“Running towards Resurrection”

Luke 24:1-12

Sermon by Rev. Caela Simmons Wood

Easter Sunday. March 31, 2024

What if the story of Easter morning isn’t all that special? 

Okay. I didn’t get hit by a lightning bolt for saying that out loud. That’s good. 

Celebrating Easter IS important. Although the wider culture certainly sees Christmas as the biggest Christian holiday, Easter is actually the highest holy day in the Christian calendar. There’s no doubt about that.

So why on earth would I wonder if the story of Easter morning isn’t all that special? 

Stay with me, okay? 

What I mean is that the story of Easter morning - the story of the empty tomb - is hardly unique. In fact, it’s but one of SEVERAL appearances of the Risen Christ. 

Now, I don’t know if I just wasn’t paying attention much as a kid but I honestly didn’t realize this until early adulthood. Which, I guess, isn’t that surprising. After all, it’s the story of the empty tomb that we always tell on Easter morning. We hear some of the other Resurrected Christ stories in the weeks following Easter but, um, you may or may not know this: those Sundays are not quite as well-attended as Easter Sunday. 

So somehow I never heard all these other stories. Maybe you haven’t heard them either? 

Immediately after the passage we heard today, Jesus appears to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They don’t know it’s him until they sit down to eat together. Something about that act of sharing a meal makes it suddenly snap into place for them: this is Jesus they’re talking to!

And right after that, Jesus appears to a big group of the disciples. He greets them, “Peace be with you!” and invites them to examine his body closely so they’ll know it’s really him. 

You may have heard the story of Thomas, who missed that first appearance of Christ in the Upper Room. Later, Jesus appears to the group again and Thomas is here this time. He had heard about the Resurrected Christ from his friends but had his doubts until he saw it for himself. 

In the gospels of Matthew and Luke, Christ blesses his disciples and commissions them to go out and share the story of God’s love with everyone they encounter. 

And then there’s my favorite Resurrection story in John 21, which I like to call “breakfast on the beach.” Pastor Sue gets to preach on this one next week (you should come to worship! It’ll be fun!). It’s a beautiful, dreamlike story of the Resurrected Christ appearing to his friends on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. In a clear parallel to the calling of the disciples at that same location, Jesus helps them find fish as they’re out on their boats. And then they all gather around a charcoal fire and have breakfast. 

This story is especially poignant because of our friend Peter. A few days earlier, Peter warmed himself by another fire and denied that he knew Jesus three times. And now, by this fire, Christ asks him three times, “Do you love me?” Three times Peter affirms, rather than denies. And three times Christ blesses Peter. 

This is to say nothing of the stories in Corinthians and Acts. Paul alone had at least three visions of the Resurrected Christ. And through the centuries, many other Christians have claimed the same: Julian of Norwich, St. Francis, and St. Catherine of Siena to name just a few. 

So the empty tomb is a great story, of course! But it seems funny to me that it’s often the ONLY Resurrection story we tell on Easter because, well, in today’s story Christ doesn’t even make an appearance! He’s nowhere to be found. Just an empty tomb and confused disciples. 

We have all these other Resurrection stories, though. The empty tomb isn’t the only one. 

And….Jesus’s resurrection is far from the only resurrection story in the Bible. I counted at least 9 others - some in the First Testament channeled by Elijah and Elisha. Several in the gospels are at the hands of Jesus: Lazarus, the young man at Nain, and Jairus’s daughter. And then a couple channeled by Peter and Paul in the book of Acts. 

So we have all these other Resurrection stories, too. It’s not just Jesus who was resurrected. 

I remember when I first heard this, my mind was BLOWN. I had been taught that the Resurrection of Jesus was a one-time-only, incredibly special, and unique thing that proved that Jesus was unlike any other human to ever walk the earth. ONLY Jesus was special enough to be resurrected. And it seemed that ONLY Jesus was special enough to do the resurrecting. When I discovered that there were other stories of other people both being and doing resurrection in the Bible? MIND. BLOWN. 

Perhaps, then, what’s special is not THE resurrection of Christ but Resurrection itself. THE resurrection is a one-time-only occurrence. But Resurrection with a capital R and no article in front of it - Resurrection as a concept is one of the absolute, essential components of the Christian faith. 

Perhaps it’s not the story of Easter morning itself that’s so special. It’s what the story POINTS TO that matters. 

This is good news, incidentally, for those of you who are sitting there like, “This whole thing is a bunch of hogwash. Dead people stay dead.” You’ll be happy to know you’re in good company - several of Jesus’s closest friends had similar reactions on Easter morning. The important thing isn’t whether we believe the stories happened exactly as they were relayed to us. The important thing is discerning what truths the stories point to. And those truths can hold power regardless of how the details of each individual story went down. 

Our faith ancestors were CLEARLY trying to tell us SOMETHING with all these Resurrection stories. It’s like they’re bonking us on the head with them, over and over again. A huge, flashing neon sign: “Resurrection this way!” An announcement over the loudspeakers, “Attention shoppers. This Resurrection thing is REALLY important.” 

The proliferation of Resurrection stories makes it feel more real, more impactful, just…MORE to me. Because when it’s just this one story about what happened to this one very special guy, it’s hard for me to connect the dots and figure out how it can matter in my life. If it’s just about what happened to Jesus 2000 years ago, maybe it’s not happening here and now. But if it’s happening over and over and over again? Well, then. That makes me sit up and take notice. Because maybe it’s still happening today. 

I need a little audience participation here. Can you find your Resurrection glasses? They might be in the pew back or in the bottom of your bag. Let’s put them on, shall we? And let’s go looking for Resurrection here and now. 

Resurrection is the world waking up around us every Spring. The birds start to sing. The grass greens up. The daffodils poke through. The earth looked like it was dead, but now it is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

Resurrection is a black plume of smoke on the horizon. The indigenous people who lived here for centuries before the settlers arrived knew that frequent, controlled burns helped keep our little corner of the earth healthy. The fields burn, then smolder, as dark as the tomb that Easter morning. The darkness makes space for new, green life to rise up fresh amidst the ashes. 

Resurrection is the woman who has been abused: driving all night long with a sleeping toddler in the backseat, hoping for a fresh start. And it’s the man in a suit and tie descending to the church basement on his lunch break to attend his first 12-step meeting. 

Resurrection is the kid going off to college, finally free of the bullies that tormented them in high school. And it’s the person who has applied for 100 jobs and finally gets that phone call with a job offer on the other end. 

Resurrection is the immigrant who has left everything behind, hoping and praying that they’ll find kindness at the end of their long journey. And resurrection is the parent of a trans teenager getting their pronouns and chosen name right again and again and again. 

Resurrection is Jesus on the beach giving Peter another chance. And it’s Christ lovingly saying to Thomas, “Put your hand just here, on my side.” Resurrection is the face of Love suddenly made known to the disciples in the breaking of the bread. And it’s Christ saying “Peace be with you,” and “Remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 

Resurrection is Love running towards us over and over and over and over. Even when we don’t think we deserve it. (Perhaps especially when we don’t think we deserve it.)

Resurrection is Love running towards us, and it is also this: 

When the women went and told the disciples about the empty tomb, the disciples wrote them off. The author of Luke says, “The women’s words seemed to the disciples an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter - BUT PETER! -  got up and ran to the tomb

Peter got up and ran. He ran in his fear and shame. He ran, looking like a fool and a saint. He ran because of all that was left undone and all that he wished he could undo. 

Peter ran towards mystery and possibility. He ran towards Love. He ran towards hope. Peter ran towards Resurrection. 

Beloveds, it is my prayer for you that you will find the strength, the courage, the stamina, the humility, the curiosity, the doubt, and the faith to run towards Resurrection, too.