Living the Easter Faith

Sermon by Rev. Joe LaDu

Scripture: Acts 5:27-32, Revelation 1:4-8, John 20: 19-31

Steven Sondheim wrote a musical play entitled, “Into the Woods”. It's a musical in two acts. In the first act it re-tells the children’s stories of "Jack and the Bean Stock", "Little

Red Riding Hood", “The Baker’s Wife”, and a few others that I can’t remember. (For those of you who remember Paul Harvey, the second act tells “rest of the story,” the consequences of the stories.

In the second act the audience gets to see what happened after Jack killed the giant and cut down the bean stock, and after the woodsmen killed the wolf. As it turned out the giant's wife wasn't at all happy about the assassination of her husband, the destruction of her home, nor the theft of her goose who laid golden eggs.

The first time I saw this musical a strange thing took place in the audience. Some folks, upon seeing the re-enactment of familiar stories in the first act, decided the play had ended and they did not come back to their seats for the second act.

They thought they had seen the whole play in one act, and that it was over.

Today, this Sunday after Easter, I am reminded of that. You have returned to your seats, either here in person, or in front of your computer or TV, from last Sunday -- but many people have not returned today to retake their seats for worship.

Many people are not in worship today because they think they got the whole Easter story last Sunday. Too bad, because they are missing act two, the consequences.

It reminds me of my complaint about how Handel's Messiah is too often performed, it concludes with the singing of the "Halleluia Chorus" which is only the ending of part two, but not the ending of the Messiah which comes with "Worthy Is the Lamb" and the "Amen" at part three. Handel did not end The Messiah with the Resurrection because he understood clearly that the Resurrection is only important as it leads to consequences for us, it affects our lives. So today we look at what it means for us to be Easter people, and the living of the Easter faith.

Today's gospel lesson from John is important because it tells us that we are who we are because of Easter, that is to say, we are the Church because of Easter. The church did not create Easter -- Easter created the church. The disciples did not sit around wishing that the Christ might return and therefore imagine his return, as some psychologists like to explain. Rather, the Christ returned, transforming this fearful, confused, fragmented group of followers into committed disciples.

The church is that new family, that odd gathering that is formed by the return of Christ. The evidence for the resurrection is that we are here in worship today.

In the Book of Genesis we are told that we are here on this earth as living souls because God breathed life into us, the act of Creation. Well, today we hear the story of the New Creation. The risen Christ came and breathed upon the disciples. Jesus is making a new creation, just like the Spirit of God breathed into the world in the first Creation

The church is Christ's miraculous new creation. We are here because Christ has breathed on us. He has created us out of nothing.  You are not here because you all like each other, or because you are all the same age or interests. You are not here because you are all so easy to get along with or understand faith in the same ways. It is only because of God that the church lives. There is no reason for you to be here other than the creative breath of Christ.

It’s not unusual at this time of year to read or hear about people who want proof of the resurrection.  You can’t believe something that stupendous without some sort of proof.  Years ago I heard a Conference Minister from Montana tell this story. He said he was speaking to a group of well-educated and learned church people about the resurrection and someone asked him, "What proof do we have of the resurrection?"

He said that just prior to this discussion he had had lunch with the pastor of a struggling congregation in Eastern Montana. So he said in answer to the question:

"Proof? The only proof I have at the moment is that next Sunday, out in a remote area of the eastern part of this state, a young pastor will stand up and preach to about 30 Montana ranch people. He will do so, despite the fact that his church is not growing, despite the fact that no one will thank him after the service, despite the fact that he receives a pitifully small salary for it and very little affirmation from his mostly passive congregation. He, his sermon, and the thirty struggling ranchers are the only 'proof' I need."

You see, Easter is a group thing, it's not just an individual thing. This is why in the Easter stories of the gospels they all speak of Jesus returning to his disciples, being with them, gathering them together, forming then into a new community. Christianity is not solely about my relationship with Christ so much contemporary Christian music only portrays an individual's relationship with Christ. Christians are formed into the church by the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit! The church itself is our greatest argument for what happened at Easter.

You need something to explain the existence of the church.

In order to get from those twelve disheartened, despondent disciples who clustered (at a distance!) around the cross on Good Friday to the courageous, publicly witnessing fiery group of disciples who formed the church after Easter, as depicted in our reading this morning from Acts, you have to have an explanation beyond, "they just thought it up!"

And how else might we explain the Book of Revelation, written to the Christian church in the Roman Empire at the time of heavy persecution and martyrdom? It was a book written to people who were suffering the loss of life, and the lives of loved ones, explaining how their God was the real ruler of creation and would work the final vindication of Easter over everything.

Four hundred years later there was no more Roman Empire, but there was the Christian Church. Something happened and this is the proof of Easter. 

You are an Easter people who believe that there is a second act to the resurrection and you are part of that action!

God's resurrection power is at work in you.