Easter Sunday
April 4, 2021
Sermon by the Rev. Bernadette Hartsough
Alleluia Christ has risen-the Lord is risen indeed. We have walked with Jesus through the garden, to the cross, in the tomb, and now we share in his resurrection.
Here we are: Easter day, full of sunshine, flowers, and the beauty of creation. even the weather is celebrating with us. It is supposed to be 70 degrees today! Yes, we rejoice today that Jesus is raised from the dead. We rejoice in our salvation. But Easter is more than a one-time event. It is more than being saved from death. It isn’t just something that happened to Jesus and it isn’t just something that happens after we die. Easter is the way we participate in being transformed into the image of God. We are not just saved from sin; we are also transformed and restored to a new life.We have a beautiful picture of what our total transformation will look like in today’s Isaiah reading. It is an image of being made whole. A time when the shroud of pain, disgrace, and death is destroyed. When good food will be available to all without the cost of money or labor. Every time I read this passage; I can picture the scene. We read this Isaiah passage at Easter and at funerals as a reminder of the fullness of our life to come when we are fully transformed in God’s kingdom.
We don’t need to wait for our death to experience the saving power of Easter. Right now, in our earthly life we start the process of wholeness, of being restored to a new life. A life of becoming who God made us to be. We start the new life now-in this life. Easter reminds us that we start to resurrect -transform parts of ourselves now in this life. We experience the power of the resurrection in Little Easters throughout our life.
The power of the resurrection is earth shattering. It transforms us. The women at the tomb knew this; they were frightened. Frightened that it was true. God did care. God was here. God did love them more than they could imagine. Jesus is the messiah. Their world was changed. They didn’t know what would happen. They knew God was at work. Resurrection power is frightening, and as it transforms us-it is life changing.
As humans, being transformed means that we have to change and change is painful. It means letting go. It is hard work.
Easter is frequently represented as a butterfly because they are transformed through metamorphosis. Butterflies start as eggs. Then larvae as little caterpillars eat and spin chrysalis. We have all seen the butterfly cycle in school. It is made to look simple and beautiful. I like the image but not because it is beautiful and clean like we were taught. I like the image because it shows that change is hard and often painful but results in transformation.
I hatched butterflies in my classroom one year. We had the butterfly house. We got the caterpillars that spun chrysalis. So far so good. It was what my class expected. Then we had the hard work of waiting. Part of the weeks of waiting involved no loud noises and no shaking the table they were on. If startled, their rest would be disrupted, they would die, and would not transform. Several of my hyperactive students actually calmed down when they “watched” the butterfly house. One morning when I arrived early, I was stunned to see butterflies however, I was also stunned to see blood throughout the butterfly house. Apparently, part of the metamorphosis involved blood. They didn’t tell us that in the teacher’s manual! I was going to clean it up before the students came. I didn’t have time. There was too much blood. So, there it was a bloody mess around the beautiful butterflies. The students saw it. They asked about it. I didn’t know why there was blood. I said that sometimes changing is hard. For the butterflies it involved a physical birthing pain. For us it involves a willingness to let God transform us.
Today and for the next six weeks we will celebrate Easter. But Easter is not just a one day or six-week event. Easter is a life event. We are being resurrected now, little by little. We live our lives growing, transforming, and resurrecting parts of ourselves. Jesus gave us the power of the resurrection to live into the image of God.
You know the Easter power. Many of you here today have seen it in your lives. You may have seen it in a friend or family member that had an addiction. Once the addict gets help, they are resurrected to a new life. You may have seen it in a student with limited financial resources given a scholarship to go to college. For students in inner cities, college transforms and saves their life. You may have seen it in the skill of a medical professional who treats physical or mental illness. Doctors and medicine resurrect people through their treatment. There are people who give through their time and money to others. Their gifts transform the lives of the recipients. And frequently the life of the giver is transformed. There are those that use words to restore relationships and to restore the dignity of others.
These are just a few examples. You could name other little resurrection stories in your life. Today we remember our Savior Jesus Christ. Our Savior, who saved us from sin and death and continues to resurrect us into the image of God. Let us look for these Little Easters in our life and in the world around us and embrace them until we too are fully resurrected.