[Propertalk] Easter 2009

[Robert P Morrison]

This has been edited/written in esponse to a phone call from a friend who spent time this evening talking about questions.

May you have a wonderful meeting with Jesus, in Easter and the "Second Easter" ; - )

Peace!

Bob

THE EPISCOPAL PARISH OF ST. JAMES, LINCOLN CITY      THE DAY OF THE RESURRECTION: EASTER  DAY 
ACTS 10:34-43                             YEAR B RCL
1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-11	          12th APRIL, 2009
JOHN 20:1-18     	          PSALM 118:1-2, 14-24

	Questions - that’s what we’re here about. And maybe a few answers also. But even if the answers seem slow in coming, it’s good to acknowledge that it’s OK if the questions keep piling up. Sooner or later, they’re going to be answered somehow, somewhere.
	For instance, is it really true, as I read somewhere a while ago, that God is British? I know a few people who’ll be mighty disappointed with the answer to that because, as George Bernard Shaw remarked, “We don’t bother much about dress and manners in England, because as a nation we don’t dress well and we’ve no manners.” 1
	Or what about all those people who’re obsessing over the new First Dog - which is, apparently, a Portuguese Water Dog by the name of Bo.
	Frankly, though, I’m more interested in the meaning of life! How do we get a handle on that?
	Well, maybe it’s my Britishness coming out, but there’s nothing like a good cup of tea to soothe people’s concerns. There’s something about it that seems to suggest that folk slow down a bit - savour the aroma, and so on. Often it provides also a time when people can engage in open and enquiring conversation. You know, ask questions about what’s going on and how to respond to the latest activity in folks’ lives. If only the disciples had had a good tea merchant handy!
	And that’s where this homily began; with a pot of tea.
	You know those brands of tea that put a little message on the tag of the bag? Sometimes they’re hardly worth a second glance. So usually I barely look at them. That was my attitude one day last week. Until my eyes caught it a second time. It was listed as a Chinese proverb. “To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.”
	It’s so simple that it makes sense; so simple that we may feel disinclined to bother with it. Yet Jesus Himself thanked God for hiding things from the wise and revealing them to the simple - the ones willing to take a second look; the ones willing to accept guidance from peculiar sources; the ones able to see the wisdom contained in tea bags, if not actual tea leaves!
	Ask those coming back if you want to know what lies ahead. They’ve already been down that road, at least partially. That’s the wonderful advantage of not being a trail-blazer. You have the benefit of past experience. Ask any climber and you’ll hear about being able to walk in the footsteps of the person in front, or hold on to the rope that someone else has anchored to the rock face. Even if that person is no longer in front of you, but has returned to do some other job, you and I can benefit from what the pioneers can share about their experiences and recommendations. This is assuming that you can trust that particular person.
 	There ARE some pioneers who’re foolhardy, or self-centred, hardly the sort of person on whom you’d want to stake your life. Then some people are simply uninterested in sharing knowledge or experience, never mind compassion. The trick for us lies in discovering who’re the good and who’re the bad role models.
	That’s why it’s so important for people being able to find those whom they can trust, so they can feel free to talk about their problems, the things that worry them, in their own lives and those of others. Society isn’t always reliable in this regard. Whether it’s a neighbour thing or an issue involving something half way across the country or around the world, there are many who have no “community”, they have no sense of “belonging” because of a lack of trust. Therefore it can be too scary to admit what’s going on in one’s life.
	When you and I DO find someone on whom we know we can depend, though, that makes ALL the difference in the world. Then we can speak while we struggle to make sense of something, or cope with difficulties. We can speak, even if we haven’t fully worked out our thoughts - we can “speak our mind”, because we know that we’ll be taken seriously; that we won’t be ridiculed or dismissed, no matter how foolish or strange we may think we sound, or how poorly phrased our questions. And, perhaps one of the greatest benefits is that the other person or group will begin to think out loud and to work on resolving questions with us. THAT’S what happens when one can trust someone without reserve. This wonderful bonding, this feeling of communion, may come when we sit around drinking that cup of tea, or it may happen when we’re far out to sea in the face of a gale and mountainous seas. It can even happen in Church!
	No matter where it happens, then, it’s something that’s essential for every human being. Of course, SOMEone has to be first. But even Sarah and Abraham followed across the Fertile Crescent route that had been established by countless generations of traders. SURELY they talked to those who’d traded along that route before
	I wonder what those mentioned in today’s Gospel passage talked about. Mary, as she led Simon Peter and John back to the open tomb from which she’d just come, filled with questions. I wonder what she felt when the two men left her alone with her fears and discomfort, without anyone to whom she could unburden herself.
	She must have become so confused and withdrawn that she couldn’t perceive who it was who came to talk to her. She certainly wasn’t thinking resurrection. No one had been THAT road before, so she couldn’t ask about it - until Jesus spoke her name. THAT was when things started to fall into place for here. It was the way in which Jesus addressed her personally. It was the way in which using her name made it seem as if everything about her was important. It was as if Jesus could see right to the heart of her problems and aches. It was a sign not just that Jesus was alive, but suddenly that she too had been made fully alive. This meeting, this almost imperceptible conversation brought about a new creation that touched every fibre of her being and gave enlightenment to everything in her life. All of a sudden, both Mary and the surrounding garden were vested in a sense of wholeness and holiness. 2
	It must have been marvellous! She must have been an incredible woman. Possibly it was Jesus’ previous act of casting out from her whatever had been possessing her and draining her of her energy, and her intellect and her ability to function faithfully in society that began the work of preparation to see and recognize Jesus after His death and resurrection. Whatever it was, Jesus wasn’t the only Person transformed by and after His crucifixion. Mary was transformed too!
	That, and the way Mary behaved, is what gives me and you a good view down the road.
	There are times when I wonder what to say to people. I wonder what they want to hear - what they expect to hear - and what they NEED to hear - in Jesus’ Name. But then I think of this episode with Mary, and I find, for myself at any rate, that what I need to do is to look within at the experiences I’ve had, what’s happened in my life and who’s been a part of it. Then I look outwards, at what’s around - the people, the animals, the rest of creation, the traffic - even the tea bags! I learn to look at the unexpected as well as the expected; at the supposedly uninteresting; those whom some might label “unworthy” of attention; the ignored; the despised; the hurt themselves. Of course, I look at people and places where I might expect to find Jesus; but often also at the last people of places where I might expect to find much of anything, never mind Jesus with His words of transformation.
	Sometimes you and I are the ones starting out on a journey, needing to meet someone like Mary, someone who can come back, after her first shock, and say, “I’ve found the meaning of life!”
	Then there are these times when, wittingly or willingly or not, we become the Marys of the world, pointing to the way to others, if not actually walking the way with them.
	For some reason this put me to thinking about some of the difficult feelings we have, about institutions, and groups, and individuals which we don’t understand, or trust; and about why things happen. I wondered, for instance, about everybody’s favourite whipping boys right now, A.I.G executives. What of them? Who are they, and where are they, on the Easter/Resurrection trail? 
	Answering myself, I’d say they’re both the ones looking for the way, like Peter, John and the others, AND the ones like Mary who’re pointing the way.
	These executives, like many others, must be incredibly empty, SO lonely that they have to surround themselves with more and more multi-thousand square foot houses, and boats, and cars. Possibly they even have to buy their friends, in one way or another, cultivating them and currying their favour, so afraid are they of losing control, of losing themselves. 
	And in their hearts, they may be like the rest of us. They may be desperately in need of someone to show them the REAL, the SATISFYING, the FULFILLING road ahead. It’s probably a matter of knowing about the road, where it leads, for what to watch out, for what to listen. You, and I, and the AIG executives, we’re all offered this tremendous hope. God speaks personally. God knows our name, and works to find ways to ensure that we know that we’re known.
	THAT’S what Mary knew, deep down. But she needed to discover that her experience of Jesus had not been brought to a tragic end on the cross. This is the road down which Mary had walked, and Jesus’ name-calling not only gave her hope, but set her in the life tour-guide business, with no less than Peter and John as her first clients.
	The editor of the Church newspaper, Episcopal Life, put this succinctly. 	“The Easter journey of faith from darkness and death to salvation and Resurrection, gives balm to the soul. It reminds us of the promise of new life and hope, despite our current hardships. Easter says that sin is not eternal; that even death has no power. At a very human level, it tells us that change is possible in our own lives and spirits when we may be walking down a destructive path. Christians are a resurrection people.” 3
	Mary knew all about this change - she went from forlorn, lonely and confused, which may have led her into depression, for all her other gifts. But it was the way that Jesus used name-calling that brought her to certainty, and assurance, that made her what the early Christians called “the apostle to the apostles”, the “first apostle”.
	There are times when this can be disconcerting, though. She heard her name; she looked up; she saw Jesus; and off she went to convince the others. For me, for you, for most in the world, it takes longer. Sometimes the struggle goes on for years before we catch even a portion of the certainty she had. So here it’s good to remember the enormous struggle that people such as Mother Teresa endured - outwardly calm and filled with faith, while inwardly wrestling with all sorts of questions. And that’s the key for life, I think. Jesus’ appearance in the garden; Mary’s acceptance; the slow growth in belief of the disciples - none of that brings an end to questions. In fact, it simply opens up more and more, to the point that we can enjoy debating, whether with ourselves, with our friends - or with God. 
	You know the old saying, “God said it; I believe it; that settles it.” For me the far greater point is that Jesus has such incredible love for me that He’s forever putting little signs of that love in my road, and then He waits patiently for me to pick up on them. He stands or sits beside, sometimes even saying my name, until I begin to pay attention.
	The Good News is that Jesus IS still here to speak. God’s power makes sure of that. Further, the Good News is that Jesus has caught the attention of some who’re willing to talk to the likes of me. These are the people who’ve walked the road ahead of me, and are now willing and able to talk about their experiences so that I can learn to keep on the road. And this Easter message all began with Mary Magdalene and Jesus.
	The questions, thank God, didn’t stop at the Garden gate, and some of the answers have started to come in already. And death and evil HAVE been put into their proper perspective.
	So, if I’m ever given the choice - you know, like one of those contests - not that I’m likely to be in the Miss America one - one of those moments at which you’re asked to choose with whom you’d most like to sit down to talk, I’m pretty sure I’d say, “Mary Magdalene”. She’s been down that road of trials and troubles. She’s had her questions and her doubts. But, wow, was she sharp and sensitive. She was a good listener. But, even better than that, she could talk to me about this road down which I’m travelling, AND she knows Jesus personally, so she could introduce me without any trouble. Yes, it would be Mary Magdalene - as long as I could get a good cup of tea.

NOTES:
1	“You Never Can Tell”, Act 1 by George Bernard Shaw.
2	I’m indebted to Ann Fontaine for her thoughts on this. See her blog http://seashellseller.blogspot.com
3	“Resurrecting Easter” by Solange De Santis. EpiscopalLife, April 2009. Page 4.
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Robert P. Morrison
The Episcopal Parish of St James,
PO Box 789
Lincoln City, Oregon, 97367

541-994-2426 (Church)