A Sermon of The Rev. Dr. David A. Killian, Rector
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Easter Day
April 4, 2010
Scripture: Isaiah 65:17-25; 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 ; Luke 24:1-12
I
What a beautiful day it is this Easter Sunday, especially after all of the rain last month. It is wonderful to see the sun and to enjoy this spring weather. Last night at our Easter Vigil service we had a glorious celebration of light overcoming darkness. Bishop Barbara Harris was our celebrant and preacher. Three adults and four children were baptized, six adults were confirmed, one person reaffirmed her faith, and we all renewed our baptismal promises. We sang glad Alleluias and rang bells to celebrate the resurrection victory of Christ over death and sin.
Yet even with the spectacular music of the choir and the church decorated so wondrously with flowers everywhere, we are mindful of the events of Good Friday, when Jesus was condemned by Pilate and put to death. Like the women in today's Gospel passage who go to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, we are still trying to make sense of his death. Like his disciples we wonder what his death means for us.
II
This year, as I was reflecting on Christ's death and resurrection, I recalled a time several years ago, when my wife Barbara and I took our children Brendan and Meeya to the circus. The children were fascinated by the elephants, tigers, and the clowns. I marveled most at the trapeze artists who seemed fearless as they performed their breath-taking feats. The highpoint came when one of the performers swung from her platform, let go of her trapeze, and, just in time, was grasped by another performer who swung in from the other side.
The theologian Henri Nouwen says that trapeze artists are for him an example of Christian faith. Nouwen recounts how he went to a performance of the Flying Rodleighs in the German circus Simoneit-Barum. He writes:
I will never forget how enraptured I became when I first saw the Rodleighs move through the air, flying and catching as elegant dancers. The next day, I returned to the circus to see them again and introduced myself to them as one of their great fans. They invited me to attend their practice sessions, gave me free tickets, asked me to dinner, and suggested I travel with them for a week in the near future. I did, and we became good friends.
One day, I was sitting with Rodleigh, the leader of the troupe, in his caravan, talking about flying. He said, 'As a flyer, I must have complete trust in my catcher. The public might think that I am the great star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher. He has to be there for me with split-second precision and grab me out of the air as I come to him in the long jump.' 'How does it work?' I asked. 'The secret,' Rodleigh said, 'is that the flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything. When I fly to Joe, I have simply to stretch out my arms and hands and wait for him to catch me and pull me safely over the apron behind the catchbar.'
'You do nothing!' I said, surprised. 'Nothing,' Rodleigh repeated. 'The worst thing the flyer can do is to try to catch the catcher. I am not supposed to catch Joe. It's Joe's task to catch me. If I grabbed Joe's wrists, I might break them, or he might break mine, and that would be the end for both of us. A flyer must fly, and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him.'
When Rodleigh said this with so much conviction, the words of Jesus flashed through my mind: 'Father into your hands I commend my spirit.' Dying is trusting in the catcher. To care for the dying is to say, 'Don't be afraid. Remember that you are the beloved child of God. God will be there when you make your long jump. Don't try to grab him; he will grab you. Just stretch out your arms and hands and trust, trust, trust.'
III
On Good Friday, when Jesus was dying on the cross, he first forgave those who had put him to death, and then before he died, he said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." This was not the first time that Jesus said, "Into your hands I commend my spirit." When he was twelve years old, his parents thought that he was lost. He wasn't lost, he was in the temple conversing with the elders. He said that he had to be about his father's business. He was dedicating himself to the Lord's service. "Into your hands I commend my spirit."
At age 30, at the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan River. Jesus dedicates his life to bringing good news to the poor, liberation to the oppressed. "Into your hands I commend my spirit." Then, he goes from town to town, from Nazareth in Galilee to Jerusalem, curing the sick, befriending outcasts, welcoming sinners, and declaring that God's kingdom was breaking in. In each of these places and with each person he meets, Jesus places his trust in God. "Into your hands, I commend my spirit."
On Good Friday, it looks like he is a failure. But, in his heart he continues to trust in a loving God. He knows that death is not the end. He offers himself, all that he is and all that he has. "Into your hands, I commend my spirit." He leaps with his trapeze and lets go. He flies out from this earth. He is grasped lovingly, victoriously, triumphantly by his Father. And the Father transforms him and makes him new.
The message of Jesus is that this is how we should live our lives: trust in God, do what is right, live as Jesus did, bring good news to the oppressed, liberation to the captive, forgiveness to the sinner, healing to the sick, and hope to the discouraged.
This is what we are called to do today: To take a leap of trust, knowing that God loves us and will catch us and will bring us through to the other side. So with the risen Christ, we say, "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit." Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
Amen.