Praising God Anyhow! An Easter Message in Times of Distress
Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling
Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. — John 20:1
Before dawn, before the light had crested over the horizon and brought light just beyond the Place of the Skull. Before the sun beat back the lightlessness of the sky. Before the stars had fully receded from view and the moon gave way to day. Before dawn, the women arrived at the tomb and found it empty.
The stone had been removed.
We often associate light with bringing everything that is good and positive. But Jesus rose from the tomb while it was yet dark. The stone that held the One who was Very Man and Very God was pushed aside before the light rose in the eastern sky. While it was yet dark, death was defeated.
Some may ask how we can celebrate Easter when the very foundation of The United Methodist Church seems to be crumbling. How can we sing, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” or “He Arose,” or “Because He Lives,” when our beloved denomination is falling deeper into the abyss? The stone of division and exclusion and marginalization does not appear to have been removed, and you ask us to sing songs of joy and celebration? Yes!
We celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, because it assures us that death will not have the last word. Evil will not have the last word. Empire will not have the last word. Human power and manipulation will not have the last word. Nothing can withstand the life-giving, death-defying, inclusive love of God.
I will forever be grateful for the witness and instruction of Rev. Dr. Anthony Campbell, my homiletics professor at Boston University School of Theology. His pedagogical prowess imparted many things that I will hold dear, but none more so than his unwavering demand that we experience Good Friday in all of its original agony. He cautioned us to refrain from rushing to the oft-quoted, “But, Sunday's coming” on Good Friday. Yes, in fact, it is, but one cannot fully embrace the joy and miracle of Easter without fully embodying the despair and woe of the day of crucifixion. It is anachronistic to experience every Good Friday in light of Easter. Those standing at the foot of the cross did not have the benefit of four gospels extolling the story. They had to wait in real time to learn the powerful truth.
And, after we have experienced Good Friday, we look toward Easter knowing the fulfillment of the promise has occurred. The miracle of Easter is so poignant and prescient because we have experienced Good Friday. And, ever since the women arrived at an empty tomb, we know to praise God even before the blessing is seen or experienced.
What may still feel like Good Friday within The United Methodist Church’s story is already being transformed by a stone-moving God. We know for a fact that Sunday is coming for our beloved denomination. Sunday is coming for a world yet writhing in pain. While it is yet dark, the stone is being rolled away. In that faith, we can shout, “Alleluia!” With that confidence in our hearts, we can praise God anyhow!
“Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said to him in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’” (John 20:15-16)
Jesus rose with all power in his hands and he is calling each of us by name. The teacher who transcended barriers of exclusion, ignored customs that divided, spoke with the marginalized, forgave the unforgivable and healed the terminal is teaching us that the stone of deceit cannot protect a tomb of lies. Praise God anyhow!
In the words of Mark Miller, Associate Professor of Church Music and Composer in Residence at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, “I believe in the sun, I believe in the sun, even when, even when it’s not shining.”
While it was yet dark, the stone had already been rolled away. Praise God anyhow!