Living Witnesses

 

Easter Day, April 20, 2025                                        The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling

Acts 10:34-43;       1 Corinthians 15:19-26;   Luke 24:1-12;         Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24          

 In the Acts of the Apostles, we hear a lot about the disciples’ actions after the Resurrection of Jesus, and more importantly, their experience of Him after the empty tomb was discovered. Jesus met them in the garden and on the road to Emmaus. He invited them to join him on the beach in Galilee and share a meal with him before he ascended into heaven. Suddenly showing up in a room in Jerusalem, where the disciples had locked the doors and gathered in fear, Jesus showed them his scars. Supposedly, the peripatetic Jesus appeared to over 500 witnesses after He was raised from the dead.

          According to this scripture passage (Acts 10:34-43), God “raised Jesus on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.” So Jesus is our judge. The late Pope Francis, God rest his soul, when asked about LGBTQ people, had replied, “Who am I to judge?”

We’re hearing a lot about judges these days, local and federal judges, who are making decisions about what is legally permissible or not, and what is morally right or wrong. Presumably, they will guide us in matters of justice and the law. Witnesses take the stand in court rooms, bully pulpits, and social media, swearing to tell the truth; and yet sometimes one wonders. Pilate, governor of the province of Judea who oversaw the trial of Jesus and condemned him to death, may have once asked “What is truth?”

In the psalm appointed for this Easter Day (Ps 118: 17), one verse proclaims “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” Faithfully arriving at the tomb to care for the dead body of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and other women were sad. They had lost a beloved teacher. They were surprised to see that the tomb was empty, and assumed that someone had taken him away. Perplexed at first, and then terrified, they were suddenly joined by two men in dazzling clothes. Were these heavenly beings dressed in white robes, perhaps even members of the Heavenly Court? Were they witnesses to what had happened that Easter morning?  Were they pointing to the Way, the Truth, and the Life? “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” they asked these women.

          In her Easter sermon at Christ Church Cambridge, the Rev. Kate Ekrem raised that same question several times. She is familiar with Mt. Auburn Cemetery, within walking distance of the church, and where she had celebrated the lives of many parishioners who were laid to rest there. The cemetery is a place of peace for visitors; and it is also a place for those who have died. But why look for the living among the dead? They are no longer there, those two men had proclaimed; for if the good news of the gospel is to be believed, the dead have found new life in the risen Christ. They’re on their Way to God through Jesus.

          St. Paul, the rogue killer of first century Christians, who turned state’s witness, became the 1st among the apostles, testifying to the Resurrection of Jesus. He proclaims our Easter faith in his 1st letter to the Corinthians. “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15: 19-26) There’s more to life than what you see and fear claims St. Paul. He writes about our enemies; and yet he doesn’t point to any military power or human ruler, but rather to Jesus as the ultimate and final power over everything and everyone. Over life and death. Over friend and foe alike. He is our Judge, who speaks truth and chooses life. Who shows us the Way of love.

Our enemies, whatever kind they may be, and from wherever they may appear, are dead or will be through the power of God. The post crucifixion mission of Jesus was to hand over the kingdom of God to God, but only after “he has destroyed every ruler and every power. For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. Our last enemy to be destroyed is death.” This is our King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Prince of Peace. This is our Christus Victor. This is Jesus, ordained by God, to be Judge of the living and the dead. To raise us to a new life.

           If Jesus is alive, if Christ is Risen, then Jesus Christ is with us even now. He is everywhere, throughout our world and even beyond that. No longer limited by human life but rather expanded by divine love, Christ is universally available to all people and to all of God’s creation, to every language, tribe, people and nation.

The message of Easter, through its many messengers, is a witness to the hope and joy that we can claim for ourselves every day. We can look for the living in our daily lives and even among the dead. We can witness to the power and love of God that overcomes all enemies of life. We can burst into song, like Spring flowers, singing “He is risen, he is risen! Tell it out with joyful voice: he has burst his three days’ prison; let the whole wide earth rejoice: death is conquered, we are free, Christ has won the victory.”

The phrase "Who is your daddy?" is a slang expression used to show dominance over someone else. It has historical roots dating back to the early 17th century, where it referred to any controlling figure, not just biological fathers.” (slang by dictionary) Who is your enemy? Is it a cause or a country? A disease or a demon? A person or a policy? And who then is your Daddy? “He is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.” He is Jesus, through whom we “shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” Given that good news, can I have a witness?