Easter Joy
April 12, 2009
Mark 16:1-8
Christ is risen, and we are called to Easter joy. But not all joys are the same, and Easter joy is a particular variety. Therefore, before we continue this liturgy, we should make it very clear what Easter joy is and what it is not. Easter joy is not the joy you feel when you win the lottery. It’s not the joy that you feel when you have a perfect delivery of a new son or daughter. Those joys are perfect, without any shadow or cloud on the horizon. Easter joy is more complex. It has a darker dimension. After all, Easter joy was first discovered at a tomb.
It is clear that the joy of Easter is connected to sorrow, suffering, loss, and death. Not that we are supposed to rejoice in those things. In fact, whenever possible, we are called to avoid suffering and loss and pain. But when these unavoidable evils enter into our life, it is then that Easter joy is operative. When our life falls apart, when our friends leave us, when our job stinks, when our health fails, it is then that we turn to Easter joy. And Easter joy is possible even in the midst of pain, because Easter joy does not depend on us. It depends on God. In fact, the revelation of Easter is the revelation of how deeply God loves us, and what God intends to for us.
What became clear on that first Easter morning, what became obvious to the women at the tomb, was that God’s love was stronger than death. God’s power could conquer the grave. Jesus who suffered had been risen up. The one who was crucified had entered into a new kind of life. If God had been so faithful to Jesus, then we can dare to believe that God will be as faithful to us.
You see, what we believe on Easter is not simply that God raised Jesus from the dead, but that God plans to do the same for us. We believe that God plans to give us life. So Easter is not about celebrating our pain or sorrow, but believing that God will lead us out of them. As strong as evil may be, it is no match for God. We believe that God has the power and the intention to lead us out of death to life. Therefore it is the love and power of God which is the basis of our hope and the source of Easter joy.
But now we come to the practical question, which is in some sense the most important question. How do we get to Easter joy? If there’s pain or suffering in our life, how do we move to the joy of Easter? We get to the joy of Easter by embracing the cross we cannot escape. When unavoidable pain comes into our life, we are called to accept that pain in the light of Easter, to take up the cross as Jesus took up the cross, and to believe that God will lead us through that pain to life. Whatever that evil might be, whether it’s losing our job, dealing with a divorce that upsets our family, grieving someone who we have lost, fearing to grow old, or coping with a sickness that will not let us go—whatever that evil may be, once it becomes clear that we cannot get around it, we are called to take up the cross and walk through it. And we walk through it not on our own power, but on the power of God, whose love can conquer death.
God has not promised us that walking through that death will be easy or short, but what we have been promised is that, if we take up the cross with Christ, we will also rise with him—that even in our pain, we can with God’s help come to Easter joy.
So there is good news and not-so-good news in the message I just shared with you. The not-so-good news is: if your life is perfect, if you have no regrets or pain or struggles, then perhaps it will be difficult for you to understand the meaning of Easter. If you life is perfect, you will have to cope with this holiday as best as you can. So enjoy the ham. Delight in the Easter pastries. Celebrate the time you can spend with your family and friends. And be thankful. Be very thankful. But the good news is: if your life is not easy, if you worry about your family or your health or your future, if fear is your constant companion, then you have the choice of taking up the cross you cannot avoid and believing that God will help you carry that cross, because you believe in a God who raises the dead.
So on this Easter night, let us not just believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. Let us dare to believe that God intends also to raise us up. And let us have the courage and faith to take up the cross we cannot escape, believing that the burden we carry will not lead ultimately to the tomb, but to the resurrection, not to death, but to Easter joy.
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