The Rev. Joseph Farnes
All Saints, Boise
Easter 2A
Alleluia, Christ is risen! We have new banners this season, so it must be time to do a theological deep-dive on the folks we are celebrating!
First at the top left are Adam and Eve. Now this is probably an odd choice – why would we pick the mythological first human beings, especially since that whole “getting us kicked out of the Garden of Eden” thing we read in Genesis? There is a beautiful icon of Christ’s resurrection wherein he grabs Adam and Eve by the wrists and pulls them out of their graves. Their biggest failure does not dissuade God from rescuing them from death. Their failure becomes an occasion for God’s great mercy. To paraphrase St Augustine of Hippo, “What a blessed fault that gets us such a wonderful savior!”
At the top right we have St Paul, also another person whose failure became an occasion for transformation. He goes from persecutor of followers of Christ, to become a pastor and missionary, and it is his letters to various groups of Christians that give us the first theologies of the resurrection. Paul writes about why the resurrection changes the world, what it means to gather to follow Jesus, what it means to be Christians.
On the left we have Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles. She is the one who for a brief moment carried the joyful cry that we Christians have repeated through the ages: Christ is risen! Even when her role and ministry was sidelined for so many years, Mary Magdalene stands as a herald of the resurrection. She was healed by Christ – seven demons had been cast out of her, according to Gospel of Luke (8:2) – and nothing would stand in her way as she follows Jesus.
And on the right side we see Mary and Martha of Bethany – faithful followers, generous givers, holy women who were disciples of Christ and who manifested the many ways that we serve Christ through our ministry: through prayer and service. They contributed to the proclamation of the Gospel in word and in deed, and we are grateful for their witness.
On the left we have John Chrysostom, whose Easter sermon is still read throughout the Eastern Orthodox churches (and at our Easter Vigil this year!) because it expresses the joy and power of the resurrection. He calls for celebration because death is no longer to be feared. But it would be too small a thing to focus only on this: John Chrysostom also lived a life of witness to the this-world implications of the resurrection. If we believe in the resurrection of Jesus, then we should not accumulate great wealth while others go without. For this, John Chrysostom was exiled repeatedly.
And on the right we have Catherine of Siena, a third-order Dominican woman whose mystical life with Christ reminds us that we need to have a vibrant, living relationship with Christ. So often we sort of stop looking for Christ – we read the resurrection stories in the Gospels, and then once Jesus ascends into the heavenly places, we sort of stop looking for Jesus. But Catherine of Siena celebrated a living relationship with Christ that she called a marriage to Jesus. He was alive, and he was alive in her life. And because of that living relationship, Catherine could call powerful people to account for their behavior.
Back to the left: John Donne and George Herbert, two clergy-poets of the Church of England whose work has inspired faith throughout generations. Gentle wisdom in the written word, expressing the depths of mystical theology that they saw in their prayer and their ministry. And complementing them on the other side is Bach, you know, that one Lutheran composer. We forget that artists and creatives can have a deep spirituality that shows up in their works. Just because Bach was never ordained does not mean that his spirituality was somehow lesser than John Donne and George Herbert’s. Bach taught catechism classes, you know.
And on the bottom of both banners, we have Marianne Cope and Damien of Molokai, two saints who ministered to those afflicted with leprosy when few others would risk being infected. Their faith in Christ led them to care for those who had few helpers, and who have throughout the centuries been abandoned and exiled. Marianne and Damien trusted in the risen Lord to help them do what they could with great love.
The saints we cherish have been filled with the power of the risen Lord Jesus. They proclaimed the resurrection, they shared the life and ministry of Jesus in their day and age. They lived the mystical insight and beauty of the resurrection. They did courageous things, animated by the triumph of Jesus over death itself – knowing that if nothing can separate us from the love of the risen Lord, then nothing can stop us from doing acts of love and justice to proclaim the kingdom of that same risen Lord.
The resurrection is not simply an event that happened once and then fades into a dim fact or truism of faith. No, the resurrection is the light in which we live and walk as Christians. The resurrection animates us, encourages us, strengthens us, delights us. There are six more weeks of Easter ahead of us. As we continue to sing our Alleluia in this season, I want you to think of how the resurrection matters to you. What does the risen Lord make happen in your life – how will you live in the light of the resurrection for these weeks and beyond?