a few days, at least as the story goes, all of these things had happened no doubt causing them concern not only about what others had done, but about their own worthiness. Just consider:
- One of them had betrayed Jesus.
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In Jesus' hour of need for companionship and friendship they had all fallen asleep.
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When Jesus was trying to warn them about what was going to happen they had ended up arguing about who would be greatest among them.
- Peter, arguably the closest companion of Jesus, despite protesting that he would never do it, had denied even knowing Jesus not once, but three times.
It's pretty difficult to utter an alleluia when you are surrounded by nothing but pain, sorrow, regret, and disbelief. Three days must have seemed like an eternity, with many more eternities to come.
But something happened to turn it all around. Was it someone remembering the stories from the past the stories of Exodus when their ancestors had endured hardship in the wilderness to escape an even greater hardship the loss of freedom under the oppressive weight of Egypt and its pharaoh? Was it someone who remembered the words of Jeremiah and the hope he had given to the people in the midst of exile? Was it a more recent memory the poignant reminder of Jesus' last meal with them when he had said that whenever they broke bread together and drank wine that they should remember him.
They hadn't eaten much in the past three days. The sorrow and disbelief had taken away their appetite. But we can imagine that eventually one from among them decided to look in the pantry for something to eat, and taking a piece of bread, broke it to place a small piece into his mouth and the memory of that final meal washed over him.
I don't know what to believe about resurrection. There are some who would say that unless you believe in the physical risen Jesus you don't have enough faith. But I think there are enough clues and mysteries in the gospels the only actual stories we have of the events of Easter to spark questions about what exactly happened at Easter. And if we remember that none of the gospels were written right away they were not journals but histories with a purpose and intent about them, to make a point about who and what Jesus was, and they were written a minimum of five decades but more likely between seven and ten decades after the events they describe. A lot of details can get lost in the span of fifty to one hundred years even though they likely draw upon a strong oral tradition of telling and re-telling of the story. The point is that there is much detail that would have been lost in the telling of the story either by those who passed it on by word-of-mouth, or by the gospel writers who decided to put it into writing. But stories for the most part are not about details, they are about timeless themes and important lessons.
I don't know what to believe about resurrection, but I believe in resurrection. How could I believe anything else. We wouldn't be here today without resurrection. A strong case can be made for the fact that the Christian faith would not exist except for the resurrection.
And so whether it was because of some kind of mystical or real encounter in the garden, or because one of the disciples finally figured out that he should have something to eat, or because in trying to find something good and positive in the indescribable tumult surrounding the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem along with his arrest, trial and execution, someone hearkened back to what Jesus had said to them not only in those poignant and solemn events of the week, but in the weeks and years preceding that time, and it started to take hold. I expect there were a few aha! moments. We heard about one this morning in the reading from Acts. This was a much later aha moment, but an important example of how vision and perspective can change in short order. Peter had a dream which completely opened up his vision about who the message was for.
It could have been a simple decision by someone or a whole bunch of someones to say alleluia anyway. Jesus is gone, but let's start thinking about all the things he showed and told us about what it means to live in God's way. It's a normal reaction an expected response in the face of loss brought on by the death of a loved one. How many times have I heard people tell me that a loved one who died has come back into the room with them. How often have they said that their partner, parent, or friend was there with them.
If there's one characteristic that defines the Christian faith it is hope. It's the characteristic that says even in the midst of all the bad stuff that is happening, even in the throes of the worst that we can experience: Hallelujah anyway! That's what resurrection is, it's a declaration of: Hallelujah anyway! It's God's word in the words of Jeremiah speaking to a people bound up in the captivity of exile: "Watch them come! They'll come weeping for joy as I take their hands and lead them, Lead them to fresh flowing brooks, lead them along smooth, uncluttered paths. It's God's word as Peter fairly exploded with his good news: "It's God's own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favourites!
Hallelujah any way and hallelujah every way. Hallelujah in the face of injustice, hallelujah in the face of hatred. Hallelujah in the midst of sorrow. Hallelujah in the throes of grief. Hallelujah in the streets. Hallelujah in the markets. Hallelujah at the ballot box. Hallelujah that says there's a better way. Hallelujah with the work of our hands and feet. Hallelujah as we offer help with hands and feet and money in recovery from natural disaster. Hallelujah that says openness. Hallelujah that says we welcome you no matter who you are. Hallelujah for peace. Hallelujah anyway. Hallelujah every day. He is risen, hallelujah. Live it. Love it. Amen.