"Your Divine Assignment (Should You Choose to Accept It)"
Easter 2018
by Rev. Peter Heinrichs
This sermon is the sole property of Rev. Peter Heinrichs. Reproduction of its content in whole or in part is only possible by permission by Peter. For permission contact Peter via email: [email protected].
Thank you.
One thing the Gospel writer John is not known for is a sense of humor. Many other things, yes; a sense of humor, no. Yet do I hear a faint chuckle behind our Easter text this morning? Perhaps it’s John, or perhaps it’s God chuckling at our expense: Look folks, just when you thought all was said and done with Jesus, behold I was not even close to done, not with Jesus, not with you. HA!! {Whoa, where did that come from? That was more than a chuckle}. Further, please note
that the word “announce” here can properly also be translated “proclaim,” a word associated with “preaching.” So – the very first Christian sermon was preached by a woman and her sermon was only five – count’em “I have seen the Lord,” FIVE words long! Preachers please take note.
Can you hear a faint chuckle out there somewhere in the universe?
“I have seen the Lord,” preaches Mary. She means that salvation has come. What if Easter, then, is an invitation to a new way of seeing? A new take on everything? All the barriers between us and a deep and intimate relationship with God have been removed. The only barrier that remains is our own insistent and insane idea that there is a barrier. . We, too, have seen the Lord. Maybe we just didn’t recognize Him because we were so busy looking for something else.
Too often we think of being truly Christian as being “holy” or “spiritual” or belonging to a tribe called “Christian.” Easter then becomes some kind of sign-up membership opportunity to seek our worthiness for something we are not (yet).
I say to you instead that Easter is recalling us to remember what we already are – God’s beloved sons and daughters. The slate is wiped clean. We choose to believe this and begin from here. As Irenaeus, a Christian theologian of the second century once wrote: “The Glory of God is a human being fully alive!” So our job – our divine assignment – our Easter Mission – should we choose to accept it – our job is to practice resurrection and come alive!
Fortunately, life gives us many opportunities for Easter practice. A few weeks ago I received an invitation to my 50th High School reunion which will be held in May. I doubt I’ll go – it’s really expensive and I haven’t seen nor heard from a soul in thirty years except for annual fund time when I get a letter from a classmate reminding me of our past friendship which I never remember in quite the same way. At any rate, in preparation for our 50th the school is presenting a 50th Anniversary yearbook with information about what we’ve all been up to since graduation. There was a questionnaire to fill out and the last question was: What are my plans for retirement. (I am, after all, 67 years old).
The question stumped me. I have no immediate plans for retirement. I thought about what plans I might have, and wrote in, “I plan to grow in wisdom and love.” Now, I’m sure whoever reads these things and puts the book together probably rolled his or her eyes and thought to themselves, “What a 1960’s, hippy, baby boomer thing to say. He’s probably got a wispy grey comb-over and fading peace signs all over his car.”
OK. I get it. “I plan to grow in wisdom and love” is not a plan. It is, however, a willingness to be present now to what my life and my God have to offer. It takes practice because sometimes being fully alive looks a little odd even to those closest to us. My plan includes the following:
How about you? Where are you coming alive? What’s dawning on you this Easter? Where have you heard the Lord calling you to laugh, to love, to have a light touch on your own story?
I ask you to stand with me this Easter. Don’t be embarrassed to announce, “We have seen the Lord.” Let us go out to our brothers and sisters and proclaim, “He has risen – and I have come alive!!”
A blessed Easter to each and everyone! Amen
that the word “announce” here can properly also be translated “proclaim,” a word associated with “preaching.” So – the very first Christian sermon was preached by a woman and her sermon was only five – count’em “I have seen the Lord,” FIVE words long! Preachers please take note.
Can you hear a faint chuckle out there somewhere in the universe?
“I have seen the Lord,” preaches Mary. She means that salvation has come. What if Easter, then, is an invitation to a new way of seeing? A new take on everything? All the barriers between us and a deep and intimate relationship with God have been removed. The only barrier that remains is our own insistent and insane idea that there is a barrier. . We, too, have seen the Lord. Maybe we just didn’t recognize Him because we were so busy looking for something else.
Too often we think of being truly Christian as being “holy” or “spiritual” or belonging to a tribe called “Christian.” Easter then becomes some kind of sign-up membership opportunity to seek our worthiness for something we are not (yet).
I say to you instead that Easter is recalling us to remember what we already are – God’s beloved sons and daughters. The slate is wiped clean. We choose to believe this and begin from here. As Irenaeus, a Christian theologian of the second century once wrote: “The Glory of God is a human being fully alive!” So our job – our divine assignment – our Easter Mission – should we choose to accept it – our job is to practice resurrection and come alive!
Fortunately, life gives us many opportunities for Easter practice. A few weeks ago I received an invitation to my 50th High School reunion which will be held in May. I doubt I’ll go – it’s really expensive and I haven’t seen nor heard from a soul in thirty years except for annual fund time when I get a letter from a classmate reminding me of our past friendship which I never remember in quite the same way. At any rate, in preparation for our 50th the school is presenting a 50th Anniversary yearbook with information about what we’ve all been up to since graduation. There was a questionnaire to fill out and the last question was: What are my plans for retirement. (I am, after all, 67 years old).
The question stumped me. I have no immediate plans for retirement. I thought about what plans I might have, and wrote in, “I plan to grow in wisdom and love.” Now, I’m sure whoever reads these things and puts the book together probably rolled his or her eyes and thought to themselves, “What a 1960’s, hippy, baby boomer thing to say. He’s probably got a wispy grey comb-over and fading peace signs all over his car.”
OK. I get it. “I plan to grow in wisdom and love” is not a plan. It is, however, a willingness to be present now to what my life and my God have to offer. It takes practice because sometimes being fully alive looks a little odd even to those closest to us. My plan includes the following:
- I plan to hold my wife and partner Susan’s hand sometimes in public, especially when it embarrasses my adult children
- I enjoy and am proud of out-there gay friends who challenge me on what it really means to be a man
- I would rather spend an hour with a person who knows how to handle disappointment in his/her life than a minute with the world’s greatest scholar and expert on anything at all
- I stand with anyone who knows that real power comes from the inside and not from the outside world
How about you? Where are you coming alive? What’s dawning on you this Easter? Where have you heard the Lord calling you to laugh, to love, to have a light touch on your own story?
I ask you to stand with me this Easter. Don’t be embarrassed to announce, “We have seen the Lord.” Let us go out to our brothers and sisters and proclaim, “He has risen – and I have come alive!!”
A blessed Easter to each and everyone! Amen