Easter Day Homily
2014: Br. Clark Berge, SSF
Church of the
Epiphany
Los Angeles, CA
Christ is risen!
“He has been raised just as he said!” The angels cried
from the tomb.
We heard last night how the message was carried by the
women to the disciples: “Christ is risen!”
“God raised Jesus from death,” Peter says in Caesarea (as
we hear this morning)—and presumably everywhere else that he went.
Paul proclaimed: “If Christ were not raised from the
dead, then our faith would be in vain.”
The Resurrection is what makes us Christian—not just the
social teachings of the New Testament. Actually what makes us Christian is not
just what we do, but believing what God has done, and is doing, in Jesus Christ
in the whole world.
I think it is almost impossible to convince anybody about
Christ’s Resurrection. You can talk until you are out of breath—for some folks
it sticks like a bone in the throat. But what does convince, has always
convinced, it is when lives are transformed: when people see the power of the
Resurrection in acts of generosity and courage.
Of course, people who say they don’t believe in anything
are also generous and brave, and I am tempted to explain their reluctance to
ascribe God credit to a failure of religion, rather than a lack of faith. God’s
power is at work in us whether we know it or not; God has never been limited by
what human Beings think is creditable or possible. This is what we celebrate
this morning—the impossible is made possible, believe it or not: God raised
Jesus from the dead!
The proof of the Resurrection—do you need proof? The
proof I’d point to is the miracle of people getting sober in parish halls and
church basements around the world. Every day the impossible becomes possible: and
for many, only because they turn their life and their wills over to God. It is this
same God who raised Jesus from the dead who then raises them from the grave of
ruined lives and shattered relationships, to a life most of us cannot even
imagine when we are in the grip of addiction.
It is this “beyond imagining” quality of Resurrection
that is one of its Scriptural hallmarks and stands as a corrective to our pet
projects and fondest hopes.
You can only coast on liturgical excitement for so long,
my friends (and this is rather exciting, isn’t it?). Sooner or later you will
be forced to look into the empty tomb for yourself and decide in your hearts to
claim this great power of resurrection.
And then who knows what will happen in your life? This
morning graves are opened, angels speak; Mary Magdalene is empowered as a
witness to the resurrection. Today miracles abound. Are you ready to surrender
to this redeeming grace? Are you ready to turn your life and your will over to
God? Are you ready to allow the resurrection of Jesus to agitate your mind and
inspire your heart? With God, all things are possible.
