RESURRECTION PEOPLE

This morning, I had the unique opportunity to see all of my worlds meet in a parking lot in downtown Nashville. Second Presbyterian held its annual sunrise service at the Campus for Human Development this morning on a record cold day. We bundled up and met under a tent, worshiped and then fed breakfast to the crowd. My family visited me this weekend, so it was nice to have them, those with whom I work, and those with whom I attend church together in one setting.

I was asked to give the sermon, which I did. It was a spirit-filled morning, to say the least. As each of us who introduced the service said, there is no place on earth any of us would rather be on Easter morning. The Campus can be a place of great sadness, as it was last Friday when the gentleman attempted to take his own life, but, as a parallel to the biblical story, Sunday morning was a day of hope.

Here is the sermon I gave.

RESURRECTION OF THE LORD SUNDAY / EASTER MORNING AT SUNRISE
ISAIAH 65: 17-25
JOHN 20: 1-18

Sunday, April 8, 2007
The Campus for Human Development
Jeff Moles

WHY ARE YOU WEEPING?

Those of us who spend a lot of time in this place, as I and many of you do, know that this is an unlikely place for people to come to celebrate the first moments of Easter Sunday. All too often, these streets are a place of sadness and violent words and actions. It can be hard to find the beauty in a place like this, but believe me, it is here. The same must have been true in the garden on that first Easter morning. Mary Magdalene and the disciples were just a few days removed from the death of their close friend and teacher. Most of us know how it feels to loose someone we love. And unfortunately, many of us gathered here this morning know the terror of losing that loved one by violent means, dying before their time.

So—how is it that some people are able to see past the gloom of life’s harsh realities? How did those present in the garden that morning gain eyes to see new life and have faith to react? And perhaps most importantly, how can we, in this time and place, gain the courage to see God’s resurrection work among us? How can we turn from people stuck in Good Friday’s world of death, fear and anguish, into a people marked by the resurrection, with its new beginnings, hope and joy? Will it make a difference in this world if we all believe in the resurrection but live like we’re stuck on Good Friday?

I think we can take our cues from those mentioned in the gospel account we heard this morning. According to John, Simon Peter and the other disciple went into the tomb that morning and looked at what was there: burial cloths lying by themselves. As John puts it, they “saw and believed.” Mary Magdalene encountered the risen Christ herself. The gospel writer tells us that she “went and announced” the good news to others. And so, here is set before us, a pattern to emulate in our path to becoming a resurrection people: see, believe, go, announce.

SEE
The first of these, to see, is often the hardest because it requires us to think outside of the box and think in a way that is different from the way the rest of the world would have us. It is easy to look at the person who is at the bottom of society’s ladder, who has no respect for her or himself or for anyone else for that matter, who struggles with addiction and self-abuse, and think that they have no future, no hope for development as a person. To see with Easter eyes means to embrace the image of God in that person, to have a vision of what that person might become as a fully developed child of God.

As many of you know, we have some people who work here at the Campus who are recovering addicts and those who have escaped the bonds of homelessness. I think they hold an important key to the rest of us in how to be people of new life rather than of death: both to those of us in this community like me who have never had to taste the bitter pill of life on the streets and those who are still on their way back from that struggle. It is through their strength and the strength of those currently going through our programs like Odyssey that it becomes possible to see how life might change for those who call the alley home. I sometimes like to look around this place and try to imagine who will be the next person to take a big step in the journey of recovery. Who will be the next Melvin, June, Fred, Harry or Ron?

Seeing the seemingly impossible, whether it’s having the strength to see a pile of cloths in an empty tomb, or imagining a person with hopefulness, is the first step in living the resurrection life.

BELIEVE
The next step after seeing is believing. After the disciples saw the pile of burial clothes, the gospel writer says they believed. Would we have the faith to believe in God’s amazing power to bring about new life from death? Would we be able to believe the mystery of resurrection in a dark tomb?

After we’ve seen the evidence, it’s our task to believe in the force behind it. Sometimes it’s so easy to think that there’s really nothing behind all this “God” stuff. My friends, I’ve seen so much evidence of God’s power here it’s hard to not believe that there is something greater than ourselves at work among us.

More often it’s in little things rather than big. I see evidence of God’s work here when somebody gets a new job that gives them hope for a future that is better. I see it in the looks on people’s faces when they come walking across this parking lot on Friday mornings after attending a graduation ceremony from the DTC alcohol and drug treatment program. I see it when people enjoy community and fellowship with others at Room In The Inn. I see it when people organize with one another to fight for the housing that they and others deserve. God’s power is even present in the darkest of times. It is there when I’m walking someone to the Guest House and they say to me, “I’ve really had enough of this; I need help.” Or when a heated dispute turns into handshakes.

See the evidence of God’s resurrection work among us and believe.

GO
After we’ve seen and believed the good news, it’s our big chance to shine. “Go.” Just as Mary went from her encounter with Jesus that first Easter morning, living a life that reflects the resurrection often requires that we go from where we are. That might mean to make a change in the way we think. It might mean associating with different people, either ones that won’t tempt you into old ways of living or ones who especially need your good example. Or, it might mean, as it has for me, moving from Indiana to Tennessee to turn strangers into friends.

On Easter Sunday last year I was a college student, and the music director at a church. This Easter Sunday, I’m a Young Adult Volunteer with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), working with the homeless community here at the Campus for Human Development. This is a different world from the one I was used to. I have learned a lot about what it means to survive on the streets and have a great deal of respect for all of you. I don’t fully understand your struggle because I have never been there myself. I do, however, believe that the work I do here, even when it doesn’t make people happy, is what God has called me to do.

Go. Go where you’ve never been. Jesus calls us to go into all the world as resurrection people. Go.


ANNOUNCE
The fourth thing we find Mary Magdalene doing is announcing the good news.

Saint Francis of Assisi said “Preach the gospel at all times – if necessary, use words.”

I think this is a good way for us to look at our responsibility to this world and to God to announce the gospel. A good way to start in this endeavor is to respect ourselves as people made in the image of God. Though we are certainly not worthy of God’s great love for us and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that was carried out on our behalf, we must embrace our identity as God’s children. Those of us who are baptized know what it means to be claimed by God. It is up to God’s grace to help us live a life worthy of the calling to which we are called.

After we respect the image of God within ourselves, a good next step is to respect that image in everyone else we meet. Some people say that they experience God best by looking at a beautiful sunset or while hiking in the mountains. Typically these comments are made to justify not going to church or participating in any type of spiritual community. While I certainly give nothing but praise to God for the beauty of creation, I tend to think these people are a little off base. You see, I think the best place, and admittedly the most difficult, to meet God is in one another. Only human beings are made in the image of God. It is our task to love them as we would love our selves and respect the image of God that they reveal to this world as much as we respect the one that is in ourselves.

By doing this, we announce to this world that we see things differently. For us, the sorrow of Good Friday has passed, and the joy of Easter fills our hearts, minds, and actions.


See.
Believe.
Go.
Announce.

By overcoming death, God has given us the command to turn our lives in a God-ward direction. We are called not to live in the shadows and mourn the violent, poor world in which we live. It is our calling as people of the resurrection to ask the world the same questions posed to Mary by the angels and Jesus: “why are you weeping?”

Why are you weeping, world? Christ is risen! Alleluia! Amen.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"EASTER IN A PARKING LOT"

by Stacy Rector, former Associate Pastor of Second Presbyterian Church

Pavement, worn and cracked as

tired feet falling

on broken asphalt

bearing worn bags and cracked hearts

Another day on the streets

Empty bellies and pockets

An empty tomb

Light breaks once more

Still, a shadow looms large

in cruciform shape lengthens with the day

Where is the broken one this morning?

Stumbling along the railroad tracks or

dripping with Easter finery?

Smelling of lilies or

of the streets?

On a folding chair in the corner

As cold hands thaw

A warm heart plots again

to change

water into wine or

into hot coffee

A parking lot becomes a church,

Crumbs, a feast

Resurrection rises among us

Like leaven in a loaf,

like laughter in the throat

like an "alleluia" or an "amen"

Lightly landing on asphalt gray,

Traipsing like an angel floating in air

Comes one with melody of hope in one another

And the music of the mystery of love

Chasing away fear, cleansing guilt,

Conquering death forever...