AEaster March 23, 2008 Alleluia, Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia! We are glad to welcome visitors today. And many thanks to our altar guild, flower guild, and musicians Who have so greatly added to this festal celebration. There were sunrise services all over the world this morning. People wanting to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus the same time of the day that his tomb was discovered empty. And so since that first Easter Sunday, Sunrise and Sonrise have gone hand in hand. We are told in scripture that the second sonrise was as much a new creation as the first. A second creation? Come go back to the first with me. The first Sunrise at the dawning of creation, according to our creation story in Genesis, was part of a glorious paradise, made by God, and he saw as he made it, that all of it was good. When God created humankind, breathed life into us, God said that he had made us very good. God saw that we were very good because of two wonderful traits. God made us to desire what God desired. That our wills be in tune with God’s. That we be images of God. That we be co-creators, co-imaginers, with God. But, instead we humans got things distorted. Instead of being oriented toward God We got preoccupied with each other and turned to emulating each other’s desires. Sooner or later, over and over, we have ended up wanting what someone else wants. And when we are preoccupied with getting what someone else has In one way or another, we fight each other over it. And that brings up the second thing God endowed us with. We are meant by God, in addition to live in God’s will, We are meant to live, move, act, in God’s love. A love that is faithful, unconditional, and forgiving. Because of all our jealousies, rivalries, and fighting each other we became more apt to blame than to love. We descended into competitive desires and fighting over them To the point that the only way we can figure out how to stop violence is by using more violence against it, and so the world turns. What happens if a fiber artist designs a beautifully conceived weaving but those who are doing the weaving make mistakes early in the work that affect the whole shape of the piece. They got so caught up in what each other was doing, imitating, and competing They forgot to pay attention to the design. Along the way threads get miscounted, knotted or broken. The wrong colors get woven in. Is it wise to just keep putting work into such a tapestry that will be a distorted version of the artist’s conception? What if an architect designs a house and the builder begins the house with a foundation that isn’t level? Should they just keep on building over the faulty foundation? The house will settle unevenly. Walls will crack, Leaks will occur. Eggs will roll off the kitchen counter before you can get them into the frying pan. A way of understanding the resurrection follows these examples. God saw that things were not going to get better. The world had become compromised. And so, a new creation was called for. Easter Sunday is about Jesus on the cross and Jesus’ resurrection. Those two events are a picture of God bringing forth a whole new beginning. To create anew, God needed to show us what the original article had looked like. We have spent so much time creating gods in our own image. And so, Jesus. God perfectly, beautifully embodied and imitated in him. Desired only what God desired. All his teachings and healings showed that. And it was his complete, uncompromising union with God ended him up on the cross. The cross. What stronger symbol for violence and blame could there have been in those days? And so, such a symbol of violence found itself covered over With Jesus’ body placing on it the boundless love of God. Loveless power covered with powerless love. Violence and blame were face to face with forgiveness. All through the ages, power and violence have won over love and forgiveness. But on the cross, Jesus exhibited only what God desired - faithful, steadfast infinite love. And Jesus, instead of blaming his enemies, cried out, ‘Father, forgive.’ And though violence and jealousy and blame seemed to win the day on that hill, as it usually did, the new creation was begun. Jesus alive, ushering in our new humanity. The loom of the weaver with new warp ready for new weft. The property ready for a new foundation. And so we begin again, With the life of Jesus, the perfect image of God, to imitate. And forgiveness instead of blame each time we figure out that we to start again. I remember sitting on my bicycle, training wheels raised halfway, my grandmother holding the handlebars to steady it, and then gently letting go with a little push to start me down the street. Each time that I fell, I would walk the bicycle back up the hill, feeling like I had disappointed her. And we would start over. Now Granny could be a pretty harsh woman at times. But this time, I remember such patience and focus. She really wanted me to ride that bicycle. And so, each time I got back to her she would give me some pointers, tell me not to look down at the ground, and get me going again. I sure felt some shame and disappointment every time I failed. But I felt no blame when I got back to her at the top of the hill. Peter Gomes, noted preacher and author, theologian at Harvard Divinity School puts it this way: ‘Christ for me means to start over again and to keep starting over and over again until by his grace I get it right. Your mother was right. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.’ Paul Tillich wrote that nothing is more surprising than the rise of the new in ourselves. Why isn’t this new creation perfect? Because, we are the weavers and builders of this new creation. And, while there is still a lot of violence and blame in the world, Christ is here, alive, with his love and forgiveness, to let us try, try again