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Trinity Episcopal Church Hattiesburg, Mississippi Easter Day April 8, 2007 Go To Trinity's Home Page

Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
John 20:1-18
Collect of the Day
From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 75 th General Convention of the ECUSA

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” 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 Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:1-18)

     Many of you know what this is (the priest is holding a compact fluorescent light bulb like the one in the picture[1]).

     This light bulb has the potential to change the planet. It has the potential to solve some of the most fundamental, pressing environmental issues facing our planet: energy consumption, rising gas prices, global warming. It produces 450 pounds fewer greenhouse gases from power plants, and lowers our dependence on foreign oil. Each bulb, while about three to eight times more expensive than a regular incandescent light bulb, can save you about $38 per year. And it can last for about 10 years.

     Compact fluorescent light bulbs are shaped like an ice cream cone or a swirl; as a matter of fact, many people call them “swirls.” These are very much improved fluorescent light bulbs over what was out there just a few years ago. These come on quickly, produce a bright steady light that rivals a regular incandescent bulb, yet uses 75-80% less electricity, and generates 200 degrees less surface heat than a traditional bulb.

     H. Lee Scott, Jr., chief executive of Wal-Mart wants to see these bulbs in the hands of at least 100 million homes by 2008.[2] Yahoo and Google are likely to soon be on board promoting this idea too.

     Why is this such a good idea? If every one of those 100 million households swapped out just one incandescent bulb with a swirl, the energy saved would eliminate the equivalent pollution of 1.3 million cars on the road, save enough electricity to power a city of 1.5 million, or close two power plants. Why, Wal-Mart projects that by replacing all the lights in ceiling fan displays with swirls – that’s forty bulbs in over 3,200 stores – they will save $6 million in electric bills. We may not save $6 million at Trinity, but we are in fact changing to compact bulbs insofar as we can.

     What’s the downside? No one seems to have found one. True, they are expensive to purchase, but the savings is staggering. Then there’s the change factor; some people just don’t like change, even if it saves the planet.

     Using lower current electricity, a small carbonized filament, and an improved vacuum inside the globe, in 1879 Thomas Edison was able to produce a reliable, long-lasting source of light. Electric lighting wasn’t a new idea, but it was Edison’s work that made it practical, safe, and economical. Who would have thought that transforming the common, simple light bulb that every one has taken for granted for more than 100 years would actually be a solution to some of the major problems facing the world? Who know that a simple change in lighting has the potential to save us?

     You might say that God did. All the way through scripture, light had been used as a metaphor for the kind of salvific, transforming change that can come when human beings understand that they are part of God’s realm and responsible for each other. There are over 300 references to “light” in the Bible, beginning with God creating “light” and declaring it good (Gen 1:3). God traveled with the people of Israel in during the exodus in the pillar of fire, giving them light (Ex 13:21). Job understood God to be the source of the light that illumined his path (Job 29:3), and Isaiah proclaimed that God’s light would someday consume the enemies of Israel (Isa 10:17). And it was Isaiah who foresaw a time when God would make the people as a light to the nations, that God’s salvation would reach to the ends of the earth (Isa 49:6; 60:1-3). The author of the Gospel of John called Jesus the “light that shines in the darkness” ad “ the true light which enlightens everyone” that was “coming into the world” in the form of a typical human being ‘ – the Word and light of God “made flesh” (Jn 1:1-14). The Apostle Paul also used the phrase “children of the light” to describe the transformative power of Jesus on those who believed in him, “for once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Eph 5:8).

     I think the writers of the New Testament saw that a very unique kind of energy burned within Jesus, generating a light for others to follow; it produced enough heat to cause the self-righteous and the powerful to get burned when they tried to change him. The religious leaders of the time didn’t understand him or the shape of the new light he was trying to market in the world – that thing he called “the Kingdom of God.” That was a kind of transformational change, and they didn’t understand it; they were afraid of it. They wasted a lot of energy trying to maintain the status quo, while Jesus kept calling for a radical new way of living by loving one’s neighbor.

     Jesus burned too brightly for the Romans and the religious leaders of the day. So they switched Jesus off. They left him hanging on a cross on Good Friday, and thought his light was forever extinguished when his body disappeared into the blackness of a borrowed tomb.

     When Mary of Magdala, Peter, and “the other disciple” came in the darkness, they found the tomb empty. When Mary was left alone there, she was confronted by the strange gardener who asked her why she was weeping. Her tears, grief and shock kept her from recognizing him as Jesus. But when he called her name, she saw the familiar light of Jesus – a light she knew so very well because it burned inside of her too. His body had been transformed somehow into a totally new shape. Indeed all of history was transformed, and this was important news that had to be shared. The old way of living was done for Jesus (as it will be for all of us too), and it was time to declare the new life to his “brothers” and through them to the rest of the world. God had made those men and women disciples of Jesus; they were the light to the nations.

     In modern times, we consumers of Christianity come to church on Easter morning looking for something familiar, like a standard four pack of 60 watt bulbs. We come expecting Jesus in one of two forms. The first is the form that tells us that because Jesus rose from the dead we can go to heaven when we die too. That is the form that says that the resurrection proves the possibility of life after death. The second form is that the resurrection is a metaphor for a new life. That is that Jesus’ body went the way of all flesh, but that he is alive in the Spirit, and that what matters the most.

     But there is another possibility. And that is that is what Paul alluded to when he described the resurrection as marking the beginning of a new way of living life: a life shaped and illuminated by the risen Christ. Jesus spoke of this also when the talk of the Kingdom of God. In Luke’s gospel, he said that this kingdom was at hand. What this means is that we are not to just hang around in the aisles of this life waiting for the store to close. We are to do something. We have been resurrected to a new life – that is the promise given in Jesus death and resurrection – and we are to start living that resurrected life right now. We are to plug ourselves into that transforming, energizing spirit of God, and become the light of the world. We are to work hard to make this earth of ours look a bit more like heaven every day. And we do that by being kind to one another. We do that by loving one another. We do that by accepting each other for who and what we are. We do that by recognizing that we all have different gifts to offer in this life, and we accept those gifts from other another with true gratitude. We care for each other and this planet like no one has cared before.

     One life redeemed by God can make a difference. We saw that in the person of Jesus.

     But we don’t have to die to make a difference. We have to care!

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Acts 10:34-43

Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ--he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 Confitemini Domino

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; *
his mercy endures for ever.

2 Let Israel now proclaim, *
“His mercy endures for ever.”

14 The LORD is my strength and my song, *
and he has become my salvation.

15 There is a sound of exultation and victory *
in the tents of the righteous:

16 “The right hand of the LORD has triumphed! *
the right hand of the LORD is exalted!
the right hand of the LORD has triumphed!”

17 I shall not die, but live, *
and declare the works of the LORD.

18 The LORD has punished me sorely, *
but he did not hand me over to death.

19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; *
I will enter them;
I will offer thanks to the LORD.

20 “This is the gate of the LORD; *
he who is righteous may enter.”

21 I will give thanks to you, for you answered me *
and have become my salvation.

22 The same stone which the builders rejected *
has become the chief cornerstone.

23 This is the LORD’S doing, *
and it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 On this day the LORD has acted; *
we will rejoice and be glad in it.

1 Corinthians 15:19-26

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

John 20:1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” 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 Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Collect of the Day

[1] Photograph by Christopher Griffin from http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/108/open_lightbulbs.html. This sermon was inspired by and adapted from Timothy F. Merrill. "The Jesus Bulb." Homiletics 19(2):52-56, 2007.
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/business/02bulb.html?ex=1325394000en=7cdfdd70524b7590ei=5088partner=rssnytemc=rss

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