Paul Walker, “Mostly Dead is Not What You Need”"
Welcome to Easter Day at Christ Church! At long last, too. While our Easter celebration at Marilu’s farm last year was wonderful, nothing can beat the beauty of our church on this special day – the lilies and the brass, the Hallelujah Chorus and the morning sun streaming in through our Tiffany Windows.
Our red doors are open to anybody and everybody – every Sunday and especially on big days like today. Groucho Marx famously said that he would refuse to join a club that would have him as a member. Well, the story we tell on Easter Day is so good that everybody should hear it! Even if you feel like there are things in the hidden corners your life that make you a little squeamish about coming to church. Truth is, we’ve all got them. We are all Groucho Marx. When people say “I can’t be a part of a church because it is full of hypocrites.” We respond, “Well, there is always room for one more!”
Take the clergymen of 4 churches in the same town who were together at an ecumenical conference – a Catholic priest, a Baptist pastor, a Presbyterian minister, and the rector of the local Episcopal church. At a coffee break, the Catholic priest said, “Fellows, it’s good to be together as ministers, but let’s get real. Let’s really get to know each other by sharing our struggles and weaknesses. Confession is good for the soul.”
The Baptist pastor jumped right on this. He said, “Great idea! I’ve be dying to share this but I can’t tell anyone. I’m an awful drunk. I can’t tell you how many church suppers, weddings, funerals, even Sunday mornings that I’ve been plastered.” The Presbyterian minister said, “You think that’s bad? I’m a horrible embezzler. I can’t tell you how many hundreds of thousands of dollars I’ve stolen from our church and our congregation over the years.” Then the rector said, “I’ve got you all beat. I am a total womanizer. I’ve had multiple affairs with staff members and parishioners. Honestly, I’ve baptized some children who looked a lot like me.”
Then the Catholic priest said, “Wow, this is great fellows. Thanks so much for sharing.” Of course, the others said, “Your turn now, Father. What dirty secrets do you have?” The priest got sly grin on his face and said, ‘Well, men, I hate to tell you this, but I’m terrible gossip.”
In our gospel from Luke this morning, we read that the story we tell on Easter Day was first told by a group of women – and the disciples thought it was gossip – an “idle tale.” Turns out, it was no idle tale and 2000 years later it still is no idle tale, a tale told by an idiot full of sound of fury. The tale is true – actually first told by the angels in the empty tomb. “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, He is risen.”
Why do you look for the living among the dead? My message in this short Easter sermon is simple. God is alive and God is powerful. Powerful enough to raise Jesus Christ from the dead. And if He has done that – it is no idle tale – than He will raise what is dead in your life. God is God and can do anything He chooses. And what God chooses to do is raise the dead.
A mom told me that her 4 -year -old son, on the way to church, said, “Mom, I like when God puts his hands on my head. It feels really warm.” The mom wondered what kind of young mystic resided in her house. Then he said, “But why doesn’t he put his hands on your head?” She realized, of course, that her son was talking about the blessing the clergy do for children at the altar rail. She told me this story via email, with the subject line “You are God.”
Thank God that 4 -year -old is wrong. I’m nothing like God and neither are you. I cannot even figure out how to update my phone, let alone raise anyone from the dead. My life is like yours, bound and hemmed in by all kinds of limits and liabilities. God is the only one who takes the dead and makes it alive.
And what is it that is dead in your life? A marriage? A drinking problem? Chronic depression? The actual death of someone you love? It’s Easter Day so I’m not going down that rabbit hole any further, but each of you can fill in the blank for yourself. I’m just saying the when it comes to God, the only requirement being dead. That is when God goes to work!
Most of us try to finagle the problems we have with our own power, perform some CPR, maybe the Heimlich. In the classic 1987 film The Princess Bride, the hero Wesley is presumed to be dead. His friends take him to Miracle Max, played by Billy Crystal. Miracle Max examines Wesley and says, “Woohoo! Turns out your friend here is MOSTLY dead. See mostly dead is still slightly alive. If he were all dead there’s only one thing you can do.” “And what’s that?” his friend asks. Miracle Max responds “Go through his clothes and look for loose change.”
Miracle Max failed to say the other thing you can do when something or someone is all dead. Look to God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Make no mistake, He was all dead. Because, when it comes to God, mostly dead is no good. All dead is what you want.
I’ll close with a relatable quote from Robert Capon, now dead himself, but whose words are very much alive. “Trust him. No matter how many waverings you may have, no matter how many suspicions, no matter how much heaviness and sadness your lapses, vices, indispositions, and bratty whining may cause you – you believe simply that Somebody Else, by his death and resurrection, has made it all right, and you just say thank you and shut up.
The whole slop-closet full of mildewed performances (which is all you have to offer) is simply your death; it is Jesus who is your life. If he refused to condemn you because your works were rotten, he certainly isn’t going to flunk you because your faith isn’t so hot. You can fail utterly and still live the life of grace. You can fold up spiritually, morally, or intellectually and still be safe. Because at the very worst, all you can be is dead – and for him who is the Resurrection and the Life, that just makes you his cup of tea.”
Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.
Amen!
