Hold on! This planet we're on is traveling
67,000 miles per hour in its annual journey around the sun. Scientists also
tell us that the Milky Way Galaxy, our planet's neighborhood, is speeding along
at 1.3 million miles per hour. Strange. I'm not aware of any such motion, nor
are you. I guess things aren't the way they seem; there's more to it.
Some physicists report that along with our own
immense, evolving universe, other parallel universes may be bubbling up; they
also say that there may be ten dimensions rather than our familiar three
dimensions of space plus one of time. Scientists are reminding you and me that
things are stranger than we can imagine.
Because of scientific research, I've become very
aware of the limitations of ordinary, human experiences. Dogs can hear sounds
that we can't hear. Bees can see colors that we cannot see. Radio waves can
pass through walls that are solid to our touch. Many other creatures can smell
odors and taste flavors that we can neither smell nor taste. Our normal, mortal
boundaries give us a very limited, personal experience of reality. Things
aren't necessarily the way they seem to you and me; there's more to it than
meets the eye.
In addition, I've become aware of the
limitations of our human minds. At a particular time I may think that you're
annoyed with me, but then learn that you're not; that notion was just in my own
mind. We might try to reason through a complex mathematical problem, but we
can't; we need a computer. We might interpret a poem, only to learn afterwards
that the poet meant something very different. We might carefully explain some
event only to discover that another responsible person has explained the same
event very differently. Things aren't necessarily the way they seem.
Today we celebrate an extraordinary Event, one
as incomprehensible as the speeding journeys of our planet and galaxy, one as
astonishing as many scientific breakthroughs, one truly amazing Event beyond
our ordinary experiences. We join with other Christians in the 2,000-year-old
Good News that after his execution, Jesus Christ was raised up by the
Creator.
In this unique Event the Almighty declared an
awesome and powerful "No" to the human attempt to silence God's Word, Jesus
Christ. As the defining moment in history, the Creator proclaimed an
astonishing "Yes" --- that Jesus - his proclamation of God's sovereignty, his
other teachings, the quality of his relationships, his healing presence - is
indeed the clue to what life is all about. Crucified and risen, Jesus embodies
the Creator's purposes for all humanity - as we travel speedily on this planet,
in this universe, so limited by our human faculties.
Whereas the Hebrew people had based their lives
on God's Exodus deliverance from Egyptian slavery to freedom in the Promised
Land, the disciples of Christ based their lives on a new pivotal experience:
that the Creator raised up the crucified Jesus as both Lord and Christ. Whereas
the people for centuries had offered all sorts of sacrifices to establish a
right relationship with God, the perfect offering of Jesus' faithfulness to the
death put an end to the need for any further such sacrifices. Whereas
membership in God's Old Covenant community was primarily by heredity, Jesus
invites all human beings to be baptized into the New Covenant community.
Whereas in the Old Covenant God was met primarily in the Temple, in the New
Covenant humanity meets God directly in Christ - himself the new and
resurrected Temple.
With blunt honesty St. Paul declared, "If Christ
has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain"
Paul was correct. Without the Resurrection there would have been no Gospels, no
history of the apostolic communities, no epistles, and no Church. Furthermore,
the various accounts of the first Easter do not read like a mythological tale
valuable only as a metaphor. Truly, those who would have preferred to suppress
the Good News of the Resurrection Event could have done so - by producing the
body of Jesus. They could not, and they did not. Moreover, the appearances of
the Risen Christ to several disciples confirmed that he was alive in a new way.
Their Good Friday doubts, confusions, fears and disappointment were
transformed. The Risen Lord was the divine guarantee that the Kingdom of God
launched by Jesus would come to fruition. As a result, the disciples were
changed and made new.
To be sure, the Resurrection is a vital metaphor
for new beginnings after scarring tragedies, for joyous victory after painful
despair, and for everlasting life. However, our hopefulness is based on the
extraordinary Event of Christ's Resurrection, not on wishful thinking. It is
within the ongoing Resurrection community, the Church, that we hear about and
meet the life-giving Christ, especially in our Eucharistic celebrations. Within
this fellowship the Resurrection becomes our account of the Risen Lord in our
lives. Back at daily patterns, duties and relationships, as Easter Christians
we choose the Easter perspective of hopefulness, confidence, and triumph rather
than an outlook of immovable stones, insecurity, and failure. Indeed, the
Easter Event authenticates who we are: that together you and I most
fundamentally are children of God never separated from God's love and
grace.
Basically I am a skeptic. For nearly three
decades one of my treasured responsibilities as a philosophy professor and
writer has been to encourage my students to join me in thinking carefully, in
pondering, in wondering, and in examining claims and beliefs. I assure you that
my brain does not shut down when it comes to theology. With my mind and heart I
am persuaded that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is indeed a true,
extraordinary Event. I am convinced that the New Testament portraits of Jesus
are sufficiently illuminating for us to discover together, with room to differ,
the rich meanings of the Gospel. As a Christian community we grow in our
understandings of the Resurrection Faith and its significance for our lives
individually, for the Church, and for the world.
Easter Day is powerful news to all humanity that
things aren't necessarily what they seem. Life is stranger than we can imagine.
There is more to it: Christ Is Risen! He is Risen Indeed. Alleluia!