Happy (Human) Easter

"Happy (Human) Easter"

Luke 24:1-12

Happy Easter!

Brothers and sisters, we are gathered here today to once again celebrate the greatest good news, that Jesus Christ rose from the grave.

It sounds impossible.

But nothing's impossible for God.

That's how great thou art.

God did God's part – the DOING.

Now it's up to us to do OUR part – the BELIEVING.

Can we mere mortals BELIEVE what happened?

Because Easter isn't just for you, and Easter isn't just for me.

Easter is for ALL people, everywhere.

Because we're ALL children of God.

What happens to our humanity if we DO believe Easter – TOGETHER?

–

In Luke 24, it says:

[Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other women with them] went to the tomb…. They found the stone rolled away…, but they they did not find the body. …

It says: They were perplexed…. 

[Not BELIEVING. Not HAPPY. Not singing HALLELUIA!] 

THEY WERE PERPLEXED.

…and they told all this to the eleven disciples and to all the rest. …But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and THEY DID NOT BELIEVE THEM. 

Trinity Presbyterian Church is a church full of people who believe. 

Not just in words, but in your actions. 

In your attitude, in your spirit – y'all believe.

I believe I'm blessed, I believe I'm SO lucky to be here.

Trinity's a congregation full of smart, talented, faithful people. 

Good-looking people. 

So good-looking, I struggle to keep up. 

So I booked an appointment at SuperCuts for the annual Clergy Pre-Easter haircut and beard trim. 

You can learn a lot at a barbershop. 

Or a hair salon. 

Barbaristas – and the people who hang out in their shops are like a magnet for all the juicy news you need to know. 

Is it the truth? 

Maybe. 

Like Fox, they report, you decide.

My barber asked me if I'd been watching the news. 

I said I try not to. 

He said, "Oh, you've gotta see the story. The story about the Florida Man –" 

The Florida Man. Here we go –

"The story about the Florida Man who was (quote) "abducted by a pod of dolphins and forced to build them an underwater city."

I said, "No way." 

He said, "Way." 

He said, "Look it up. It's on the Internet."

And that is true. 

Some people claim it's a hoax. An idle tale. 

And that would be mentally healthy.

These days, so much of what we read, see, and hear generates DIS-believe. Skepticism. 

Reasonable doubt.

Kind of like what Jesus's DISCIPLES thought about Easter, the first time they heard of it. 

Healthy doubt isn't a sin.

It can keep you from looking foolish. 

A good bowl-full of doubt is part of a nutritious breakfast.

But doubt, eaten alone, is a cold, lonely meal.

That's why, on Easter, both the disciples – and we – come together.

Human beings – sharing this meal of faith – together.

On Easter, we feast on the sacred story of our Resurrection faith.

Easter – and church – and faith as a whole – hits our hunger when it's shared.

Sharing verifies the truth.

Person-to-person, face-to-face, one confused and confusing friend to another.

Sharing is how we get the news AND we test it out.

We work best when we're working TOGETHER.

That's the way God made us human beings.

That's how we are.

So, Happy Easter – 

Happy (Shared) Easter – 

Happy (Human) Easter.

Good news – like a good meal – is always better when it's shared.

—

On the first day of the week – Easter Sunday morning, Mary, Mary, and Joanna burst through the door and told everyone what they had seen. 

And the Jesus-trained, righteously skeptical, loin-girded men said, 

"No way."

Luke says: "But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them."

An idle tale.

Now scroll down to today.

We've got their biblical level of doubt multiplied by a gazillion.

We're pros at this.

In our world of today's truth which turns into tomorrow's untruth, 

in this science-fiction-y time of super-dee-duper computers spitting out a flood of AI-generated slop: 

Idle tales beautifully illustrated to look so real –

fake pictures, fake videos, fake songs. 

Fake emails that look like they're from your preacher – 

Saying he's been kidnapped by dolphins demanding Apple Gift Cards – 

because that's what those devious sea-mammals do.

We are rightly suspicious – as were the disciples – 

that whatever we're hearing, from whatever source – 

We're rightly suspicious that it's nothing more than just another idle tale. 

From the first morning – 

the Easter story has sounded – 

impossible. 

Like another internet hoax.

Something meant to get us doubting, get us accusing, get us questioning even the people closest to us.

"Mary, I know you're his mother, but come on." 

The women who found the empty tomb -

COULD HAVE - COULD HAVE -

Kept it to themselves. 

Their own private treasure.

But that's not what they did.

That's not the way God works.

The women who found the empty tomb went – directly –

went – personally – 

went to the other disciples. 

Live, face-to-face, and in-person.

Easter is a happy holiday. 

But more, it's a HUMAN holiday, where – 

even if we kinda doubt it –

Even if we don't understand it all – 

we still get dressed up, 

we still get together, 

To SHARE the human news – that we're still here,

And so is Jesus.

God is NOT buried in a hole in the ground with a rock on top. 

Jesus is alive. 

And so are we. 

That's our shared HUMAN truth. 

–

I love that sometimes the internet is our friend.

I love that we can livestream our services to people who can't be here in person. 

If you're watching now from home, or from a hospital, or West Virginia (Hi, Mom!) or anywhere else on the grid, 

we're glad you're here. 

Happy Easter. 

We can feel you're here – in spirit.

Faith is multiplied, and doubt is divided, when we share it together.

A common HUMAN experience.

Two weeks ago, when Kristen was here, we went to see Project Hail Mary. 

We give it four thumbs up.

It's rare that a movie makes you want to stand up and clap.

But what made it even better was that the theater was sold out – completely full. 

There's something special about sitting shoulder to shoulder with that many people. 

Sharing a moment. 

If you've been to an AMC movie theater, this is preached.

Because the show always starts with a sermon.

Starring the Right Reverend Nicole Kidman.

She walks down the aisle and imparts:

We come to laugh, to cry, to care.

Because we need that, all of us,

that indescribable feeling we get…

And we go somewhere we've never been before;

not just entertained, but somehow reborn.

Together.

And I always think: Is she describing a movie? 

Or church? 

Good news: 

Real church is even better than the movie. 

For one, the seats here are free. 

Better because at a movie, or a coffee shop, or a sporting event, you might say "Hey" to a person sitting by you, but you don't talk.

Not really.

But in church, you can share your heart.

At church, Jean and I and the choir might be up front, but you're the stars. 

You're the actors. 

You're the workers. 

That's what "worship" really means – "Work-ship." 

You're the ones doing the lifting – 

the work of connecting, 

the good, joyful work of doing the handshakes, the hugs, the real, live human connection. 

You're not here to just WATCH, you're here to CONNECT. 

You're here to connect to each other, even from a distance.

You're here to connect to God. 

And God is always better when shared – in person.

–

I have a theory. 

My theory is that church is one of the last bastions of authentic, true, real-life human contact. 

I think in this AI-generated world, church should promote itself as gloriously low-tech. 

The place where you turn off the phone, when you stop Googling dolphin kidnap videos (and I know you thought about it). 

Church is a place for people to have real-life connection 

to each other 

and to God, 

to be reborn… together.

–

A couple of weeks ago, Trinity had its annual Rummage Sale. 

And it raised a lot of money. 

But even with that, the best part of the Rummage Sale wasn't the Sale. 

The best part was the RUMMAGING. 

Rummaging together, working together.

Being together –

Sharing together – 

the laughter, the meals, the quiet talks in the corner with friends. 

We met people we wouldn't normally meet.

People got to buy cool stuff they wouldn't normally get.

It was a gloriously happy HUMAN experience.

Those shared experiences are the best.

Because that's where we dig up Jesus.

—

And in the Bible, 

even though it definitely sounded too good to be true, 

Mary, Mary, and Joanna went, and told their story of good news, great news. 

Face to face, person to person, human being to human being – 

Told the truth – 

to real people, who became reborn – 

Renewed life, reborn with Jesus –

humans telling, 

humans listening, 

humans sharing the truth of REAL, GOOD news 

for everybody.

–

If you're looking for a church home, I invite you to join Trinity. 

Talk to Jean. 

Talk to me. 

Come up to us and say, 

Or DM us and say, "I want to join this church." 

It's that simple. 

That's just how it works.

The beauty of any church is that it's 100% amateur.

"Amateur" literally means, someone who loves.

Loves carpentry, loves fishing.

Loves those questioning people hiding in the back. 

Loves casseroles.

Loves singing, loud, proud, and next to someone who sings even better.

Loves being quiet. In a holy place.

Church is bunch of amateurs, doing the best we can to believe even the most unbelievable thing that's ever been.

–

Easter is a happy message. 

The best.

But more than happy.

Because the disciples weren't happy.

They were grieving.

They were "perplexed."

The good news is that Jesus rises to any occasion.

I imagine Mary, Mary, and Joanna were happy, but I also guess they were pretty scared, too. 

Because a resurrected Savior doesn't happen every day.

But it can.

It happened on that first Easter morning. 

And they went, they ran, and shared their joys and their fears with a bunch of skeptical guys, cut from the same cloth.

And then the news spread. 

From one person. 

To another. 

To another. 

From one human being who felt the heavenly truth of the Risen Lord – 

one real, live person to another. 

Which is – after all – how we got to all be here today.

I hope you have a very Happy, very Human, very real Easter. 

I hope everybody does. 

Together.

[eos]