[Oe List ...] Easter Reflections

[John Epps via OE]

Coming to terms with the meaning of the Easter story for us is difficult
since times and world-views have changed. We find it difficult even to
grasp what it meant for those who first told it, much less for us. Yet we
are compelled to try by Paul’s admonition, “If Christ is not raised, then
our faith is in vain.”  (I Cor. 15:14)


One factor in the story must be recognized: this is a tale of a bodily
resurrection, not a “spiritual” one. The risen one takes pains to force
people to touch his wounds and so dispel the notion of an ectoplasmic
appearance. Whatever the implications, they are physical, this worldly. The
second factor is that stories of dying and rising gods (or superheroes)
were widespread throughout the Ancient Near East and ancient Greece.


So what unique implications can we draw from the story that are important
today? Another way to ask it is “Where today do we experience death and
resurrection?”


Both occur at the individual, natural, and corporate levels. A word about
each: Lately I have “died” when the classes I have taught for 15 years were
cancelled; I was “raised” when the University called on me for 3 new
classes. The slow and painful death of a dear aunt was followed by a
celebration honoring her life that brought back the wonder of her artistry
and love. These may seem trivial examples but dramatize the dynamics in the
story: Death/Resurrection happens to us all.


In nature, “Resurrection” has long been a metaphor for the return of plant
life in the Spring, at least in the Northern hemisphere. And certainly, the
emergence of leaves on barren trees, of green in brown fields, and flowers
from “dead” plants seem quite miraculous.


At the corporate level, the death and dying dynamic seems much more obvious
that does resurrection. Many of our hopes and dreams died with the November
election. The horrors and complexity of the Middle East conflicts and the
appearance of global warming both represent a death to life as we have
known it. What resurrection will look like remains to be seen.


Numerous efforts taken for environmental protection certainly mark an
awakening to the need for change, but are faint heralds of a resurrected
life. Numerous conferences aimed at achieving some sort of resolution of
Middle East conflicts so far remain fruitless. As the story goes, it’s God
who does the raising, not us. And when it occurs, it’s far beyond our
expectations.  As I have said elsewhere, “Humankind has unimaginable
capacities to screw things up; yet Mystery generates unaccountable wonders
out of our messes.” (*Theology of Surprise*, p. 39) Our current situation
brings to mind a sermon that we heard in the Philippines during the last
days of Marcos. It was entitled “It feels like Friday, but Sunday is
A-Coming!”


Whether we’re enmeshed in the death or the resurrection part of the
dynamic, both are operative. That’s what Easter celebrates.
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