Easter Doubt and Faith
April 3-4, 2010
Luke 24:1-12
Easter is the primary Christian feast. Jesus’ resurrection is not simply one of the things we believe; it is the foundation of who we are. Paul tells the Corinthians, “If Christ has not been raised from the dead, then our faith is in vain.” The resurrection of Jesus is what makes Christianity distinctive from any other religion. What does it tell us? We do not need the resurrection of Jesus to prove that there is a loving God. The Hebrew prophets revealed that centuries before Jesus’ birth. We do not need the resurrection to prove that we should love our neighbor. The law of Moses made that very clear. We do not need the resurrection of Jesus to assure us of life after death. Many of the great world religions believe in the afterlife, and most of the Jews of Jesus’ time believed that God would raise up the dead. What makes Christianity distinctive is that we believe that God has in fact raised up one man, one who was human like us, and that we who follow him will share in a like resurrection. This makes the beginning of Christianity easy to pinpoint in history. It emerges with an event, an event that happened about the year 33 in Jerusalem to one man, Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified by the Romans, died, and was buried. Yet God raised him up to a glorious new life, a life in which we are called to share.
What makes Christianity distinctive is not simply that we believe in the promise of eternal life, but that we believe that God has in fact allowed one person to already enter into that life. We are soon to follow. This then is the central truth of the Christian message.
It is not a truth easy to believe. It calls us to accept an event that is beyond our examination. There is no proof that it happened. We only have the witness of the earliest disciples who saw the risen Christ and touched his risen body. But we did not see the risen Christ and have not touched his risen body. That leaves the door open to doubt. You can hear in the gospel today that the earliest disciples did in fact doubt Jesus’ resurrection. It is easy to doubt. Perhaps some of us here have faced such doubts. When we lose someone who is close to us in death, it is easy to question, “Is that person really at peace and with God?” As we grow older and the reality of our own death comes into focus, we can begin to question, “Will I really share eternal life with God when this life is done?” There is nothing wrong with doubt. Doubts are honest questions. Doubts, if they are squarely faced, can lead us to a deeper faith.
In many ways the purpose of this homily tonight is to state clearly that central challenge of faith: that one man has been raised from the dead. Facing this claim we might ourselves ask, do we believe it? Do we believe that it promises us life eternal? If that leads to doubt, then it’s a doubt we must face. The struggle with doubt is the way faith can grow.
But how can we move beyond doubt? There is no proof. But there are signs, signs in our life that point to the truth of the resurrection. Let me offer two: the beauty of nature, the goodness of people. Martin Luther said, “God not only wrote the truth of Christ’s resurrection in the bible. God wrote it in every leaf of springtime.” No one can deny that springtime has been offering quite a display before us these last few days. Yesterday we were warmer than Miami. Tonight we experienced an early summer storm. As you feel the warmth of springtime, as you watch the buds unfold, as you see the new life, ask yourself whether those experiences could be signs that point you to a loving and powerful God who raised Jesus from the dead.
We can also see the signs of Christ’s resurrection in the love of people. There is a story told about an English fisherman who lived by the cliffs of Dover. He was a strong Christian believer. One day as he was cleaning his nets, a friend stopped him and said, “Prove to me that Christ is risen.” He said, “I can’t prove it. But do you see that cottage that sits on the cliffs? Every morning I go out to fish before dawn. For awhile I sit in the darkness waiting for the sun. But when the first rays of the sun come over the horizon, they reflect in the windows of that cottage, and I see that reflection even as I continue to sit in darkness. When I see that reflection, I know that the sun has risen. In the same way, when I see the love of the people around me and recognize in those people the love of Christ, I know that, if the reflection in the cottage windows tells me that the sun has risen, the reflection of Christ’s love in the people around me assures me that Christ is risen.”
In these upcoming days, look for the love of Christ in the people who love you. Look for that love in the commitment of your spouse, in the joy of your children, in the wisdom of your grandparents, in the warmth of your friends. When you see that love and its reality, ask if it can be a sign that points you to the love of God who raised Jesus from the dead and calls us to share in that resurrection.
The beauty of nature, the goodness of people: two signs that point to the truth of the resurrection. There is no proof, but if we let those signs speak to us, they can lead us through doubt and to the daring assertion that God in fact raised one man from the dead. We are called to share in that resurrection. That is the gospel. That is what makes us Christian. I believe. Amen. Alleluia.
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