Easter Sunday

“On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking
the spices that they had prepared.”

We have already shouted and sung many alleluias this morning.
So it’s hard to remember that the first easter morning did not begin with
Alleluias.

The first easter morning began with grief:
Deep sadness over the death of Jesus.

When the women arrived at the tomb on that first easter morning, their
hearts were broken.
They had lost the one who gave them life:
The one who gave them the water that never goes dry.
They likely thought that their hope was lost:
As the one they placed their hope in:
Was dead.

When the women arrive at the tomb, they found the stone rolled away.
But there still isn’t an alleluia.
Luke tells us that they were “perplexed about this.”
They didn’t understand what had happened.

And then: two men in dazzling clothes appeared to them.
These two men are obviously angels.

And still:
There’s not an alleluia.

Instead, the women were terrified:
And bowed their faces to the ground.

The angels say to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is not here, but has risen.”
And here’s the important part:
They say: “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that
the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on
the third day rise again.”

And then Luke tells us:
“Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told
all this to the eleven and to all the rest.”

This is the alleluia moment.
It’s not immediate.
It takes quite a while for the women to understand.
And not just a while:
It takes a reminder from the angels.
And it’s not until the women REMEMBER that the first alleluias come.

There’s some real truth here:
About the life, and death, and time.
Understanding comes not just with age and wisdom:
But when we remember.
Alleluias can spring out of grief when we remember.
Joy comes when we remember.

Easter is the ultimate moment for us as Christians:
But Easter only means something:
When we remember all that came before it.

It’s part of why we recount and remember Jesus’ last days every year.
It’s why we celebrate Palm Sunday,
Relive the last supper on Maundy Thursday,
And walk the way of the cross on Good Friday.
Because in remembering: it all begins to make more sense.
In remembering, the joyful alleluias, break forth:
Because we can see more clearly that Jesus IS who he said he was.

This is what happens with the women at the tomb.
They REMEMBER that Jesus had foretold all that would happen.
It was right in front of the all along.
And when they remembered what Jesus had said,
Everything began to make sense:
Even the most unbelievable event:
Made sense, because they remembered that Jesus was exactly who he
said he was.

The women remembering at the empty tomb isn’t the only time that
remembering comes up in the bible.

In Deuteronomy, the Israelites are told to remember that they were slaves
in Egypt:
And to remember that the Lord God brought them out of slavery.

We’re told in the 10 commandments to “remember the sabbath day, and
keep it Holy.”

There are many, many examples in the Psalms about remembering who
God is, and what God has done.

And perhaps, the greatest example of all:
Is the one we hear every single week:
Jesus telling his disciples, and us: to “Do this in remembrance of me.”
Isn’t it fascinating:
That every time we gather together for Holy Communion:
The most significant part of our worship:
We hear Jesus words to REMEMBER.

And these aren’t Easter words!
These are the words that Jesus spoke to his disciples the day before he
died.

Yet in a bizarre turn of events:
After the resurrection:
Pre-easter words:
Become Easter words:
And time sort of stands still.

Easter has this way of blurring time.
Where the Past, and the Future, all collide in the present.

When we re-enact Jesus words at the altar on Sunday morning:
We aren’t just in the present.
We’re remembering the past things that God has done.
(Actually: If you listen closely to the Eucharist prayer, you’ll hear me
describing what’s called “salvation history”: Recounting and
REMEMBERING some of the things that God has done in the past.)

When we’re praying the Eucharistic prayer, we’re also remembering the
things that God says are YET to happen:
(Bringing us into the Fullness of time: where we will join all the saints, in the
everlasting heritage of all sons and daughters of God.)

And as we do all of that remembering:
Of the past and the promises for the future:
Jesus is re-PRESENT (As in, Present AGAIN):
to us in a new sort of reality:
In the bread and the wine that we consume:
So that Jesus might live INSIDE of us.

The real joy of Easter is in our remembering:
Remembering what God has done:
And remembering what God has promised is yet to come.
Without these memories:
Our lives would be stuck in a series of long Holy Saturdays:
With pain, and grief, and death at the forefront.
But when we REMEMBER:
The joyful alleluias arise.

Some day, when we reach the fullness of time:
We wont need to remember anymore.
Because we’ll be in the ever living presence of God:
Where time wont just be blurred:

But wont even need to exist.

Isaiah mentions that in our first lesson today, saying:
“I am about to create new heavens and anew earth; the former things shall
not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in
what I am creating.”

But we’re not there yet.
We’re not yet at the end of time:
We’re not yet at the new heaven and the new earth.
Until then:
Remember.
Let the past and the present and the future collide:
Remember the complete and utter joy that Jesus has promised you.
And then do it again.
Re- Member,
And then re-re remember.
Maybe even re-re-re-re remember.
Again, and again.
And as you do:
Let your joyful alleluias fly.

Amen.