April 16, 2017 EasterStill On the Premises
Jeremiah 31:1-6Matthew 28:1-10
SermonI.
I’ve read all the Gospel accounts… more than once! It seems that nobody expected Easter. Those who went to the empty tomb that early morning were shocked… surprised… unprepared for what encountered them at the cemetery. I imagine we would be confused and astounded, also.
But we have had hints long before that first Easter morning that God was in the business of Life, not Death. There is a long, long history of God’s life-giving intrusions; moments again and again when God came to us and wrestled Life from the grips of Death. We shouldn’t be completely surprised by Easter. But you know, we have lived with Death so long that we can’t always believe in Life.Think about it: The whole saving history of God’s dealing with us is a story of the steady overcomingof Death’s dominion. The resurrection of Christ is the final blow, not the opening shot, of God’s ultimate victory over Death.
Thewomen who peered into the dark tomb on Easter morning were shocked, and I’ll tell you why. There is something about us… despite centuries of Death’s death and God’s assault on Death… there is something about us that still finds comfort in the reliable darkness of a tomb and the friendly confines of predictability, habit, and deadly routine. There is something deep in us that loves to snuggle under the covers of a cold night, gleefully slipping into narcosis; something that recoils at being awakened by the morning, shocked once again by the arrival of a new day, by the fact that Life has resumed and we are yet alive. There is something in us that has made its peace with Death and our duties, our well-shouldered drudgeries, and limits, and rules, and habits.
Finitude fits us like a glove.
Maybe this is why we’ve gotten so good at obscuring Death in our culture. It’s easier to adapt and adjust that way. It’s easier to ignore and avoidDeath’s control over us and our everyday existence.
But when Death slaps us in the face, when Death takes a loved one of ours, it’s hard to ignore it. How many times have we gathered here in this sanctuary, or in another church, or a funeral home, or at a graveside to face Death head on? How many times have flags hung at half-mast to signify the death of a civil servant, political leader,a soldier or a hero?
It’s hard to ignore Death’s reality then.
But we don’t have to cower and be conquered by it. We are the ones who dare to sing defiantly and raucously. We are the ones who dare the faith expressed in the song we used today for a Call to Worship, Natalie Sleeth’s song prompted by the death of her husband, Ronald: “The Hymn of Promise.”
In the bulb there is a flower, in the seed, an apple tree;
in cocoons a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
In our end is our beginning, in our time, infinity;
in our doubt there is believing, in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
Brothers and Sisters, we can sing this song because we believe that God is still on the premises! And when we sing Death slinks away, its great victory party ruined by a song that refuses to give into its dark power.
II.
How many times, in the great Biblical story of God’s dealings with us, has God broken in with Life?
The second book of the Bible, Exodus, says: “There arose a Pharaoh in Egypt who did not know Joseph.” Remember? That Pharaoh made slaves of the Hebrews, placed on their backs tremendous burdens, killed their baby boys. The work was grueling and hard, but hey, at least we got three meals a day. Pharaoh’s slavery is not so bad once you learn to adjust to it. The bent back eventually grows calloused to the sting of the master’s whip. Adapt. Adjust. Get used to it.
But God was still on the premises.
To Moses who was minding his own business, a bush burst into flame and yet was not consumed. A voice spoke. “I’ve heard the cry of my people. I’m going to free them, going to go head-to-head with Pharaoh. And guess who’s going to help me?”Moses stammered…but,
God was still on the premises.
Israel, once freed from Pharaoh, was not free for long. From the north came chariots, war horses, and the iron spears of the Assyrians. Cities were burned and pillaged. Whole tribes of Hebrews were carted off into exile. Death. Deportation. Defeat.
Ah…but,
God was still on the premises.
A sharp tongued prophet named Jeremiah promised return to the beleaguered exiles in Assyria. Just listen to his prophetic words recorded in Jeremiah 31:1-6…
Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:1-6
In his consoling speech, the prophet pointed the way to a great homecoming party. This passage of scripture, spoken to miserable exiles,talks of “dancing with joy,” something that would rival anything we might see at a Roseburg High School homecoming!
Now, tyrants – Assyrian or any other – get nervous when talk of freedom begins to stir. They call out the National Guard whenever people on the bottom, down in the ghetto, start making noise, begin to make music, pull out tambourines and dance. Death threatens, always threatens – but the people of God,they dance and sing with joy.They would never have had the guts to dance if
God were not on the premises!
In a little town in Judea in first century Palestine, Roman troops are on every corner. Jews are being registered, enrolled in order to be taxed, oppressed, and suppressed. The greatest, most powerful army in the known world acts in service to the emperor. What can anybody do? Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans... it’s all the same. Every mighty empire takes a turn.
You just adjust. Adapt. Keep your head down. Say your prayers. Get used to it.
But…
Down in the ghetto in a stable out back a young woman begins to sing. Her voice is soft, but the song is powerful. “My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior,” she sings, “for God has scattered the proud, God has put down the mighty from their thrones.”
Mary, why do you clinch your fist and sing?
“Well,” she replies, “I’m going to have a baby!” And…
God is still on the premises!
The crucifixion of Mary’s firstborn son, Jesus of Nazareth, on that Good Friday took no one by surprise. Not really. Not if you know anything about the facts of Death and the way the religio-politico-economic establishment works, then you know Jesus was doomed from the start. The way he disregarded social convention. Constantly talking about God’s kingdom. Eating with tax-collectors. Socializing with whores. Reaching out to the wretched. And the names he called the respectable clergy! My, oh my.
No, the bloody business on Golgotha comes as no surprise. You can’t fight City Hall. Caesar has all the troops. Even the crowd turned against us. The one who came inviting us to Life is now nailed to the Cross… Death’s spoils of battle.
We walk away from the scene with our heads hanging low. “It was a good campaign while it lasted,” we said, “but we didn’t get him elected Messiah.” We told the women, “You go on out to the cemetery and take these flowers, show our last respects to Jesus. We’ll come later when it’s day light.”
So the women went out to the place of Death… peered into the tomb… and...
Scripture Reading: Matthew 28:1-10
Surprise!
God is still on the premises!
On the way back from the cemetery, Jesus meets them and says “Greetings!” The graveyard flowers they’re holding look silly and they fall down and worship because...
God is still on the premises!
The women’s joyful shout…we’ve heard it before. Remember?
That day when Pharaoh’s chariots floundered and the sea overwhelmed them.
That day when there was a great homecoming of the exiles as promised by Jeremiah.
That day when Mary sang her war-chant lullaby.
Yes. We’ve heard the shout before.
Greetings! God is still on the premises!
III.
Will we ever get used to Death’s defeat and the incursions of God? Will we ever accept the whole history of God’s life-giving intrusions among us, defeating Death’s dominion? Easter is everywhere. Easter is pervasive.
Will we ever get used to Easter?
God is still on the premises. That’s Easter, a story begun long before the Easter event actually happened, and it’s a story that is not done with usyet.
God is still on the premises.
The Rev. William Willimon tells of being in East Germany many years ago when some knowledgeable, university professor-type friends declared to him. “The wall around Berlin will never come down, not in our lifetime. Period. Fact. It’s political reality.
But just two weeks later....
That’s right! God is still on the premises. The wall is history!
The man was an alcoholic. People told him, “Once a drunk, always a drunk. It’s like a disease, you know, something genetic, in your family… something in the blood, fixed.” This woman he knew at work slipped him a note one morning. “I know what you’re going through,” the note said. “I’ve been there myself. I can show you a way out if you’re ready to be free.” He wanted to be free and he accepted her invitation to attend a meeting. Most people said the AA group was his salvation. He knew otherwise. He was given Life because God is still on the premises.
The woman had cancer. Terminal, they said. Untreatable. Nothing to be done, they agreed. She said, “I’ll live with it, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to die of it.” Some called it grit. She said it was because, even in her illness, she knew that God was still on the premises.
Spin these scenarios any number of ways. It’s theprimary narrative of our times. Talk about dead ends and uncertain futures. Talk about inevitability, forces of nature, predictable patterns of human behavior, the way things are and always will be.
Ultimately it comes down to who we are going to put our faith in. There’s a world out there that says adapt, adjust, stuff like this happens. Walls go up. Addictions grab people. Cancer strikes. Greed is irresistible. Tyrants grab power. People die, sometimes young, sometimes tragically. Just grow up, adjust to reality, this is the way the world is. Death always has the final word.
But then, a congregation just like thisone gathers on a day just like today and worships. And we dare to open our worship singing a song.
Christ the Lord is risen today,Alleluia!
Earth and Heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where’s thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!
King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!
How can we sing a song like that in a world like ours?Because as Easter people we believe... what????
That’s right, God is still on the premises!