By The Rev. Bernard W. Poppe, RectorWelcome Festival Day, the Easter hymn begins. And it is a welcome day. Wonderfully decorated, polished wood, beautifully arranged flowers, special music. And all of you, welcome. We come from all over, regular members, visiting neighbors and out of town guests. We are drawn to this wonderful day to touch the majesty and mystery of the day of Resurrection. No matter where we're from, it's important through our preparations to have a tangible expression of welcome to this ancient wonder made new through our celebration and worship.
Two thousand years ago, in the quiet of the morning, before anyone was awake, a man who had been killed brutally sat up and walked again. Legends would grow about what happened between the declaration of death on the cross and the discovery of the empty tomb. Wonderful tales of the victorious Christ marching through the gates of hell, destroying those gates and releasing the faithful captured by the power of destructive and hopeless death.
Other tales are of the rest, the Sabbath rest of the Messiah preparing for the next phase of his ministry. After Creation in the beginning, God rested. After the re-creation of the faithful, God rested again. No one saw him rise or leave the tomb, the witnesses arrived after sun up and found the tomb empty. In Luke's telling of the story, two men in dazzling clothes appeared and told them Jesus had risen. Tell the others, they were told.
Heads swirling with all this strange information, the women went back to tell the disciples of Jesus what they found. Luke tells us the disciples dismissed this as an "idle tale." I've always found that description to be very peculiar. An "idle tale" as though the women were in need of some mischievous fun and thought they would fool the disciples with a prank.
If there are any who have earned the right of credibility, it is these very same women who stood with Jesus at the most difficult of times. There was nothing mischievous or silly about their behavior that would have warranted such a frivolous dismissal. Perhaps it was just that the story was more than any of them could hope for and overwhelmed them into this denial. The implications of this story are immense, if it was actually.
Is it true? What do you think? You're here, aren't you? Did you come to listen to a two thousand year old "idle tale"? Is the truth of it so overwhelming as to be dismissed or denied? Is the ministry it draws us into also welcome? Because it most certainly does draw us in. God's resurrection is very tangible proof that death is not final, that hope survives even the most brutal of realities. Resurrection is love in action, it's love triumphant and justifies the truth of mercy and forgiveness as a way of life and a meaning of life.
We are drawn here, I believe, because the truth of God's love and the promise of it's power is so strong and alluring that still after all these years we are drawn to its irresistible, welcoming beckon. All of us in so many ways have borne the heat of the day. Along with the joy and promises of life, we've had our shares of pain, betrayals, mistakes and pitfalls. We've known temptation and given in, we've caused and received pain, we've aimed high -- and sometimes succeeded and sometimes failed, we've gambled -- sometimes won and sometimes lost. The pain of some realities is certainly offset to a large degree by successes we've accumulated, but it's my experience that no matter what gains we've made the pain of the past has a life of its own that lurks beneath the surface of our spirits and undermines the worthiness we feel or the confidence we need to move forward.
The pain becomes spiritual and chronic. You know, I hear confessions all the time. In the old days we had special booths for that. Scary dark places that actually served a purpose in creating an environment reflective of where the secrets lurk in our souls and psyche, but we don't like those any more and we've changed our confessional formats. They can happen in my office on soft, comfortable chairs with a cup of coffee. Sometimes in restaurants over a nice lunch. Even sometimes at a party or other social occasion, there will be a simple question, "So what do you do?" Since I can't lie, I'll say I'm a priest and bam! I'll hear a confession. It usually starts out with the words, "I'm not religious, but I'm spiritual..." I used to cringe at that. I don't anymore. I see it as another opportunity to talk about things I like talking about. But the conversation will usually go one of two ways. Either there will all of a sudden be nervous fidgeting and the empty glass they're holding will need a refill, or a conversation will open up about some of the pain the person endured or caused and how that became an obstacle to finding a faith community to worship in.
In truth the church universal has done some wonderful things, brought ministry and hope to many. But in truth it has also been negligent or compliant with wrong-doing at the very least and aggressively abusive at most during it's history. There are a lot of amends to make and credibility to restore. If there is something in what I just said that you can resonate with, then listen closely to what I'm about to say. On behalf of the church or clergy which hurt or abused you, I'm sorry. I ask your forgiveness.
Forgiveness begins healing. Healing makes one strong and restores hope and the ability to love again. The church has, and in many places and ways continues to hurt the poor and helpless, women, children, people of color, gay and lesbian people, the weak. The church offends and becomes an obstacle to the faith of those same people who begin to dismiss the tale of the resurrected Jesus as an idle tale, since it's not lived out by the very people who preach it.
And yet, the power of forgiveness and reconciliation is strong medicine for any person of faith. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa serves a powerful witness of the importance of public apology and acknowledgment of sin and abuse by one person to another, or one people against another. But I warn you, there is a price tag to seeking the apology of another, whether it's another person or a people as a whole. And that price tag is the commitment to find those you've harmed and apologize to them.
None of us can be the recipients of a grace we will not offer when called to do so. Jesus forgave the very people who brutally murdered him unjustly as he hung from the cross. He would not let the poison of anger or bitterness infect his soul and forgiveness was the healing remedy for that. He demonstrated for us the restorative power of forgiveness, and calls us to forgive the sins of others as we have been forgiven.
This day is so very important because it reminds us again of the life giving love of God. A love that cannot be destroyed or corrupted. A love that will rise when beaten down and live when killed. A love that forgives wrong and heals the broken.
We are all spiritual because we all have spirits. Our spirits are active and involved with the other spirits around us. This can be for good or ill, but it is most assuredly constant. Our religiosity is a function of our finding a faith community to share the growth of that spirit. Growth requires intention and thought, prayer and openness. It requires the ability to forgive and ask for forgiveness. It requires the courage to state beliefs out loud to someone else. To proclaim, not like a battering ram or as a litmus test for political acceptability, but as a statement of the heart and spirit of how God's love is known, heard and lived. It is not an idle tale. It is an invitation to life itself. It is a spiritual necessity.
Welcome Festival Day. Find in us the desire to greet you, embrace you and love you. Find in us the courage to walk into a world of uncertainty, certain of your love. Find in us the conviction to fight for justice, when injustice shakes us. And if you cannot find it there, in the power of the resurrection of Jesus, put it there.
Come, Festival Day, blessed Day that art hallowed forever! Amen.
© 2007 St. George's Episcopal Church, Maplewood, NJ
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