Christ is Risen! Now what?

Photo by Jens Lelie on Unsplash

John 20: 19-23

Roger Lynn

April 19, 2020

First Sunday after Easter

(the audio for this sermon is unavailable this week)
(CLICK HERE for the video for this sermon)
(CLICK HERE to view the entire service)

Last Sunday we celebrated the Resurrection and proclaimed, “Christ has risen! Christ has risen indeed!” Our worship time was a remarkably uplifting experience. I spent the rest of the day on something of a blissed out ecstatic high. My heart was open, and love and beauty came pouring in. I felt powerfully connected to the Sacred Source of Life. 

Such experiences are important, and can provide a valuable boost to our spiritual lives. And, mountaintop experiences are not the ultimate goal of faith. They offer us a fresh new perspective and they can re-energize our weary souls, but ultimately we must come down from the mountaintop and practice faithful living where we live.

On Easter we shouted, “Christ has risen!” Today we need to ask, “Now what?” Now  that we have had a taste of God’s gift of new life, what comes next? What are we called to do? Who are we called to be? Who are we called to become? These are always important questions to ponder and explore. And right now I believe it is more important than ever to actively consider where we go from here. 

In John’s Gospel we hear the story about Jesus appearing to the disciples after his Resurrection. He comes to them as they are hiding behind closed doors out of fear. He offers them the gift of peace, and he challenges them to stop hiding and get to work transforming the world. He sends them out to release people from their own sins (fears). And Christ comes to us, right here and right now, offering us the same peace, calling us to step up to the same challenges, and sending us out to the same work.

The Covid-19 crisis has been unsettling and painful and tragic in many ways. But in the midst of darkness there is a gift just waiting to be unwrapped. When so much of “normal” life has been put on pause, this time of global shutdown offers us the opportunity to slow down and breathe. And it gives us the chance to look at our lives and our world in a fresh new way. Many wonderful examples of creativity and beauty and compassion and collective caring have come shining forth in recent days. And at the same time we are also beginning to catch at least glimpses of what doesn’t work in this life we have been living. In this moment, as the whole world seems to be hanging in the balance between what was and what will be, we can decide what comes next. Will we simply return to the “normal” that we know so well? Or will we take this opportunity to make conscious and deliberate choices to begin doing things differently? Singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg once wrote a song about a horse in training for the Kentucky Derby. There are some lines in that song which I believe can speak to us in this moment.

And it’s run for the roses

As fast as you can

Your fate is delivered

Your moment’s at hand

It's the chance of a lifetime

In a lifetime of chance

And it’s high time you joined

In the dance

(from “Run for the Roses” by Dan Fogelberg)

(click here to watch the video of this song)

We can take this opportunity, this chance of a lifetime, and choose to join together in the great dance of life in wonderful, powerful, creative, exciting, transformative ways which will impact not only our own personal lives, but the entire planet. Christ is Risen! Now what?

On a personal level, we have learned much over the course of these past few weeks about what is and is not important in terms of giving life meaning and purpose and joy and a sense of wholeness. We have learned that it is possible to consume less. A joke floating around Facebook is that many of us are getting about three weeks to the gallon in our cars right now. Many of us have learned to be creative with our cooking. Ask me about my grilled dill Havarti cheese with sliced roast beef and green chile mustard on Dave’s Killer Bread sandwich. We have learned that slowing down has advantages. Busier is not always better. We have learned not to take our health or our health care for granted. We have learned that we are all in this together. My actions have an impact on others, and vice versa. We have learned that we all have a part to play in keeping everyone safe. We live in a completely interconnected and interrelated world. And for many of us, we have learned how important simple human contact is for our well-being. If you live alone, how long has it been since you’ve been touched by another human being? So many lessons. And we now have the opportunity to choose which of these lessons we want to carry with us into the brave new world we will be creating, and which of the patterns and practices from the old “normal” way of living do we want to let go of. The time to begin making such choices is now, before the shelter in place orders are lifted and life simply returns to “normal.” Christ is Risen! Now what?

The same sort of process can also apply to our collective life together, at all levels – local, regional, national, global. We have learned that artists make a valuable contribution to our lives. We have learned that folks in low-wage jobs are making an essential contribution to keeping us alive. We have learned that much about our current health care system is broken at a fundamental level. We have learned that our economic system is extremely fragile. We have learned that the most marginal and vulnerable people among us are often the least protected and the most likely to experience devastating harm. We have learned that things seem to work best when we recognize we are all in this together, with each of us contributing to the well-being of all. We have learned that the health of the planet can improve in a very short amount of time if we give it a chance. So much that we have learned. And now we have the opportunity to take advantage of this moment to repent (which literally means to change course and move in a different direction). We can choose which of these lessons are worth carrying with us into the new day which is dawning, and what parts of the old “normal” are best left behind us. We can decide to come together and help to shape the future in new and exciting ways which will better serve all of God’s people and all of God’s creation. It will require courage, and creativity, and compassion, and commitment. It will require all of us, and it will require God’s help. And the time for such decisions and such action begins now, before the old “normal” has a chance to re-assert itself. What do we want to keep, and what do we want to let go of? Christ is Risen! Now what?

There are those who will say that all of this smacks of faith becoming political. To which I would say – of course that’s what it is. Truly faithful living is inherently political, if by political you mean, as Merriam-Webster defines it, “the total complex of relations between people living in society.” Faith need not be, and indeed should not be, partisan. But when we take faith seriously in our lives it will always lead us to become political, in the sense of being aware of how the choices we make and the actions we take will impact not only our lives but also the lives of those with whom we share life on this planet, and indeed, the life of the planet itself. Jesus told his followers, “This is my commandment, that you love one another.” And in this moment I believe we have a once in a life time opportunity to begin making choices and taking actions that will dramatically transform life as we know and experience it. There are a great many ways in which the old “normal” was not working for a great many people. What does it mean, at a core, fundamental level, to love one another? How can we come together and begin to change the world for the better? Christ is Risen! Now what?

I do not have the answers. I do not know what this bright new tomorrow might look like. I do not know what it will take to get us there. But I am absolutely confident that if we can begin to come together, and if we can remember to call upon God’s guidance, we can find the answers, and see our way forward, and discover the path. 

Carrie Newcomer wrote a song about ten years ago that speaks to us in this moment.

If not now, tell me when 

If not now, tell me when. 

We may never see this moment 

Or place in time again 

If not now, if not now, tell me when. 

I see sorrow and trouble in this land 

I see sorrow and trouble in this land 

Although there will be struggle 

we’ll make the change we can. 

If not now, if not now, tell me when. 

I may never see the Promised Land. 

I may never see the Promised Land. 

And yet we’ll take the journey 

And walk it hand in hand 

If not now, if not now, tell me when.

So we‘ll work it ’til it’s done 

Every daughter every son, 

Every soul that ever longed 

for something better, Something brighter. 

It will take a change of heart for this to mend. 

It will take a change of heart for this to mend. 

But miracles do happen 

every shining now and then 

If not now, if not now tell me when? 

(“If Not Now” by Carrie Newcomer)

(click here to watch the video of this song)

Carpe diem! May we seize the day. May we grab this moment. May we join the dance, and may we make sure that everyone else gets to join the dance as well. Together, with God and with each other, may it be so. Amen.