Paul Walker, “Easter is a Joke”

Happy Easter and welcome to Christ Church! I hope your Easter has gotten off to a glorious start. But maybe it has gotten off to an anxious start. If you have young children, you don’t just ease into Easter Day, especially when the Easter Bunny has come. And no matter who you are, getting dressed and getting a place to park both your car and yourself when you get to church can be stressful, not to mention all the stress you carry in with you as you enter these doors. No matter what state you’re in, we’re glad you’re here, because God has an Easter message for you.

     Easter, like all big holidays, can be an anxious time for people. And for the Easter Bunny, too. Should he hide those eggs in the same spots year after year or try to switch it up? So much pressure! I love the New Yorker cartoon of the Easter Bunny getting psychoanalyzed. Exhausted from his big night, he is splayed out on his shrink’s couch. The shrink says, “Yes, sure, you did a great job hiding all those eggs all over the world. But what is more interesting to me are the all the eggs you’re hiding from yourself.”

     The first Easter Day is off to anxious start for the 3 women in our gospel passage. They rise at daybreak to Jesus’ tomb to anoint Him with burial spices. But the tomb is sealed by a stone so large that it requires several strong men with levers to move it. Such is the women’s state of mind that they don’t really think about this detail, until, as they near the tomb, they say, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?”

     The tomb had never been used. It was owned by a rich man named Joseph, who provided his tomb for Jesus’ burial. His tomb was deluxe. And the fact that it had never been used was rare, since tombs were expensive and used by multiple generations. So, it was a big deal that Joseph allowed Jesus to use it. I saw an Easter meme of Joseph talking to his friend. “Joseph,” his friend says, “Why did you give your new, expensive, never been used tomb to Jesus?” “Well,” Joseph replies, “He said He only needed it for the weekend!”

     The women, however, did not know, remember, or comprehend that Jesus only needed it for the weekend, and that on the 3rd day He would be raised. And who could blame them? Nothing like this had ever happened before. They were a lot better off than the men – all the disciples were hidden away in fear, lest they be arrested. At least the women were doing something - the men were basically useless.  Of course, the women were anxious. In fact, the text says they were, “alarmed, terrified and afraid.”

     Why? The women find the stone rolled back and an angel sitting in the tomb. Jesus is gone. What was happening? Was he stolen? Was this the wrong tomb? Who is “young man in the white robe?”  Wouldn’t you be freaking out? When people meet angels in the bible, they are always terrified. This must be really annoying to the angels. They must be like, “Stop cowering, people! Lighten up! I’ve got a message to deliver.” And what is his message? Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.”

      The angel is not all that concerned with how the women are feeling. Don’t be alarmed, just pay attention to the message. Don’t get me wrong: being seen and understood is important. But there is truth to the Onion headline: “Study: Being Truly Seen Still Ranks Among Worst Possible Experiences in Human Existence.” “We’ve found conclusive evidence that realizing somebody can look past your protective façade and recognize you for who you are continues to be the most humiliating experience the human psyche can withstand” even outranking the amputation of the limbs without anesthetic.”  Sometimes you need to be delivered from yourself to pay attention to message, don’t you?

     Fresh out of seminary, where I had been taught that empathizing with a person was the most important job of the minister, I visited a lonely and terminally sick man in a forlorn nursing home. Wanting him to know that bible understood his experience, I read Psalm 31 – a psalm of lamentation to him. Drawing close to his beside I began, “My eye is consumed with sorrow, also my throat and my belly. My life is wasted with grief…I am forgotten like a dead man, as useless as a broken pot.”

     I think the man was trying to be kind to me, since I was such a rookie, but when we got to the “useless as a broken pot” bit, he finally cried out, “STOP SAYING THAT!”, like the 6 fingered man in The Princess Bride when Inigo says “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” “Stop saying that! Please, please tell me something hopeful. Tell me something uplifting. Please, tell me some good news.”

      Here is some good news. It is the Easter message! “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.”  You see, underneath all our day-to-day stresses loom the 2 deepest existential, universal stressors: the fear of Sin and Death. You might not be aware of that but it’s true. You might be hiding these terrible eggs from yourself, but they are still hidden away causing problems. Like the dying man in the nursing home, you too need some good news.

      The good news is this: Jesus was crucified to take away the sin of the world. Jesus was crucified to take away your sin. It is forgiven. And Jesus has been raised. He was raised from death to defeat death. Even though we die, shall never die. Sin is forgiven and Death has died! Everlasting life is ours! In fact, God does know how you feel. And God does know what you need.

     The humor in this sermon - if you’re kind enough to call it that – is intentional. Easter, you see, is a big joke! Not a joke, like- ha – Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead; it’s all a ruse. No, Easter is a big joke because He really did rise bodily from the dead. The joke is on Sin and Death, who thought victory was assured with each nail in our Lord’s hands on Good Friday. But no! “He is he has been raised; he is not here.”

     So, God has the last laugh and the joke’s on you, Death. So, “Death be not proud, though some have called thee / Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; / For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow / Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.”

  For He has been raised! Alleluia! Amen.