Easter Sunday – April 20, 2025: The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
And “Χριστός Ανέστη!” “Αληθώς Ανέστη” “Καλό Πάσχα!” “Christ is Risen!” “Truly [he is] risen!” “Happy Easter!” to all our Eastern Orthodox sisters and brothers in Christ, who today are also celebrating Easter Sunday. This doesn’t happen all the time, that we are celebrating the day together, so it is a wonderful thing when we are in alignment and the whole of Christendom is celebrating together. And in our various parts of the world, at our different times – we are listening to the story of the empty tomb. As we are in Year C in the Episcopal Church, we are hearing the account of the resurrection of our Lord from the Gospel of Luke, which is a very fitting for the time in which we are all living.
Now, just the Cliff Notes version: The women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and more who are unnamed, are bearing spices to anoint the body of Jesus, early in the morning. And here is what happened. The stone had been rolled away, the body of Jesus was gone, and there were instead two people in dazzling clothes – angels or messengers of God. The angels said to the women “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, … that the Son of Man must be handed over and crucified, and on the third day rise again.” And at that moment, the women remembered his words…
The angels, in imploring them to remember the teachings of Jesus, were acknowledging something about these women – that they were disciples – ones who were taught by him alongside all the others. Of course, we could have figured that out far earlier, when this author in chapter 8 tells us that they financed the ministry of Jesus. But moving on, as they were his disciples, they did hear him say he would die, and then he would rise again. So, when they went to proclaim the good news, they became the first disciples to become apostles – the ones sent – moving from students to teachers, in a sense.
And what happens next? According to the text, the guys think it is an “idle tale.” The original Greek word there is “leros,” which is the root of the word “delirious.” They think the women have lost their minds. They think their cheese has slipped off their cracker! They react to the first Easter proclamation of the resurrection not with “He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” but with “Right…sure. You’all just sit over there on the porch and we’ll bring you a sweet tea in a minute.” And we throw Thomas under the bus? This is about when the risen Lord does a face palm on the road to Emmaus and thinks “I should have just called 12 women.”
You know, I also read one commentary on this text in which the author said “We have an untold number of women…experiencing an event beyond normal human comprehension and their testimony being dismissed by men, who seem to fall into the same old pattern that attended ancient male-dominated societies.” Ancient male-dominated societies? This had to be written by a guy (it was). So, I will do a little mansplaining back and say “Well actually, there is nothing “ancient” about this at all. Just ask any woman who has worked in a corporation, or for that matter the church. Heck, just ask any woman who ever lived.”
But, as much as there is a lesson there about how we treat women in our society, there is something else we need to focus on today, especially with all that we are experiencing in the world right now. So, let’s take a closer look.
The angels said to the women “Remember what he said to you.” And they remembered – which changed everything – for them, and for the world.
Remember.
That is exactly what we need today. We need to remember what Jesus teaches us.
Maybe that is why we are seeing a lot of new people coming to church lately, and the numbers of folks that claimed to have no faith decreasing in recent research studies. Perhaps they sense a need. That there is something missing in their lives, something they maybe once heard about – either in church when they were young, or from others. Something life giving.
Perhaps it is also why you are here today too – to remember. Okay, some of you came because someone else in the family made you, I know. And some came for the Easter Egg hunt later, which, because they are not real eggs, did not cost the Easter Bunny a small fortune. Still, most of you came, I hope, because there is something about this story – about our faith – that we all need right now.
And so that we ourselves may remember, we tell once more the story of the women who came to the tomb in grief. They were expecting to see the result of the Roman execution of their beloved rabbi – to bear the horror of the tyrannical acts of those in authority, and those who acquiesced to it. Their hearts were broken, their spirits worn. They likely were, like their male counterparts, fearful of what was to come. Yet in the angels charge to remember what they were taught by Jesus – they came to know what that empty tomb really meant. It changed them. It changed all who heeded their words. It changed the world. And, it will change us too, if we do as they did.
In this moment of our lives, where every day can seem like a struggle to get through, we need to remember all that Jesus taught us. We need to remember the empty tomb. And we need to be like the women – proclaiming it, even when others refuse to listen.
Because to remember and proclaim the resurrection is to lay claim to the knowledge that evil and all it brings – injustice, oppression, hate, bigotry, violence – none of its destructive powers have any hold on us. It is an act of faith, yes, but also of defiance, of courage, of strength in the face of all that swirls around us – that is the power of the hope the empty tomb gives to us. That is the power of Christ’s resurrection.
It reminds me of the oft quoted tale of the warrior who is facing a storm: “Fate whispered in her ear: ‘You’re not strong enough to withstand the storm.’ She whispered back: ‘I am the storm.”
Easter reminds us of who we are in the face of the storms in which we live. It is Jesus whispering in our ear – “Remember – I was not there – the tomb was empty – tyranny and death did not have the last word – God did! And God always will!” And that – that gives us something far more powerful than anything the world can throw at us – hope.
That is why we come here – and not only on Easter Sunday too. We come here, worn from the tombs of our despair, to be reminded of God’s triumph over death. To be filled with the hope that powers through all the storms we face. And we come here at this table in remembrance of the love and grace of Jesus offered unconditionally to us.
But make no mistake – this that we do here today, when we take in the body and blood of Christ – it is not a remembrance meal. For while we do this, as he commanded, in remembrance of him, it is not a recreation of something that happened long ago. In the Eucharistic feast Christ becomes truly present with us, here, now! The resurrection we celebrate happens once again.
The radical truth of the Easter proclamation is that Jesus didn’t just get raised from the dead a few centuries ago, but is getting resurrected every day, all around us, and most especially in us whenever we gather here at this table, whenever we remember all that he teaches us! And folks, there is nothing more powerful and life giving than the experience of the risen Christ.
And here’s the thing about the resurrection: Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, so he could appear all around town, and say “Look who’s BACK!” (although THAT would have been awesome!). None of his life, nor any part of his death & resurrection was about that at all…it was about preparing us to live as he lived, to love as he loved. To go and find him, because he left that tomb and is on the loose!
The women were the first apostles, sent to tell the world the hope found in the resurrection – sent to love and to serve him in the world. Now it is our turn. Now we leave the empty tomb, sent to proclaim the good news, sent to love and to serve him.
Like the women apostles, we may be grieving the tomb like darkness of the evil we see and feel in this moment. But Easter reminds us as we enter the tomb not to search for the living among the dead – Jesus made that unnecessary. Christ is alive!
Christ is alive – in you and in me!
Go instead in search of the dead among the living – seek them out – and in your love and service to the Jesus in them, the Jesus calling out to us not to forget him – join God in the resurrection work She is already doing in the world!
Where will we find him? Where will we find Jesus? Well, remember this that he taught us too: That he will be in the poor, the stranger (immigrant in today’s terms), the sick, the imprisoned, the oppressed, and the marginalized. He is also in you and in me.
So, remember him, remember his words, take in his love and grace, experience his resurrection here, and then proclaim the empty tomb. Tell all the world that there is no darkness that his light cannot overcome, no hate that his love cannot heal, no death that his life cannot defeat.
As we pray on Good Friday, “let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new.”
And, let the world know that there is no earthly power that is greater than the compassion, love, and grace of God working in us and through us.
Some may think you’re delirious too, but that’s okay, because as our former Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry once said, “We need some crazy Christians!”
So go on now!
And when the world starts hammering away at you – trying to push you once more into a tomb of despair, fear, and grief – come here to remember what he taught you.
Come here to remember what this empty tomb means.
Then leave from here to proclaim it for this grieving world to hear.
The Lord is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
And because of this – everything changes.
Because of this – we will not grieve, but rise up triumphantly to face the storm, which has no power over us.
Because of this we come to know that, in fact, we are the dang storm, and we will shower the world with hope.
Hope that will transform the world – from darkness into light, from hate into love, from death into life.
Happy Easter Everyone!
Amen.
For the audio, click below, or subscribe to our iTunes Sermon Podcast by clicking here (also available on Audible):
The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
April 20, 2025
Easter Sunday – Year C
1st Reading – Isaiah 65:17-25
Psalm 116:1, 10-17
2nd Reading – Acts 10:34-43
Gospel – Luke 24:1-12
