John 20. 19-31
When Jesus rises from the dead, all creation rises, as well!
Conservative Christianity is what the media calls it. Conservative Christianity is what it calls itself. Conservative Christianity. The Religious Right. Evangelicalism. And it would have us believe its roots go all the way back to Jesus himself. Bible based. Family oriented. Inerrant. Infallible. Truth is, Conservative Christianity is a relatively recent phenomenon and one unique to America. It dates back to the early Eighteen Hundreds, in New England. A reaction to European learning then gaining acceptance. A reaction against the newfangled theories, some Americans believed, would destroy that old-time religion. Theories like evolution. Like viewing the bible as any other ancient writing, in the context of its history. When. Where. How. It seems we Americans have always loved science, until it begins to threaten what we believe in. Then, it’s amazing how quickly we’re able to become skeptics. Given a choice between Darwin and god, we’ll choose god every time, science be damned! Letter for letter. Word for word. A real God-said-it-I-believe-it-that-settles-it kind of thing. Enter Conservative Christianity …
It was at a Bible Conference in Buffalo, New York, that fundamentalism took shape. Five points were adopted by the conference that every Christian – if they really are Christian – had to believe. Five basics. Five fundamentals. 1) The inerrancy of the Bible. 2) The virgin birth of Jesus. 3) The substitutionary theory of atonement. 4) the physical resurrection of Jesus. And 5) Christ’s imminent bodily return to earth. Sound familiar, don’t they! Later on, at other conferences, other basics would be added, over the years. Like an historical Creation, a certifiable Flood. But these five were the start. And if you didn’t subscribe to each and every one, well, you needed to go back and do it all over, again. Only this time, do it right! Like I said, it’s very, very American. And truth be told, it, probably, has more than just a toehold here, among us. And it all began because we just got scared. Scared of the thinking. Scared of the knowledge. And so, we reacted. Weaponizing the bible. Making scripture more sword than plowshare, more spear than pruning hook.
And among those first five fundamentals? The physical resurrection of Jesus. Every limb, every organ, every cell that went into the grave on Good Friday came out of the grave on Easter morning! The Jesus they put in the ground is the exact same Jesus that was raised up from it! And if you don’t believe that, you’re no Christian. And no doubt you can find a poll, online, with all the percentages! Of course, in real life – church included – there are other ways of understanding the resurrection. Ways that are still between the covers of the bible. The resurrection, even for the church, is not just like a tree with a single trunk. But it’s like a bush, with a variety of meanings, each on just as much a resurrection as any other.
Last week, I described one of them. “You are the body of Christ raised up for this world!” But, in all transparency, that one would never have been preaching in a Conservative Church. It was too symbolic. Not literal enough. Even though it comes from Paul! But as Americans, that, for us, is Easter. Literal. Inerrant. Infallible. So, after a while, we just stop liking, we just stop listening, for anything else, for anything more. Easter is a time (said bored and monotonously) when we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead. A heart, once stopped, beating again. Lungs that have drawn a breath for three days, inhaling. A cold body becoming warm. A rigid body becoming supple. What was put in the grave comes out. He is risen. He is risen, indeed. Literal. Inerrant. Infallible. And we miss so much! We miss that which makes all the difference!
Easter, the resurrection of our lord – of Jesus and of us – is about more than vital signs. More than pulse and temperature and respiration! This isn’t the time to call 9-1-1 to witness to the fact that “He lives”! Easter, the resurrection, if about nothing else, is about love! About love that sacrifices and suffers! About love that breaks and bleeds! The great love! The greater love! The love that never dies! The love that keeps coming back, no matter what! The love no one can hinder! The love no one can halt! But as Conservative Christians, we get stuck on the literal side. Shallow. Superficial. Worrying about how Jesus got through the doors. How he came back to life. Whether he’s man or ghost. If this is the same Jesus standing among the was the same one they saw locked away in the tomb.
We get so stuck on the physical resurrection of Jesus that we miss the meaning and the message. We look right around, right through, the reason there was a resurrection, at all! And that reason is the grace, the charity, the love! Jesus shows his hands, his side. He sends them as he had been sent. And it’s the great commandment, all over again! “Love! Love just like me!” That’s the reason for the suffering! The reason for the crucifying! For the dying! The burying! The descending! The rising, again! God so love the world! So loved everyone one! So loved everything! And Jesus rose so that you and I could go and do the same! So that we would be filled with the same breath! So that we would be animated, enlightened, inspired, by the same spirit!
The resurrection of our lord isn’t, simply, one man coming back to life, again. It’s bigger than that. Greater. More substantial. The resurrection of our lord is the rebirth of creation! Easter is the raising up of everyone and everything. When was the last time you heard that on television? When was the last time you read that on the spam left under your wiper blade? It’s not just about the physical resurrection of Jesus. It’s about us! Each of us! All of us! It’s about atoms and molecules, about planets and galaxies! That’s how John began the story. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” What was, is now, and ever shall be! That is the resurrection, too! The same word! The same god! At the end as it was at the start! The word, god, still loving! All things coming into being! With him! Through him! That’s Easter! The resurrection! Jesus raised from the dead! We are drawn after, in the wake! And none of it, none of it is taking the bible literally! It’s being loved! It’s being changed, being transformed, by that love! And then, it’s loving that love, living that same love, just like Jesus!
So, it’s Sunday evening. The doors are locked. They are afraid. And Jesus comes and stands among them! Jesus stands between them! But before he ever says a word … before he ever makes a sound … the world would change! Creation would never be the same, again!