Easter

 

March 31, 2024

 

+A few years ago, our newspaper interviewed me for an article.

 

It was a very flattering story of me, that also included interviews with other people who knew me.

 

Well, one of the people interviewed said, “Father Jame is like another Jesus.”

 

When the article appeared, a dear friend of mine made a point of telling me how offended they were by that statement.

 

“I know you,” this person said. “You are NO Jesus.”

 

Well, to be fair, I never said I was.

 

But, the bigger point of all of this, is this:

 

Isn’t that the goal?

 

Isn’t that the goal for all of us who are followers of Jesus?

 

Isn’t it the goal for each and every one of us to be, essentially, “other Jesuses,” to be the Presence of Jesus in this world, to be the hands and feet of Jesus?

 

We are, after all, the BODY of Christ. Right?

 

What does that mean to us if it doesn’t mean that we’re expected to embody Christ?

 

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, there’s actually a term for seeking to be essentially another Jesus.

 

It’s called “Theosis.”

 

And what it means is that the goal of our lives as Christians is to be what Jesus is—to become divine, to live into the ideal of what Jesus.

 

Essentially to evolve into Christ-like beings.

 

As you hear me say way too often, we tend to put Jesus on a safe little shelf.

 

We keep him there, pristine and sweet and nice and smiling.

 

Our own personal Jesus, to paraphrase the old Depeche Mode song (I’m dating myself here)

 

And there, on that safe shelf, we worship our safe, smiling Jesus, and we can be in awe of him, there on that safe little altar.

 

And none of that is wrong.

 

But if that’s where we keep him, inaccessible, beyond us, wholly other than us, than we’ve missed the boat on this whole Christianity thing.

 

As I have said again and again, Worshipping Jesus is easy and safe.

 

Following Jesus, actually striving to be like Jesus, to be “another Jesus” in this world---that is very hard.

 

The point I’m making on this beautiful Easter morning is this:

 

Easter is truly a beautiful day.

 

I absolutely  LOVE Easter.

 

Some people are Christmas people.

 

Some people are Easter people.

 

I’m definitely an Easter person.

 

Easter, after all, is all about life.

 

Jesus’ life.

 

His rising form the grave.

 

His living again.

 

But if it’s only about him, and not us too, then what is Easter for us?

 

If it’s only about Jesus’ resurrection and not our resurrection too, Easter becomes a quant, sweet, nice gentle little holiday, not that far removed from bunny rabbits and painted eggs.

 

But when we strive to be like Jesus, when we seek to be “another Jesus” in this world, we start realizing that what God did for Jesus—God raised Jesus up from death itself—God also will do for us.

This is the radical aspect not only of following Jesus, but also of trying to actually BE Jesus in this world.

 

BEING another Jesus in this world means that we also get to be raised like Jesus

one day.

 

BEING another Jesus in this world means that we will be raised by God from the dark shadow of death and live, like Jesus, with God.

 

This Day in which we shout our alleluias at the Resurrection of Jesus, also becomes a day when our alleluias celebrate the fact that we, like Jesus, are also going to be raised up from death.

 

Just realizing that makes us truly want to shout, “Alleluia!”

 

See, this is why I LOVE Easter.

 

But what’s even better about Easter in my opinion is that, unlike Christmas, which when it’s over it’s over (people put out that Christmas tree the day after Christmas), Easter happens again and again for us who are followers of Jesus.

 

We get to experience this joy and amazing reality and all it represents multiple times over the year.

 

Certainly every Sunday we celebrate a mini-Easter.

 

And why shouldn’t we celebrate it beyond this season?

 

When we celebrate Easter, we are celebrating life.

 

Jesus’ eternal life.

 

And our eternal life.

 

The truly wonderful Christian writer, Rob Bell, once said,

 

“Eternal life doesn’t start when we die. It starts now. It’s not about a life that begins at death; it’s about experiencing the kind of life now that can endure and survive even death.”

 

I love that.

 

Resurrection is a kind reality that we, as Christians, are called to live into.

 

Right now.

 

Right here.

 

And it’s not just something we believe happens after we die.

 

We are called to live into that Resurrection NOW.

 

The alleluias we sing this morning are not only for some beautiful moment after we have breathed our last.

 

Those alleluias are for now, as well as for later.

 

We are essentially saying today, Praise God!

 

Praised God for raising Jesus.

 

And Praise God for raising us too!

 

Those alleluias, those joyful sounds we make, this Light we celebrate, is a Light that shines now—in this moment.

 

We are alive now!

 

Right now!

 

Easter and our whole lives as followers of Jesus is all about this fact.

 

Our lives should be joyful because of this fact—this reality—that Jesus died and is risen and so will we.

 

This is what it means to be a Christian.

 

Easter is about this radical new life.

 

Today we are commemorating the fact that Jesus, who died and was buried in a tomb and is now…alive.

 

And one day, we who strive to be like Jesus, who strive another “other Jesuses” in this world, we are alive right now, right here, and that we too will live, like him, for eternity.

 

Easter doesn’t end when the sun sets today.

 

Easter is what we carry within us as Christians ALL the time.

 

Easter is living out the Resurrection by our very presence.

 

We are, each of us, carrying within us this Easter Light we celebrate this morning and always.

 

All the time.

 

Easter is here!

 

It is here, in our very souls, in our very bodies, in our very selves.

 

With that Easter Light burning within us, being reflected in what we do and say, in the love we show to God and to each other, what more can we say on this glorious, glorious morning?

 

What more can we say when God’s all-loving, resurrected realty breaks through to us in glorious light and transforms us?

 

What do we say?

 

We say, Alleluia!

 

Praise God!

 

Christ is risen! And we are risen with him!

 

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!