Easter Sunday sermon... Grr

I have a problem with Easter Sunday sermons. My view on the resurrection tends to be a little different than most of my congregation.

First I read the Easter stories differently than most of them. We have a monthly evening called "Movies with meaning". We watch various movies and hold an all too brief discussion about the message of the movie. Last week's one was a science fiction movie called "The fifth element". It was quite a lot of weird and wacky fun, but with some sort of questioning of our lifestyle and values and a message. The fifth element turned out to be love. Only it had the ultimate power to overcome the horrible force of evil that was threatening the earth. (It was interesting, I don't think the older more staid people in the audience experienced the movie in the same way as younger minded folk. The old "modernity/post-modernity" division was apparent.)

I seldom watch science fiction, but when I have I have enjoyed the messages often given within the story. As I reflected on this one I could not help but think that much of the Bible is a bit like the Science fiction genre of story telling. Marcus Borg suggests a "Historical-Metaphorical" way of reading scripture. Historical -"What did the text mean in its ancient historical setting in which it is written?"  Metaphorical - "What does this story mean as a story, independent of its historical factuality." I think the resurrection stories happened like this. The disciples experienced the sadness and trauma of the death of Jesus. It was a real blow to them. They had left their normal lives to follow him, but now he was dead. Apart from the sadness, they would be struggling with the questions, "Was it worth it?" "What does it mean for the truths he taught?" "What on earth do we do now?" etc. Somehow in their struggles they had an experience that changed their lives. The penny dropped in their heart of hearts in a profound way that the movement of love, the Spirit behind the earthly life of Jesus, the truths he taught and lived out did not die on the cross, but were still present with them and in them. "He" was still among them, no matter what his enemies had done to him. This was a profound experience. "He" was still real to them. There was still the connection they experienced when he was with them, it was unbroken and even somehow deepened. They were indwelt with his reality. The problem they had was how do you communicate this experience and this reality. That's where I believe the resurrection stories evolved. If we try to read them literally there is some confusion. How do they fit together historically? What sort of "body" did Jesus have... he ate, he touched, yet seemed to pass through walls? So I choose to read them metaphorically, almost as science fiction pointing to the deeper truth of the undying movement of God still present, alive and powerful.

Secondly, I focus on a different message from the resurrection.  A hymn we use goes like this..... 

        "Once he died our souls to save; where's your victory, O grave? ..."

          "Made like him, like him we rise: ours the cross, the grave the skies."

Most of my congregation I think would say something like....

"Jesus died as a sacrifice for my sin. God brought him back to life so that I can be sure that when I die I will, like him, go to some place called heaven."  The Easter hymns and songs all send that message. It is all about us... and the rewards WE will get because Jesus died and lived again. 

My understanding is more like this;

Jesus died as the final act of a self-giving lifestyle which points to the way of God and the self giving love of God. The resurrection stories point to the truth that the disciples recognised, experienced and discovered after the crushing and horrible death of their leader. This truth was that death could not stop the movement of love. That self-giving, servanthood and love are still there, still bringing new life, still accompanying us and still working through us, even though evil killed Jesus. The spirit and life of Jesus, the truths he lived out were not killed on Calvary. So the resurrection for me affirms in a powerful way that I am living for "real" values. That the life in me as I live the way of Jesus (the way of "the Eternal") will continue to make a difference, in spite of the setbacks, the apparent evil and the apathy around me. 

Conventional "Christianity" in a way, perpetuates selfishness. "Halleluia! I will get to heaven!" is the message it celebrates on Easter Sunday.  For me, the resurrection stories affirm unselfish, self-giving love as the unconquerable, unbeatable and all powerful way of life. This gives us the power to be changed, to be liberated from a self-absorbing lifestyle and lets love loose in the world, to make a difference.

 So I survived an Easter Sunday sermon. I worded things in such a way that I was true to myself, but not offensive to people who need to read the stories literally. I tried to communicate the positive things I believed and not the things I didn't believe. I struggled during the sermon. There were interruptions... a little girl ran from the church and vomited on the carpet in the next door hall. Her mum and others went out to deal to it. The technology, sound system and music was not all it could be. But I had some good feedback from a number of people. One lady in broken English said, "I could take it in. My mind could accept it easily." A fifty four year old visiting policeman said, "Hey that was a different take on the resurrection and I could relate to that!" Another guy, a race horse trainer said, "Good stuff again! I enjoyed that, you keep banging them out don't you?" and others just grasped my hand in warm appreciation.

I finish with three illustrations I used.

On Friday as I transported and packed firewood in preparation for winter, a little fantail accompanied me. I stopped and whistled to it, and talked as it perched in the bush beside the path watching me. It bounced from branch to branch following me. When I came inside I went into my study. Next thing I heard a yell from the kitchen. "There's a bird in the kitchen!" Jean yelled. I suddenly realised, "He is still with me! That fantail has followed me!" That was the discovery the disciples had. You see I don't believe there was a resuscitated body wandering around Jerusalem, but they still had the profound, inner discovery, "He is still with me!"  That was the truth the early church was communicating through the resurrection stories.

I showed a photo of a tree on the Mt Cargill track. The tree had been blown over in its younger days, but had sent out roots and changed direction and kept growing. The life in the tree just would not die. So the life, love and movement of God in the life of Jesus, just would not and could not die when he was killed. It just changed direction and continued growing. (see the photos above)

Thirdly I talked of the life of Jesus making a difference today. I talked of the man in the photo above who attends our drop-in centre and how in the last year he had changed dramatically. Last week in one of the Dunedin Churches he was baptised. The life, love and presence of Jesus made the difference. The resurrection for me is not so much about a body walking around alive 2000 years ago, but bodies today walking around alive and loving because Jesus lives in and through them.