Easter B + Hallelujah Anyhow! + 4.4.21

-

 


M. Campbell-Langdell

All Saints, Oxnard

(Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Mark 16:1-8)

 

Hallelujah Anyhow! This is a theme in Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Easter Message to the church and I feel it is so relevant this Easter. In his message, he mentions Bishop Barbara Harris, who died last March and whose theme was “Hallelujah Anyhow!” Even when we don’t see the Promised Land yet, we believe it is over the horizon.

Presiding Bishop Curry mentions that when he gets to heaven, he wants to meet Mary Magdalene! He wants to ask her about what gave her the strength to get up that Easter morning when it was just getting light out and go to the tomb. And what a good question. Because the anointing of Jesus was indeed a traditional Jewish burial custom practiced largely by women. But she knew there was a stone there. A stone too big to move. How was she going to do it? And why even get up? I mean, Jesus was dead, wasn’t he? What gave Mary the strength to go to that tomb? What made her think she could move the stone? But love can do what we can’t imagine possible.[1] Because miraculously, the stone was moved. Miraculously, Jesus wasn’t dead, but risen! Alleluia!

What is always interesting to note in the gospel of Mark is that the resurrection story ends here. Jesus is not seen yet (although addendums show him being seen). We must believe without seeing.
That is so counter-cultural. How many times do even the best among us say “I will believe it when I see it.” And for human things, I get it. We have been fooled too many times. Let us see the goodness of something proven before we get invested. But on the other hand, God invites us into something different. Believing without seeing.

And yet, there is so much pain in this world. And yet, on the 53rd anniversary of the assassination of The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr, let us believe that God is bending that arc towards justice even though too many of our siblings of color live in fear. Let us do whatever we can to support that arc by our words and actions. And on this anniversary of the beginning of the pandemic, when we cannot yet enjoy the rich feast mentioned in Isaiah all together, let us believe in the time when we will all be together, even as we relish whatever taste of that feast we get to have today. Our faith is a faith of already and not yet. Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James and Salome heard that Jesus had risen, but they were afraid. They had not yet seen him, and I can only imagine how hard this news was to take in. They had not yet seen him as Paul mentions the believers seeing him in our reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians. We know that in coming into this world, Jesus made the Kingdom known among us. And yet we who wait for his second coming know that we still live in a fallen world. A world of sin. A world still wracked by injustice, in which too many live in fear. Too many are hungry and uncertain about their lives. We are not there yet.
And yet, this Easter, Hallelujah Anyhow! We get to gather together, at least a representative crew, and we get to worship with those who are online. We get to break bread together, and listen to the scriptures. Hallelujah Anyhow, Jesus is with us!
I loved the words of a commentator speaking about the scriptures for this week. Jennifer Kaaland acknowledged the ways in which we are still inside the tomb this Easter, saying: “That which is dead shall live again. As the stone is rolled away, our eyes must adjust to the brightness. Let us emerge from the shadows of death renewed in our faith.”[2]

Doesn’t it feel like that? Many are being vaccinated and there is a light at the end of a long tunnel. But some are still waiting to be vaccinated or still unsure how safe it will be to resume what once were everyday tasks when they are vaccinated. Or they are suffering financially. Reports this week are hopeful on the vaccine front, saying that those who have been vaccinated are not only protected but should be unable to spread the disease to others. And yet if we have learned anything this year, it is to be careful. We must keep wearing the masks until we know it is safe. And yet friends, the stone is being rolled away. We are entering a new time. Not just liturgically but in our world. Let us be patient as our eyes adjust to the new light. Patient with ourselves when we are unsure as to how to proceed. Patient with others who may seem to give contradictory information as we continue to learn more every day about how to move forward (just as we did at the beginning of the pandemic, but what a joyful difference in most regards)! But let us not be overly afraid. He who saved us walks with us still in Spirit, even though we do not see him. Jesus, give us wisdom to move forward in this moment. To be wise and appropriately careful but with bold trust in you, knowing that you guide our steps. Knowing that you love us and call us to new life. This Easter, and always, Hallelujah Anyhow!
Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Faith or Fear? Advent 1C

-
Melissa Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard Year C + Advent 1 (Jeremiah 33:14–16; Ps. 25:1–9; 1 Thess. 3:9–13; Luke 21:25–36) So… what are you going to do when you stand before the man with the holes in his hands? Now that may seem like a strange question to ask this first Sunday in December.  Surely, Pastor Melissa, we’re gearing up for jollity, not getting ready to meet our maker? But in a sense we are, always, all the time, waiting for Jesus, and I think that’s what Advent is really all about.  Reminding us that we are always waiting not just for the Christ Child to come and be born in our midst, but that we are also waiting for that awesome, if slightly scary Second Coming of Christ. And it is true that this passage talks about distress and the roaring of the waves.  And many looked at the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, that iconic image of the ocean-side theme park, including a Ferris Wheel, in the waves, and many said, this is something w...
Read more

Proper 20 (B) + A community of power + 9.23.18

-
Image
M. Campbell-Langdell All Saints, Oxnard (Proverbs 31:10–31; Ps. 1; James 3:13–4:3, 7–8ª; St. Mark 9:30–37) Take a moment and think of the most powerful positive woman figure you know – in your life or in your favorite movie, show or book. Who is the woman who has most inspired you? Keep that image of that woman in mind as we look at this passage from Proverbs Chapter 31. Now here we see the verse “A capable wife who can find?” And all the feminists amongst us will be relieved to hear that a better translation from the Hebrew would be: “a woman of power” instead of a “capable wife.” [1] That changes things, doesn’t it? Then when we hear about this ideal ancient Hebrew woman’s exploits – her buying of lands, her trading prowess, her physical strength, even her domestic abilities such as weaving, and perhaps especially her kindness to the poor, we see strength and power in all of these. Of course, looking at this passage, this is not one woman but a concept of the most...
Read more

Proper21BAcceptingourownwounds29sept24

-
  Accepting our own and other’s wounds Mark 9: 38-50   St Michael’s, Isla Vista / All Saints Oxnard The Rev. Alene Campbell-Langdell; MCL additions   May I just start this morning by acknowledging that our Gospel reading is complex.   The images are startling (horrifying?) and the metaphors come almost too quickly to catch.   What is clear is that something serious is going on between Jesus and his disciples, and Jesus is using every means possible, including some pretty harsh language, to try to course correct.   To even begin to understand this passage, we need to back up to last week’s reading from Mark.   In that reading, the disciples are arguing with each other about who is the greatest and best disciple.   In response, Jesus gets a little kid, some commentators say “toddler,” and holds this child in his arms during the rest of the conversation.    The other part of the scene to keep in mind is that Jesus has just told...
Read more