3.23.08
Rev. Tom Tate
Rose City Park United Methodist Church (near the corner of NE Sandy and 57th.)
5830 NE Alameda, Portland, OR
HYPERLINK "http://www.rosecityparkumc.org" www.rosecityparkumc.org
"I Beheld It at Multnomah Falls: The New Creation
Isaiah 2:1-4
Easter: What comes to mind? Easter bunnies; do Easter bunnies lay eggs - with color designs? We have a new tree in our front yard. We didn't know if it died this last winter, but new buds are there. Alleluia! Maybe Easter is a day for your family to come together. I know it is a day when the church comes together in a kind of great reunion. It is day when we pull out the stops, and do our best here in the church to make this a great celebration. But Why? What is Easter?
This last Wednesday I was a bit preoccupied as I put my watch on. I didn't pay much attention to it. Then I looked at it again and noticed that the numbers seemed all jumbled: It was on upside down. Time was upside down. Now there is a picture of Easter. Go back 100 years or even 50 and compare it to our time now: In 2008 there is a woman and a man of color running for president of our country: now that is turning time and culture upside down for we Americans. The Portland State University Vikings made it into the NCAA Basketball Tournament. That's a change! They were playing #1 seed, Kansas. As the game was coming to a close, trailing by 25 points, the coach of Portland State gathered his players. The referees were telling them it's time to get on the court to finish the game. He ignored them. He was crying: Not tears of sadness or regret or embarrassment for being beaten so badly, but tears of pride. He was telling his team who did not give up how very proud he was of them. The world says we honor winners; Easter turns the world upside down, and honors those who don't quit.
Easter: What is it? A teacher, a prophet, a healer is charged with sedition: Threatening the peace and rule of Caesar. He was tried, convicted, sentenced and executed in one of the world's truly agonizing methods of death. But three days later there were reports: He's back! There were reports that his followers had experienced his presence. It's Easter: So what?
I will share with you that in the early church they certainly understood Easter in some very profound terms. It meant a lot of things, but resurrection meant at least these two: Jesus is alive, and Jesus is Lord. Resurrection meant that death did not have the last word, and it meant the powers of this world did not have the last word. So what does Easter mean for us living in the Year of our Lord 2008 right here in Portland, Oregon?
Recently, I shared a sermon series: "Things that make us or break us." My topics were: Anger, Grief, Guilt, Depression and Addiction." (Those sermons are on our website). What does Easter mean? How do we understand the meaning of this One which death could not hold? I think it means that God is present to help us deal in all these areas and more. To our "Anger" often connected to our fears, God says, "I will help you overcome your fear; I will help you face your fear, and walk through your fear - my perfect love will cast out your fear. You don't need to be afraid." To your "Grief," the losses and heartaches we all face, God says through Easter's light, "Even though you walk though he valley of the shadow of death, I will be with you. I will comfort you." To those living in guilt and shame of things done and not done, Easter is God's great waterfall of grace cascading down upon us washing away guilt and shame - and we all have it. We all have things we don't want others to know about us. But God knows these things, and says through Easter's understanding, "I know you; I know the things you've done, and I love you - forgive yourselves."
To those buried with depression, Easter says, "I will lift you up out of the miry bog, and set your feet on a rock - the Rock of Jesus Christ. I will not forget you." And to those caught in addictions, those prisons of helplessness and shame, that many of us live with, God says, Easter is my heart of courage for you, for a new beginning, allowing you to let go of your addictions, and let me help you live freely.
What is Easter? It is freedom and courage and strength and forgiving grace, and insight because this Holy Presence of Unstoppable Love is with us: He is alive! Death couldn't hold him. The Gospel shouts that if God can conquer death, God can also work miracles in our lives. In the Gospel of Matthew, I love the question that the angels ask Mary of Magdala who came to the tomb, "Why do you weep?" She weeps because she lost her best friend and Lord. She weeps because she lost the one who accepted her totally and gave her courage and meaning to life. Jesus was a really good man who was executed, and sometimes life just sucks! We weep for many reasons, but Easter announces: Death is not the last word and hope is alive, and healing and new beginnings take place.
The other fundamental affirmation that came out of the early church was: Jesus is Lord! The early church understood that in his death and resurrection, there was something great taking place. It wasn't just that there was an awareness of his presence once again and they could share that message of the kingdom. But, also God had won the battle with the powers of this world: Jesus had gone up against the authorities, the governments, the power structures of this world - those who control the world of politics, economics, religion and culture, and he was killed. The world said a very loud "No!" to Jesus. But, to the world's great "No!" God answered with a much louder, mighty "Yes!" It wasn't Caesar who was Lord; it was Jesus. It wasn't Caesar who ruled; it was Jesus. It wasn't Caesar in charge of Creation, but God in Christ.
That means that not only is time turned upside down, but that all creation has a new beginning: Caesars aren't in charge, but God's in charge. And, in spite of our fear of different people and customs and races and religions, God is bringing about a new creation. In spite of our propensity of trying to construct walls between people, saying "Our way is better than theirs," or "We're the Blessed of God and they are the cursed; in spite of our insistence that we are good and they are evil, God is making a new world for all, for we all are God's children: Indeed, as we pray, it is happening, "They Kingdom Come on earth as it is in heaven." This new world is Easter's affirmation!
What is Easter? It is God's powerful love at work among us, and all we can do is tell stories that give us a glimpse of Easter's meaning. You have, no doubt, been on the edge of your pew since I began, wondering what in the world Multnomah Falls has to do with Easter. "I Beheld It at Multnomah Falls: A New Creation?" Four or five weeks ago, my wife, Corinne and I, drove to Cascade Locks for a great hamburger. No, that was not the "New Creation," but it was close! Then we came back down the highway to Multnomah Falls, got out, and walked to the base of the falls. Corinne suggested we go up to the bridge - I should have caught on - because once we got there, she said, "Well, let's just go to the corner that overlooks the Columbia River. So we did. Then it was, "We've come this far, we might as well go to the top - we're practically there already." Boy was I taken in. But God works for good in all things, even my gullibility.
We went to the top and then came back down - obviously! But here's the thing: Have you been there recently? I was amazed at the United Nations that goes up that mountain side. I mean there were people from everywhere: Middle Eastern people, and Native American people and Asian and Hispanic people and black people and white people and those I couldn't identify, but I know they weren't just like me. There were families with young children and families with older people. There were thin people and the rest of us. Some were wearing correct walking shoes, and there were those on a date: You can tell because these nicely dressed young ladies were wearing high heels - I mean five inch spikes - to walk to the top of Multnomah Falls with their boy friends. And as we walked, and I saw who was there, I thought of the scene from Isaiah chapter two. You might say it is an Easter scene. It is Isaiah's picture of a new creation:
"In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that he may teach us his ways and that we might walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the word of the Lord. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." That's Isaiah's picture: A new creation filled with productivity so everyone has enough to eat, and lands filled with the goodness of God's peace.
Corinne and I went to a movie recently. We usually stay home and have a visit from NETFLIX, but we do love to go to a theater - I especially enjoy the previews. What struck me about the movies we were previewing that day was a common theme: People from other cultures than mine. These are movies reflecting our times: Two of them had English subtitles. The first was an award winning movie from Brazil, "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation." I imagine the language was Portuguese. It looked charming and delightful. The second was "Under the Same Moon," a movie in Spanish about immigrants to the U.S. from the south. Both movies featured young boys in the lead.
The third movie was of a white man, I don't know his name, but he is a familiar face. He came back to an apartment he owns, but is not there much - he lives mainly in another city. He arrived to find an African American couple living in his apartment: Squatters. At first it is very awkward; they will leave, but have nowhere to go, and no money. Out of sympathy, he reconsiders, and has them stay for a bit. Just from the preview it depicts how the couple shows him a different culture - music and life style, and he discovers the delight of a new life. They, the intruders become the blessing for his life. All three movies deal with learning about different cultures and people. It is Isaiah's picture of Easter: A New Creation that God is bringing about.
The early church understood that Easter was God's answer to life. And, they understood Easter in many ways. "Jesus is Alive," was one. It meant that death did not have the final answer; that there are always alternatives and options that are found in the God who never forgets us, whose love is unconditional and who always offers healing and hope.
Here is a picture of Easter: 42 years ago, Alma Linn Hayden gave up a baby boy for adoption. She felt she could not care for him as an unwed mother. She did leave her name in case he ever wanted to contact her, and of course, she would often think of the son she gave up for a better life for him, and for herself. Now, 42 years later, having moved on, married and given birth to two other sons, life turned in a desperate way. Clay, one of her sons, needed a kidney to live. All of the family were tested, but there were no matches. Then, not long ago, one afternoon, as Alma Linn was home, the phone rang. The voice said, "I'm David Lister, and I think you are my mother." Without hesitation, with that wonderful intuition, she replied, "I'm sure; you're my son. Where are you?" He said, "Outside your home in a car." With heart beating, Alma Linn said, "Can you come in?" It was a remarkable reunion.
As they spoke about lives and families, she had to tell him about Clay and his health condition. David offered to be tested. She said, "You don't even know him." David's reply, "He's my brother." There was no way she could stop him, and there was a match. So, in the same hospital where she had given up a son 42 years before, the operation took place, and Alma Linn gained two sons back. She said, "It's like life coming full circle." David now had another family, and her two sons were now three brothers. What's Easter, it's discovering we belong to each other - we are family bound by the relentless, unstoppable love of God.
They said in the early church, "Jesus is Lord," and that meant God was establishing a new order. Frederick Douglas, the African American abolitionist established a friendship with Abraham Lincoln. They visited many times. Doris Goodwin writes in her marvelous book, "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," "In subsequent speeches, Douglas frequently commented on his (Lincoln's) gracious reception at the White House. Douglas said, 'Perhaps you may like to know how the President of the United States received a black man at the White House.' 'I will tell you how he received me - just as you have seen one gentleman receive another.' As the crowd erupted into 'great applause,' he continued, 'I tell you - I felt big there!'" (p. 553)
That's Easter: God's love cleanses and fills us and makes us feel big! It makes us feel healed and whole and forgiven and human - knowing we are part of God's great family throughout this creation. Easter is our joining with the Spirit of Jesus, empowered by his love, and working toward, and living out God's great vision for the world that is drawing us relentlessly toward that time where we together, like a mighty chorus say for all to hear, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord; let us all go together, so that he may teach us his paths!" And together, celebrate the goodness of God.
Amen