4-7-96	Colored Eggs, Bunnies, and Spring	Acts 10:34-43

Colossians 3:1-4

John 20:1-18

There is the story of a man who, shortly after his wife died, went bankrupt, and then lost his home to a fire. After the fire, he was on his way to a hotel he had a car wreck, and broke both his legs. So, he was taken to the hospital. And as the man was lying on the gurney in the Emergency Room the doctor came in, took a look at the him and asked, "How are you?" Without even thinking, the man replied, "Oh, just fine!"

Isn't that what we do, sometimes? When something really profound has happened to us we find it difficult to deal with the magnitude of what has taken place. And, so when we're sick and the doctor asks, "How are you?" we say "Fine." Or, when we meet a dear friend we haven't seen in twenty years, we find ourselves talking about the weather. Or, when we are reminded that Jesus has risen from the dead, giving us the unbelievably joyful opportunity to spend the rest of eternity with the Creator of the Universe, what do we do? We color Easter eggs, talk about bunnies, and think of Spring.

Our Gospel lesson for this morning is in no way as trivial in the way it deals with Easter as we often are. In fact, it gets directly to the point in some very important ways. First, the central character of our story in our gospel lesson is Mary Magdalene, a woman who had been ostracized from most of Jewish society because of who she is. It is around this central character, a lowly woman, that the story of the resurrection is woven. It is Mary who discovers the empty tomb. It is Mary who goes to tell Peter and the other disciple (possibly John). It is Mary who then comes back to the scene and meets Jesus, face to face, who tells her that he is risen. It is Mary who is told to go and tell the others. And it is Mary who actually brings that message to the disciples and must deal with their unbelief, as many a Christian witness has done ever since. And, so, we need to consider Mary Magdalene, this morning; and even admire her. For in the midst of the terror, the confusion, and the joy, she did not trivialize these events. Rather, she remembered that her calling was to do nothing other than to serve the Lord.

First, and foremost, Mary, this woman of the resurrection, was the first of Jesus' followers to be called by God to be a messenger, following the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, not only was she to bear one message, but she had to bear two messages on that Easter morning. First, after seeing that the stone had been rolled away and that the body of Christ was not there, she went and told Peter and possibly John. And then after Peter and John had gone to check things out, she went back and met Jesus, face to face. As a witness of the resurrection and was told to take that message back to the disciples. She was a messenger twice in one amazing morning.

One might think that Mary's job of "messenger" would have been easy. But, it wasn't. First of all, she was a woman. And back then women weren't considered to be much good for anything except having babies, keeping a house, washing the clothes, and preparing and cooking food. When it came to making decisions and dealing with important information and doing the thinking, well, that's what men were supposed to do. Women couldn't worship in the Temple. Only the men were allowed in. Women couldn't read or even touch the scripture in synagogue. Women weren't allowed to teach men. Only men were allowed to do that. And, so, the fact that God gave Mary such a task – to go to men with the news of the resurrection of the Son of God – was meant to totally blow away those cultural biases and sexist traditions. And, because it did, the early Church had a great appeal for women that would be central to the growth of the Church. And, in fact, women in the early church were allowed to serve as clergy on an equal basis with men, for at least 200 years, until the lesson learned by the disciples was forgotten for a variety of reasons that had nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus or scripture.

So, as we look at the news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we need to keep in mind that the messenger of the resurrection was one who was least expected to be so. Certainly, that should be a lesson for us. For all of us are called to be messengers of the resurrection, in spite of how qualified we may think we are. The fact is that most people would prefer to trivialize God's call to be messengers of the resurrection. While being told to go out into the world and share the message, we busy ourselves with things that we think are useful.

I served a church, one time, that needed three more Sunday School teachers. There were classes with children who needed to be taught the Good News. But, do you think we could find those teachers? Instead, we had three very intelligent persons sitting in the Sunday School office during Sunday School counting the Sunday School offering and keeping track of who attended. It was easy to find people to count money, but impossible to find persons to share the news of the resurrection. And in that same church, at Easter time, it was easy to find persons to conduct an Easter egg hunt, to play the part of an Easter Bunny, and to talk about Spring. But we couldn't find one person who could sit down just one hour a week to share the message of the resurrection with little children.

Perhaps the trouble is that we tend to trivialize ourselves; to say, "Oh, I'm not all that important." While God is calling on us to share the good news, we say, "Certainly, God doesn't want me to do that!" "Certainly, God doesn't really want me to pick my neighbor children up and take them to Sunday School." "Certainly," we say, "God doesn't seriously expect me to actually sit in on a few AA meetings so that I can get to know them and even invite some of them to church on Sunday morning!" "Certainly," we say, "God doesn't really want me to go around this neighborhood in May, door to door, with flyers inviting children to come to Vacation Bible School!"

Instead, what do we insist on telling ourselves? We say, All God wants we to do is be good. Because if we're good, and moral, and upright, we insist, people will ask, "Why are those people good?" And they'll somehow find out that its because we're Christians and they'll want to be Christians, themselves. But, my friends, that kind of a lame, passive witness isn't going to make it anymore in this world, anymore. We can't trivialize our Easter message, anymore, satisfied with only the eggs, and the bunnies, and emphasis on Spring. Instead, we have to be up-front and bold with the message of the resurrection, just like Mary was. Why? Because all the other messages that people hear in our world, today, about drugs, and "doing your own thing," and sex, and alcohol, and non-Christian life styles, are anything but passive and lame. We have to be able to willingly answer God's call to each of us to share our faith openly, boldly, honestly, vocally and knowledgeably. And we can't do that, we won't do that, unless we really believe that what God has called us to is urgently important.

Thank God that Mary Magdalene truly believed in her calling to be a witness to the resurrection! Otherwise, who else would have said the words, "He is Risen!" on that first Easter morning, besides an angel or two?

There is the story of how a great Christian, D. William Sangster, on the Easter just before he died, printed a short note to his daughter. A deeply spiritual Methodist, he had been

spearheading a renewal movement in the British Isles after World War II. Then his ministry, except for prayer, was ended by a disease which progressively paralyzed his body, even his vocal chords. But the last Resurrection Sunday he spent on earth, still able to move his fingers, he wrote: "How terrible to wake up on Easter and have no voice to shout, 'He is risen!' For worse, to have a voice and not want to shout."

God calls us all to shout the wonderful message to the world. We cannot trivialize that message, as though the resurrection has no power, because it does have power. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a marvelous gift whose effect we cannot minimalize in the face of the powerful negative messages hitting at us from every side from the media, from the workplace, from school, from family and in the marketplace. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a message for everyone, an important message that we have got to tell.

There is the story of a little boy and his father who were driving down a country road on a beautiful spring afternoon. Suddenly out of nowhere a bumblebee flew in the car window. Since the little boy was deathly allergic to bee stings, he became petrified. But the father quickly reached out, grabbed the bee, squeezed it in his hand, and then released it. But as soon as he let it go, the young son became frantic once again as it buzzed by the little boy. His father saw his panic-stricken face. Once again the father reached out his hand, but this time he pointed to his hand. There, still stuck in his skin, was the stinger of the bee. "Do you see this?" he said. "You don't need to be afraid anymore. I've taken the sting for you." And this is the message of Easter. We do not need to be afraid of death anymore. Christ faced death for us. And by His victory, we are saved from sin. Christ has taken the sting! First Corinthians 15:22 asks: "Where, oh death, is your sting?" Christ has taken the stinger for us. He has risen! Fear is gone. New life is ours !

Amen.