Easter Happens!

Matthew 28:1-10

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Look! It happened! It’s Easter! Easter happened! For those two Marys way back then, Easter happened! Even after the horrors of the suffering, the death, the grief, the crushing, world-as-they-knew-it-ending, how can anybody call it “Good” Friday… even after all of that… Easter happened!

Even after the darkness of Holy Saturday… that horrible, unnerving, unnatural, oppressive, quiet.  The quiet of an endless and total darkness. A darkness with absolutely no foreseeable end in sight… an endless darkness that fostered horrible anxiety… worries about tomorrow… worries about the months... and even the years to come. A disorienting, exhausting, trying-to-make-your-way-around and crashing into even the simplest of things, kind of darkness. Even after all of that… Easter happened!

Even after a sleepless night and an awful dawn. Even after exerting all the effort in the world just to swing their legs over the side of the bed and simply stand up. Even after a hopeless, duty-driven, auto pilot on, the-men-sure-as-heck-aren’t-going-to-go-so-we-better-go, walk to the tomb. Even after all of that… the angel said, “Do not be afraid” and Easter happened! 

Easter happened.  But not just that first Easter. Easter has been happening for over 2000 years! Kings and empires have come and gone and Easter happens. Countries rise and fall and Easter happens. Wars, famines, holocausts, hurricanes, earthquakes, genocides, and tsunamis happen around the world and Easter continues to happen. Even the calendars themselves got changed and still Easter happened. Through the greatest of human achievements, Easter happens. Through the greatest human failings and horrors, Easter happens. Even through the global spread of a pandemic, the likes of which no one has seen in over a hundred years… Easter happens!

THAT is today’s lesson. Easter ALWAYS happens! But not just that first Easter with two Marys going to the tomb and not just the annual Easter Sunday already set on the liturgical calendar for more years than any of us will even see. Easter ALWAYS happens whenever Good Friday times happen in our personal lives, in our family lives, in our work lives, in our national or global lives… whenever we experience life’s horrors… the suffering, the death, the grief, the crushing, world-as-we-know-it-ending times in our lives… whenever that happens… the truth is... that even after all of that... Easter, ALWAYS happens!

Whenever we languish in those dark Holy Saturday times in our lives… whenever it happens that we find ourselves in the horrible, unnerving, unnatural, oppressive, quiet of an endless and total darkness...  A darkness with absolutely no foreseeable end in sight… an endless darkness that fosters horrible anxiety… worries about tomorrow… worries about the months and even the years to come. A disorienting, exhausting, trying-to-make-your-way-around in utter darkness and crashing into even the simplest of things, kind of darkness. Even in those dark times… the truth is still... Easter ALWAYS happens!

The horror we face these days is not crucifixion. The darkness we endure in our time is not just three days long. The effort we make to swing our legs off the side of the bed and get up each morning is not to go to visit Jesus’ tomb, BUT into this and EVERY other kind of Good Friday experience… into this and every other seemingly endless length of Holy Saturday darkness that we endure… EASTER ALWAYS HAPPENS!

Easter isn’t just a single event that happened 2000 years ago. It’s also not just an annual event that comes on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the Vernal Equinox. No! Easter always happens because life, death, and resurrection is the pattern which God has baked into every molecule of creation.  Life, death, and resurrection is the way the world was made to work! God has done that because we humans have free will and we all act out of our brokenness, and God knows Good Friday times will happen.  There will always be horrors and unbearable grief. Holy Saturday times will happen too for the same reasons and they will be dark and seemingly endless… but…BUT... God has made it so that Easter always happens in the end!  The end of every story that begins in grief, always ends in JOY.  The end of every story that begins in darkness, always ends in LIGHT! The end of every story that begins in death, always, somehow, ends in NEW LIFE! Easter is the end to EVERY SINGLE STORY we live out in our broken world, including the story of this global pandemic.

You and I KNOW that regardless of the horror, grief, darkness, exhaustion and worry that we now endure... we know know that this story too will end, somehow, sometime... in LIFE.  And with the gift of that understanding, we have been given what we need to remind one another of that truth and to hold onto that truth in hope through ANY darkness.  With that gift of Easter understanding, you and I are called to be like that angel sitting on that rolled back stone.  You and I are called to be the ones to remind the people around us, that even in the midst of this pandemic horror... even through the unknown length of this pandemic darkness... we are the ones who are being called this Easter to tell the world, “Do not be afraid…  Easter always happens!” Amen.