"Living With Jesus"

First Presbyterian Church
Peter S. Buehler
March 23, 2008; Easter
Matthew 28:1-10

Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!"
And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him.

So there is this wonderful moment in the Gospel story when Mary Magdalene and the "other Mary" are running to tell the disciples about the empty tomb and about the angel who had just spoken with them, when whom should they meet on the road but Jesus himself.

The women had just come from an experience that could hardly be described -- a huge earthquake, an angel descending from heaven, single-handedly rolling away the stone that had been sealed into the tomb by Roman soldiers, the angel then hopping up and sitting on it, as if to say, That was easy! Then realizing that No, they were not hallucinating, they were not dreaming -- the guards standing nearby had obviously seen what they had seen and were shaking like leaves, their teeth rattling like cups and saucers in an earthquake. If that weren't enough, the angel had addressed them clearly and calmly, telling them not to be afraid, that Jesus the Crucified was not there -- they could come into his tomb and see for themselves, if they wished. Satisfied that he had indeed risen from the dead, just as he'd said, they were to head north to Galilee quickly and tell the disciples everything. Last but not least, the angel told them that Jesus was headed in that direction himself; they would see him there in Galilee.

Matthew tells us that the women took off like runners out of starting blocks, filled with equal parts of fear and great joy. But the story doesn't stop there. Something happens on the way. Who should meet them but the Lord himself.

It's a wonderful part of the Easter story. After Jesus' resurrection, Jesus was always showing up when people least expected it -- not that his disciples ever expected it. But it's how he greets the women that's so surprising. Because what we would expect is something formal, something spiritual-sounding , something dramatic, something starting with Behold, or Verily I say unto you.

How does Jesus greet the women he meets on the road, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary? What are the first words the risen Christ speaks to his followers?

Scholar Dale Bruner tells of a pastor friend who asked this question in a children's sermon: "What were Jesus' first words to his disciples after he was raised from the dead?" He was all set to give the answer from Matthew, when a little girl waved her hands eagerly. He held off answering and deferred to her. "I know, I know," she said: "'Tah dah!'"

 And really, if anyone deserved a Tah dah! it was Jesus, risen from the dead.
What a feat! Amazing! The world had never seen anything like it! Could there be anything more utterly convincing that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, than the amazing drama of the resurrection! But why, then, didn't he capitalize on it?
Why didn't he immediately appear to crowds, to tens of thousands, with more earthquakes, more people falling on their faces with fear and trembling and unshakable faith?

What happens is far more quiet, subdued -- and real. The way Jesus greets Mary Magdalene and the other Mary is surprisingly real. Our version of the Bible translates the Greek word chairete as "Greetings!" which expresses both the warmth and familiarity of a down-to-earth Savior. The King James Version has a more Tah Dah! sound, with Jesus saying, "All hail." Eugene Peterson, in his contemporary New Testament version of the New Testament, has Jesus greeting the women with a friendly, "Good morning!"

But the translation of chairete that comes closest to what Jesus would say today is simply, "Hi!" Jesus' first word to his disciples after his resurrection was "Hi!"

We go from a huge earthquake, from an angel descending to earth in plain sight, rolling away a stone, scaring the guards half to death, telling the women that Jesus had meant what he said about being raised from the dead -- we go from hi-tech special effects to no-tech, no-effects ordinary everyday human casual laid-back cheerful "Hi!"

I don't know how many times I've read the Easter story in the New Testament, but frankly this is the first year I have realized that Jesus' first word to his disciples after his resurrection is a word we would say to a friend we'd just seen just a day or two before.

The message is that the resurrected Christ is our friend. That the Crucified Christ is present with us not as One who makes impossible demands, not as One who frowns on our failures, not as One who calls us to stop being human -- to stop smiling or crying -- rather this Christ finds us as we are walking our paths, coming up to us and greeting us warmly, unpretentiously, and cheerfully as friends.

Earthquakes and angels on the one hand, Jesus saying "Hi!" on the other. Easter is amazing! Theologians speak of God's transcendence and immanence, God's being utterly above us and different from us, and at the same time in Christ near to us and human with us -- here we see it all in these ten verses of Matthew's Gospel.

What is Easter about?

I have happy associations from my childhood. My early memories are of my Mom's beautiful Easter baskets which she put together for my sister and me, brightly decorated baskets filled with chocolate -- little foil-covered eggs and big chocolate bunnies. It's no wonder I'm addicted as an adult: she got me hooked on chocolate as a child. We'd tear the baskets apart and delight in the goodies, then go hunt for Easter eggs and fill our baskets again. Then we'd eat hard-boiled eggs, and egg salad, and sliced egg sandwiches, and so forth until we got sick of cold, hard eggs.

I remember vividly the church of my childhood, the women with hats and white gloves, the men in suits, the kids dressed in clothes we wouldn't otherwise be caught dead in. I remember the music at Easter, that the singing sounded great with so many voices.

What I don't remember hearing was that after his resurrection, Jesus greeted his disciples the same way I greeted my own friends. That Jesus wasn't scary or strange; that he wasn't some unearthly God in human form bathed in spiritual light hovering above the ground, but rather the same quiet, kind, courageous, accessible Savior the Gospels describe, the same Christ who loved children, and poor people, and rich people, and bad people, and hurting people.

What is Easter about? It's different from what we think. The Gospels don't describe how Jesus was actually raised from the dead; they're silent on how it happened. There's not even a modest amount of speculation. No attempt to explain the mysterious, the extraordinary, the most wonderful and astounding answer to humanity's weary assumptions about life -- that what's in front of our eyes is all there is, that death has the last word, that God by nature is angry and unforgiving and austere, that God's love is finite and therefore must be deserved to be received, that ultimately we are on our own in this world, that only the strong survive. The Gospels say it in surprisingly few words -- way more words are devoted to Jesus' betrayal, trial, suffering, and execution than are used to tell of his resurrection. It's as though the New Testament is saying Go and find out for yourselves about this Jesus, this Christ whom no grave, no tomb, no darkness, no place of cynicism, or disbelief, or discouragement or despair could contain. Go live your life in faith and trust and discover again and again the One whose love in undying.

This is Easter. Living with Jesus, finding hope and life in him -- this is Easter.
Living with one another practicing his way of peace -- this is Easter. It is not a religion so much as it is a way of life, it is walking with our heads up ready to greet strangers as friends.

That Jesus is alive and present with us -- with us on our journeys of faith, with us in times of sadness and loneliness, as in times of gladness and confidence -- this is good news; it is profoundly good. Imagine how it sounded to Peter and the disciples whose last memory was of abandoning their Lord, denying him, running for their lives in shame -- imagine how it sounded to them that Christ was risen, that they would see him in Galilee, that they were again his "brothers."

Easter is about new life -- not just for Jesus but for the flawed followers of Jesus.
Easter is about forgiveness. The Crucified One, the Man nearly everyone stopped believing in, is the same One who believes in people like us.
No matter who we are, no matter how many doubts we have, no matter how many unanswered questions we have, no matter what our past looks like, no matter what our present looks like, no matter how young or old we are, no matter how spiritual we are, no matter how committed we are to keeping our lives as they are -- we have enough stress as it is, we don't need more changes!

Easter, of course, is the most profound change; Easter is an open door to God's heart. Easter is about forgiveness, which is God's way of saying Yes to us and Yes to our world, even if it takes a cross to prove it.

Easter is about not being afraid.

Senator Obama spoke to us earlier in the week about something that's deep in America's soul, something we have struggled with for centuries and still do today.
He urged us to deal with issues of race and racism -- he was personal in his remarks, so we are invited to think about our own lives and attitudes in a personal way. Essentially the issue is fear: we have an opportunity today to deal with our fear. To get beyond racial divisions and work together on challenges we face together -- to not be afraid of getting beyond old barriers and tired ways of thinking.

After the risen Christ greets the women as their friend, his next words are Do not be afraid. I think what Jesus means by not being afraid is Don't be afraid of what is good; don't be afraid of what is possible; don't be afraid of what is needed. So we must not be afraid to believe. We must not be afraid to pray. We must not be afraid to sacrifice. We must not be afraid to forgive. We must not be afraid to love.

Easter is about people. It is about the world we live in, how we live in it -- how we show kindness, respect, grace and generosity to our neighbors across the street, across town, across our country, across our planet.

For this reason, Easter is not one Sunday a year, it is today -- and then it is tomorrow, and then it is the next day, and then the day after that, until all of life is Easter.

For the Lord is risen! He is risen indeed!