I think sometimes we have a lot of baggage we bring with us into relationships. My parents had one of those formative experiences early in their marriage that I heard about from both of them. It was interesting to get the different spin on events and come to a deeper appreciation for just who my parents were.
When my parents married, my mother had this sense that part of what she was supposed to do was to prepare fancy multi-course meals. She got cookbooks and lots of advice I am sure, but she fixed fancy meals from fancy cookbooks. My father dutifully ate them and was appreciative, although it was not exactly what he wanted.
One day, I think my mother asked my father what he wanted for dinner. She was working out the menu for the week. It turned out that he wanted macaroni and cheese. Some canned green beans would be just the thing to go with that. There was a long silence.
What my father really wanted and what my mother thought he wanted were two different things. Fancy meals can make people nervous.
Susan and I were talking about sermons the other day, and there is the sense on the part of preachers that the Easter sermon has to be the multi-course meal. We want to pull out the stops and consult multiple cookbooks. We suspect that what people really want is macaroni and cheese with some canned green beans on the side.
Susan and I both resolved to keep it simple this morning. I am not sure if it will qualify as spiritual comfort food, but I hope it will.
As I thought about the Scriptures for this morning’s service, I was struck by two things. First I thought about the resurrection of Jesus in comparison to Lazarus being raised from the dead.
When I last preached Lazarus, I was really struck by the word’s “unbind him,” and I preached on the things that bind us. Lazarus emerges from the tomb all wrapped up and tied with the linen wrappings that were used. I invited you to consider the things that bind you. What is it that Jesus is commanding us to shed?
Reading the Gospel for today I can’t help but notice that with Jesus the linen wrappings are lying there. This helps drive home the Lazarus point a little I think. Lazarus had stuff to take off. He had baggage. Jesus did not. There is a lot to ponder here.
Then there is the curious instruction that Jesus gave Mary Magdalene. He tells her, “Do not hold onto me.” He then sends her out as the witness to the resurrection. She is the apostle to the apostles.
What are we supposed to get from the fact that Jesus told her not to hold onto his resurrected body? Every time I read a piece of Scripture, I see something new, and this verse is the thing that captured my interest this week.
I wonder how often we want to hold onto the Jesus that is comfortable to us? We have an understanding of the faith that we like. It involves being nice to people and being a good person perhaps. These are great things and I am not going to tell you to quit being nice.
Hold those thoughts for me and I am going to shift gears for a minute.
The liturgy on Easter is the baptismal liturgy. Husbands and wives renew wedding vows. The clergy in the diocese renew ordination vows to the bishop at the Chrism Mass every year. The bishop in turn renews his vows to us. It is good to get a reminder of just who we are and what we have promised to do.
At Easter, we renew our baptismal promises. These are the foundation of our relationship with the Lord, and it is a good thing to be reminded of them from time to time.
There are five of these promises in baptism, and we will combine them with some affirmations from the Creed as well. I have confirmation students look at these and we talk about just what they mean.
Since I am a numbers guy, I have a few of my talking points in confirmation class associated with numbers. There are three aspects to the Christian life. They are corporate worship, private prayer and meditation and acts of charity.
There are four qualities in the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral [http://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/chicago-lambeth-quadrilateral] that were agreed could form the basis of interfaith dialogue. They are 1) the Scriptures are the inspired Word of God and contain everything necessary for salvation; 2) the Sacraments of Holy Communion and Baptism; 3) the Nicene Creed as a sufficient statement of faith; and 4) the episcopate – we have bishops with apostolic authority.
There are five promises made in baptism. 1) We promise to continue in the apostles teaching and fellowship; 2) we will persevere in resisting evil, and when we don’t we will repent; 3) we will proclaim by word and example the Good News; 4) we will seek and serve Christ in all persons; and 5) we will strive for justice and peace, respecting the dignity of every human being.
This is a lot to promise, and one of the reasons we renew vows is to remind us of the details. It is easy to forget the things we are not so crazy about.
I am preaching a back to basics practice of the faith this morning. What is the baggage we have brought with us? What is it that we might like to hold onto? Where is it that we need to get to work?
There is a temptation I think to be a little overwhelmed with the details of our faith, but it is simple in an elegant and powerful way. My messages to you are these.
Stick to the basics and don’t make it more complicated than we have to make it. On some level we all have an appreciation for what it means to respect the dignity of every human being. We may have a more nuanced understanding as we grow in the faith, but we know what respect means and we know what dignity is.
Next we need to be willing to let go of things. Lazarus had things that were binding him. Jesus tells Mary to let go of Him. She can’t cling to the understanding of Jesus that she has had. It is time to grow and to go serve as an apostle.
In all this the story of Easter is really the story of redemption. We may be the reluctant prophet like Jonah. We may be like Peter in this morning’s reading. He believes, but does not yet understand the Scripture.
God redeems all this, and he redeems us.
I have said these words in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Sermon preached by Fr. Tom Haynes at St. Thomas, Plymouth
April 5, 2015; Easter Sunday
Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
John 20:1-18