Still an Idle Tale?
Dr. Jim Wilson, April 4, 2010 Clint Tidwell is the pastor of a church in a small Southern town. One of his blessings—and one of his curses---is that the 80 year old owner and still active editor of the town’s newspaper is a member of his congregation. The blessing is that this old journalist believes Tidwell to be one of the finest preachers around and, wishing the whole town to benefit from his homiletical wisdom, he publishes a summary of Tidwell’s Sunday sermons every Monday morning in the paper. The curse is that this newspaperman, though well meaning, is a bit on the dotty and eccentric side. Tidwell is often astonished to read these synopses of his sermons. The man owns the newspaper, so no one dare edit his columns, and the difference between what Tidwell thought he said and what the editor writes is often the source of profound amazement and, on occasion, profound embarrassment to Tidwell. Tidwell’s deepest amazement and embarrassment, however, came not when the newspaperman misunderstood the Sunday sermon, but, to the contrary, when he understood it all too clearly. It was early on the Monday morning after Easter, and Tidwell, in his bathrobe and slippers, was padding out the carport door to retrieve the morning paper. The paper was lying at the end of the driveway and, as Tidwell approached, he could see the morning headline was in “Second Coming” sized type. “What could it be?” he wondered. Had war broken out somewhere? Had the local bank failed over the weekend? Had a cure for cancer been found? As he drew close enough to focus on the headline, he was startled to read the words, “TIDWELL CLAIMS JESUS CHRIST ROSE FROM THE DEAD!” A red flush crept up Tidwell’s neck. Yes, of course, he had claimed in yesterday’s sermon that Jesus rose from the dead, but really was that headline news? What will the neighbors think? I mean, you’re supposed to say that on Easter, that Jesus rose from the dead, but that’s not the same as saying some person who died last week has risen from the grave, is it? Suddenly, as he looked at the screaming headline, what had been a routine Easter sermon had Tidwell feeling rather foolish. The story belongs to Tom Long. The embarrassment, however, belongs to many of us. There’s just something embarrassing about this day when you really confront what is being proclaimed and its implications---this claim that Jesus, the One who was crucified, has been raised from the dead. What sense do we Twenty-first Century, scientifically oriented, technologically sophisticated, empirically demanding, rational thinking folk make of such news. Some of us come to this morning hoping it is true. Others come and listen politely to the story with the parental patience given to a three year old rambling on about the Easter Bunny. I am reminded of the advice I received from a retired engineer for my very first Easter sermon. “Forget the resurrection nonsense,” he counseled, “just preach about our need to love one another.” Obviously, I did not and have not followed his advice. But I have to admit there is something beneath he “Alleluias” that is disconcerting about Easter. I have come to appreciate it. You see, it has been so since the very first Easter as is clear in Luke’s telling of the story. It is a familiar story, ever ancient, every new. The women make their way to the tomb just as dawn breaks on the first day of the week. These are the women who stayed through it all, the trial, the crucifixion, and the hasty burial. Now they come to perform the last office of love, to anoint the body with spices, a task left undone as the Sabbath interrupted. When they approach the tomb, they discover that the huge circular stone used to seal the tomb has been rolled away. They enter the tomb and make the discovery that is the sign of Easter---the body is not there! The tomb is empty! Luke tells us, the women “were perplexed about this,” which has to be one of the great understatements of all time! Suddenly, two men dressed in “dazzling clothes” appear, standing beside them. Now the women are more than perplexed. They are terrified, and bow their faces to the ground afraid to look. The men pose a question, the Easter Question, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Then comes the Easter Announcement: “He is not here, but has been raised!” There is a reason the tomb is empty. Now follows the Easter Invitation: “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” The suggestion is if the women would remember Jesus’ predictions of his Passion, they will understand and not be surprised to find the tomb empty. “Then,” says Luke, “they remembered his words…” And these women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other unnamed ones, no longer oriented toward death, no longer able to contain their joy, rush off to tell the apostles what has happened. And what is the response of the apostles? “But their words seemed to them like an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” The word translated “idle tale,” is used to describe the nonsensical babbling of the delirious---an idle tale, not a whisper of faith, not a glimpse of trust, simply an idle tale. Eventually, curiosity gets the best of Peter and he goes to the tomb to check out the women’s story. He sees the empty tomb, and he sees the burial cloths, but is not moved to believe anything in particular. He is just amazed and head on home to have lunch. This first response to Easter is hardly something on which to build a church, much less ground a faith. Neither Luke nor any of the other Gospel writers suggest that the first response to the empty tomb was immediate faith or instant joy. Instead they speak of fear, amazement, terror, disbelief, and an idle tale to be sure. Maybe our embarrassment fits in well with the tradition. We live in the midst of those who believe Easter to be an idle tale—friends, coworkers, even family members, that is, if they have any reaction at all. What about you? Let me suggest that we probe the question, “Still an Idle Tale?” by looking at the question and the directive the two men in dazzling clothes speak to the women on that first Easter morning. “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” I have labeled this question, the Easter Question, for it penetrates to the core of the Easter message: “Jesus is not dead. He has been raised!” He is not to be found among the dead, but encountered among the living. That message suggests Easter is much more than one man’s escape from the grave. It announces a cosmic victory of God’s gracious love over the powers of sin and death. The question invites a shift in orientation. The women came to the tomb oriented toward death. Now they are told that God has acted. Their orientation can now shift from death to life. Jesus death is not an unfortunate accident. It is the collision of two powers—the power of death and the power of God’s life-giving love. And God’s love is victorious. The women are invited to let go and be freed from the power of death and rejoice in the new life Easter makes possible. That invitation is extended to us this morning. Is Easter still an idle tale? It probably will be if we refuse the invitation, if we continue to cling to dead ideas and ideals, if we remain captive to the power of death, to the powers of prejudice, distrust, and racism, the powers of greed and selfishness and control. In his recent book, REDISCOVERY OF VALUES, Jim Wallis argues that if our response to the current economic crisis is to ask, “How soon will things get back to normal?” we are missing the point. If all we seek is to return to the greed, the irresponsible business practices, the neglect of community, and so on that got is into this mess in the first place, we are headed in the wrong direction and living by the wrong values. We are still oriented toward death. The better question, says Wallis, is “What can we learn from this crisis? And how do we apply these learnings and values for new behavior?” We must stop looking for the living among the dead and accept the invitation to new life. And that is the promise of Easter. In our Lenten study, “24 HOURS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD, author Adam Hamilton draws a telling contrast between these two orientations. He tells of visiting Lenin’s tomb in Moscow where the embalmed body of the communist leader continues to be on display. Crowds still come to pay respects. Contrasting this orientation, Hamilton speaks of visiting the Church of the Holy Seplechure and Jesus’ tomb in Jerusalem. The tomb is empty. Here the crowds come to worship and to encounter the Easter message: “He is not here! He is risen!” One orients life toward the past, toward dead ideas; the other orients life toward what can be, toward new life and new possibilities. And therein lays our choice---Easter as an idle tale or Easter as the first day of a new creation. The question is followed by the men’s directive to the women, “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” The directive implies that if the women remember what Jesus has said, they will understand what has happened. In other words, he was handed over and crucified, just as he said, now he has been raised, just as he promised. So the empty tomb is less a mystery and more the fulfillment of a promise. As the women remember, they are convinced. Filled with joy, they hurry off to tell the apostles what they have seen and heard. Easter fits a well established pattern in the biblical story---God promising and God fulfilling what has been promised. From the promise of a son to Abraham and Sarah, followed by the birth of Isaac, to the promise of a Messiah, followed by the birth of Jesus, the story tells of a God who is faithful in fulfilling what is promised. Easter is yet another chapter is this promise/fulfillment story. And the key for us is to remember the promise and trust that God will fulfill it. So the women were reminded. And so we are reminded. As we remember how God has been faithful, the resurrection of Jesus becomes more understandable, less an idle tale. You really didn’t think God was going to allow Jesus to remain in the tomb, the victim of the powers of sin and death, did you? Not if we remember the story. When we remember the story, Frederick Bueckner’s words come alive, “Resurrection means that the worst thing that happens is never the last thing.” I was reminded of the power of remembering for Easter last Wednesday morning. On Wednesday, as is my practice, I went to the preschool to tell a Bible story to the 4 year old and kindergarten classes. I should add that by Wednesday, my anxiety about the Easter sermon was up there. Like most preachers, I find preaching on Easter morning challenging for a variety of reasons. After I told the story to the first of the 4 year old classes, the teacher asked, “Who can tell Pastor Wilson what Sunday is?” The class responded in unison, “Easter!” Then she asked, “Now who can tell Pastor Wilson what Easter means?” Several hands shot up and one little girl was chosen. She began to tell the story: “Jesus was captured and arrested. Then he was crucified on the cross on Friday and his friends wrapped him in a cloth and buried him in a rock cave with a big stone that shut the door. On Sunday the women came to the tomb and it was empty. And angel told them ‘He has risen!’” After I thanked her, I left the classroom saying to myself, “OK Lord, I have heard the Easter Word. I remember!” The rest of the week went much better, because I remembered the Word offered by a 4 year old. For her Easter is no idle tale—thanks to the witness of her parents and her teachers. What about us, you and me? Is Easter still an idle tale? That is a question each of us must answer. However, I firmly believe if you engage the Easter question and do not look for the living among the dead, and if you remember what Jesus has promised, you will encounter not an idle tale but a life-transforming power---as even these same disciples did. Oh, by the way, if someone is here from the Daily Herald, you are free to quote me, “Jesus has been raised from the dead! Alleluia!” Thanks be to God. Amen! |
