Now after Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lake of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation." And they went out and proclaimed the good news to everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.
What kept the disciples from believing Mary Magdalene's story that Jesus had risen from the dead and appeared to her? Is it possible that they could not believe that Jesus would appear to a woman first? Misogyny was a very potent thing in the time these stories would have taken place. Was it jealousy interwoven with the grief they were experiencing? It is possible. When we are grieving over a loss the last thing that lifts us up is hearing about someone else getting something we do not have.
When Jesus appeared to all eleven of them, he "upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness." Of all the Gospel accounts of the resurrection, this is the only one where Jesus comes and gets after his disciples for their lack of faith. After all, how many times before the crucifixion did Jesus tell them that he would be put to death and raised on the third day? Now here it was Easter Day, women saw Jesus alive and risen from the dead and told the disciples as Jesus had asked, and still the apostles were not believing. What exactly was wrong?
Before we get too hard on the disciples for their lack of faith, what about our own faith? Do Christians live as if we believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead? I have been asking this question pretty much all week. The Church this past week has been full of events that beg the question do we really believe in the resurrection? A resurrection that is not just a nice story told from Easter Day through Pentecost, but is lived through our interactions with one another and our commitment to those who are second class citizens and in need? Is our belief in the resurrection visible in our daily lives and in the business of the Christian Church?
Maybe we do not believe in the resurrection either. Maybe we are like the disciples when Mary Magdalene told them about the resurrection. We've heard the message, but we are waiting to experience the resurrection for ourselves. Rather than live with faith in the resurrection, we sit like bumps on logs waiting for something to come along and convince us. The problem is the resurrection is something that is not understood by common logic. We will not see Jesus risen from the dead as a more than just a story while racist language goes unchallenged. As long as the equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people remain something that people do not care about, or continue to slander using religious convictions as their excuse, the resurrection is just a story. The faith that believes in Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead is a story told through the living of that story through the events of our life.
A woman who has breast cancer who goes through her chemo therapy and still clings to God as her strength and helps others is a witness to the resurrection. A young man who is infected with HIV and through the help of a local youth AIDS agency who works hard to pull his life together and plans a life with his partner that includes going to college is witnessing the resurrection. The announcement that Bishop-Elect Mary Glasspool has received all of her consents to be consecrated and ordained for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles is a witness of the resurrection. The gay couple that faces alcoholism and/or drug addiction and tackles it together is witnessing to the resurrection. Being a witness of the resurrection means that we continue to work for and towards what is right and good, without giving up when it just gets too difficult.
The LGBT Community keeps working towards the day when Don't Ask, Don't Tell and DOMA will be repealed. We continue to look for the day when the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) will be made federal law and even transgendered individuals will have their rights protected. Our endurance and insistence that some day marriage equality for all people must be granted and protected is a witness that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
The resurrection story is told when those who are still considered second class citizens are spoken up for. The story is alive and telling of it's own victories when we help the poor, the homeless, the destitute and those who often feel as if they have no voice or hope. When we give hope to the hopeless the story of the resurrection becomes real.
We thank you, heavenly Father, that you have delivered us from the dominion of sin and death and brought us into the kingdom of your Son; and we pray that, as by his death he recalled us to life, so by his love he may raise us to eternal joys; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for Saturday in Easter Week, Book of Common Prayer, Page 224).
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