Church of the Holy City

Like Nonsense

Like Nonsense
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
Easter Sunday
April 12, 2009

Luke 24:1-11 John 20:1-31

The women ran from the tomb of Jesus, all excited, to where the Apostles were. They told the Apostles what the angels said about Jesus’ resurrection. But the Apostles did not believe them. Their words sounded like nonsense. When Thomas heard that some of the Apostles actually saw the risen Christ, he didn’t believe it. He said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it” (John 20:25).
Jesus’ resurrection can sound like nonsense. There is a scholarly committee that is studying the New Testament. Their mission is to try to find out what Jesus really said in the Gospels, and what was added by the church. A friend of mine talked with one of these scholars. The scholar told my friend that the stories about the resurrection were late additions to the Gospel stories. He said that he didn’t believe in the resurrection. I suppose it sounded like nonsense to him.
How many people today are like Thomas! How many today will not believe in the resurrection unless Jesus appears to them, and they can put their fingers in the nail wounds and in Jesus’ side. The claim that Jesus rose from the dead, body and soul, is quite a claim. But you know, for some reason, it isn’t hard for me to believe it. Jesus told Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). That’s where we are today. And that’s where Christians were ever since the passing on of the Apostles.
In the resurrection, the infinite God of Creation merged completely with the human Jesus so that they became one person. God became fully man and man became fully God. This indeed can sound like nonsense.
But what if it were true? What would that mean to us if it were true? If this were true, then a whole new aspect of God in relationship to the world and to us in the world, would have occurred. The resurrection means that God has a material form that is united with His divine spiritual origins. It means that there is a seamless connection between God and the material world. It means that God can become present to us in this material world in whatever stage of spiritual development we are. God can come near to us in His risen material body and reach our hearts through His own Divine Humanity. It means we do not walk this world alone, but God can always be with us. To me, this is a doctrine I eagerly embrace. To me this is a comforting doctrine. And it is also a fantastic idea to ponder.
The power of Jesus’ presence on the earth and the power of his teachings transformed Western Civilization. We can forget that for the first three hundred years after Christ it was against the law to worship Jesus. The Christian martyrs suffered horrible deaths simply because they worshipped Jesus Christ. And yet, even in the threat of such a punishment, Christianity spread like wildfire. All around the early Christians there were statues and shrines and temples devoted to the gods of Classical Rome. The Roman gods had physical reminders all over the Mediterranean world. Yet the criminal Christians held fast to the words of Jesus Christ, whom they could not see nor touch as Thomas did. That historical fact sounds a bit like nonsense to me. But it’s true. What was it about Christianity that was so appealing? So appealing that Christians were willing to face criminal punishment to worship?
I think that one answer to this question is in Jesus’ message of love. It is a message still vital in this world today. Jesus’ message of love. As materialistic as this world can get, I think we still carry the belief that love is the way we are meant to live. I went to a Lester Quitzau concert a few weeks ago. And as with a previous concert, I left feeling better than when I arrived. At this concert, the power of Lester’s personality transformed the venue. I felt overtaken by a gentle power of love. He turned the club into a church of sorts, as the spirit he poured out was poured back from the crowd. Lester doesn’t strike me as someone who is religious in the traditional sense. Yet he lives a life of love. This comes through in his songs. In one of his songs, the lyrics go, “One thing I know for sure, loving one another is the only cure.” In another, he sings, “There’s a light that shines, it shines so true. It’s the same light in me, in you. Like a smile, or the touch of hearts, it’s the light of love holds us up through. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” And it seemed to me that Lester’s message of love touched the hearts of everyone in the house. This sick and ailing society still values Christ’s message of love. We hunger for words of love. There’s an inner conviction that we are meant to live a life of love. That is why, it seems to me, that is why Christianity flourished under the most direful conditions.
There is much in the world today that begs for transformation in love. The new technology created to advance society is in danger of becoming a sacred cow. Material toys are chased after with an insatiable greed. Cars, advanced video equipment, iPods, computer games, GPS’s, Blue Ray disks—the list goes on. We are a society that craves material possessions as the measure of self worth, and as the measure of how we judge others. We are still much in need of Jesus’ message of love. The media flood us with images of shooting, explosions, and violence. Computer games that the young play are too often games of killing. We see the callous indifference of the wealthy toward the working poor who are just trying to make ends meet. The fracture between the Muslim world and the Western world begs to be transformed by Jesus’ message of love. I heard an interview on TV with one of the world leaders. He came to the realization that war will not solve the problems in the Middle East. He spoke of opening diplomatic channels with moderate groups in the Taliban. We are sick with war. As in so many areas in this sick society, it seems that here, too, “loving one another is the only cure.” Yes, there is still a great need today for the transforming power of love.
Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection are both a testimony to the power of love. Even on the cross, Christ’s words were words of forgiveness. And in His resurrection, He showed that love cannot be stopped. Jesus rose in the spring, when all of nature bursts forth with new life. And the joy we all feel in the spring can be redoubled when we think of the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection. It is as if all of nature celebrates the risen Christ. And the joy of spring and the resurrection is a call to each of us who call ourselves Christians. Are we a messenger of love? Do we fill our world with love? Does our light shine?
The resurrection means that the God of love is alive. Jesus is alive now. But it also means that Jesus is alive in our hearts. The resurrection is a call to us all. Is Jesus alive in us, too? Is Jesus’ message of forgiveness and love alive in our hearts? Is the joy of springtime, and Easter in us? Do we bring Easter, and springtime, and joy to the world we touch? Because if the resurrection is not in us, then Jesus’ life was to no avail. Jesus came to show us the way of love. And He calls us to follow Him in the way of love.
The message of love was powerful enough to cause Christians to risk their very lives to worship the Source of love. And in this world we live in, the message of love is still dearly needed. Some call this society a “Post Christian Society.” They point to the diminished role of the church in people’s lives. They point to falling numbers in churches across denominational lines. While these statistics are true, I still have faith in the power of love. Capitol punishment didn’t deter Christians from responding to Jesus’ call to love. And materialism, violence in the media, fractured relations with the Middle East, and all the other ills of this society will not stop the power of love today. If the church’s role in society is dwindling, then I have faith that from some new voice Jesus’ message of love will be proclaimed. And wherever it comes from, I believe that humanity will respond to it today, as it did 2,000 years ago. On this Easter Sunday, let us all rejoice in the growing warmth of spring and in the conviction that love will not be silenced. That is what the resurrection means to me. And it is not nonsense.