Acts
10: 34–43; Psalm 118: 1–2, 14–24; I Corinthians 15: 1–11; John 20: 1–18
This
is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, by Fr. Gene Tucker
on Sunday, April 1, 2018
“AN IDEAL TALE, FIRMLY
ROOTED IN REALITY”
Our
household would be very different place if we didn’t have old movies to watch
on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) and AMC (American Movie Channel). The sorts of
movies I have in mind are those that starred such actors as Ginger Rogers and
Fred Astaire, Jimmy Stewart, and Barbara Stanwyck, movies from the 1930s
through the early 1960s. (OK, I am dating myself, I know.)
Whenever
an old movie comes on that is the favorite of one of the two of us who live in
our house, a comment is often made to the effect that, “The first fifteen
minutes of movie is my favorite part of the movie.” Or, at other times, a
comment is made to the effect that, “The ending of this movie is so wonderful.”
After
having heard these sorts of remarks, along with comments like, “Well, you know
that so-and-so was offered this leading role, but they turned it down,” the
other of us in the household began to suggest that this lover of old movies
ought to write a book.
Lately,
I have offered to be my wife’s consultant in the writing of such a book. (Now
you know who the lover of old movies is…her husband knows little-to-nothing
about movies, by the way.) As her consultant, I’ve already posed the idea that
she write a book about the beginnings of movies, and why she likes those parts
of the movies she really likes. Then, recently, I suggested she also write a
book about the endings of some of her favorite movies, and why she likes the
endings. And even more recently, I’ve suggested she write something about the
middle parts of movies. I’ve also devised a marketing strategy, suggested that
these books be marketed as a “Prequel”, a “Sequel”, and so forth. (Maybe the
book about the middle parts of movies could be titled a “Middlequel”….I’ve just
coined a new word.)
Beyond
the plans I’ve laid out, I’ve also suggested other books. For example, she
could write a book about families of actors: Did you know that Warren Beatty
and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister? The possibilities are virtually
endless. My wife could write a whole string of books, all of which, I am sure,
would be best sellers.
Old
movies of the sort I have in mind often focused on an ideal world, and many
times, that world was a world that was detached from the realities of everyday
life. Many of these kinds of movies are pure escapist fare. But even when an
old movie did deal with a very real-world situation, it often held up some
ideal or some virtue. (In that respect, old movies differ from much of what is
available to watch these days. Today, many of our movies, TV shows and video
games are often filled with graphic violence…is it any wonder that people act
out in real life what they are seeing on the screen?)
The
Easter story is much like an old movie: The events of Easter Sunday morning are
viewed through the lens of the Bible, and the events sound very much like a
fairy tale, don’t they?
There
is an ideal world present in the Easter accounts that Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John pass along to us: A man who had been wrongfully killed is brought back to
life again. His followers are delighted that he will be with them again. Who
could argue with that sort of a story? It is the stuff of “Once Upon a Time”.
But
the Easter event is rooted in the everyday world. There is no “Pie-in-the-Sky”
present here.
Why
can we say this?
One
reason is that Jesus rose from the grave with His physical body completely
intact. He makes a number of appearances to His followers. On one occasion, He
says to them, “Do you have anything to eat?” On another occasion, He tells the
disciple Thomas that Thomas should put his hands into the print of the nails in
Jesus’ hands. (This is a text we will consider next week.) Jesus said, in
effect, “Go ahead and touch me. See that it is I myself,”
The
reality of the raising of Jesus brings us to another important aspect of what
happened on this day: It is the proof that God has the power to create and to
re-create. Jesus is made a new creation. He is given life again after having
been dead, completely dead.
God
alone has that power. Genesis, chapter one, affirms God’s creative power when
it says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth
was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the
Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let
there be light,’ and there was light.” (Genesis 1: 1–3)
The
power to create and to re-create is given to Jesus Christ. In the beginning
verses of John’s Gospel account, we read this: “In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (In a few verses, we will
learn that this Word is Jesus Christ.) He was in the beginning with God. All
things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was
made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in
the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1: 1–5)
These
two passages are very similar, aren’t they? They both confirm God’s power,
residing in Jesus Christ, is the power to cause light to shine in the darkness,
to create, to make all things new.
The
power that Jesus Christ displays to us is the power to create a new heart for
us. That is the basic meaning of Easter, and it is an ideal world, an ideal
world which breaks into our broken and everyday world, making all things new.
What
are we called to do in response to Jesus’ power to give us a new heart, a new
way of looking at things, a new and better life where the ideal world of heaven
meets the everyday world of life? We are called to accept this power into our
lives, into our minds and into our hearts. God the Son will not come uninvited,
we must open the door, so that the Lord may show us a new and better way,
bringing to life again that which was dead in our hearts.
AMEN.
