Theological Truth: The Resurrection empowers us to participate in the power of God’s love.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Did you happen to notice the flowering redbuds and dogwoods on your way in? The color green spreading out across lawns? Parking lots and curbs completely unobstructed? Eight weeks ago that seemed impossible because, as you I’m sure remember, everything was buried under a foot of snowcrete!
Like many of you, I didn’t imagine how impenetrable and unyielding frozen precipitation could be. Neither could I imagine that temperatures could drop that low. And stay there for so long! I even heard locals saying, “I think these piles will be here until June!” Personally, I wondered if they’d be here forever, but even when it did melt, would there be any plant life remaining? How could anything survive under a blanket of death like that—so impossibly cold and lifeless.
Our lives can seem like that sometimes. Earthly powers and principalities, personal trials and troubles can entomb us in darkness. Hurts and hatreds, disappointments and death sometimes drive us to despair. But there is a force at work finding a way when we think there is no way. Easter demonstrates God’s power and the desire to bring order out of chaos, light out of darkness, freedom out of enslavement, even life out of death. God’s Love is supreme.
But we don’t always remember that. Sometimes we lose sight of the light and find ourselves in dark places. Bishop Michael Curry, in his book Love is the Way, tells the story of someone who lost his way…someone you’re probably familiar with: John Coltrane.
Bishop Curry writes, “John Coltrane was arguably one of the greatest jazz artists and composers in American music history. …Coltrane was born in Hamlet, North Carolina and raised in High Point. He was a brilliant musician even in childhood. After playing in the US Navy band, he began to play in various bands with musicians like Jimmy Heath, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Miles Davis to name just a few. But during this time he became addicted to alcohol and heroin, a lethal combination. He became so unreliable, alternating between near catatonic states and moments of sheer brilliance, that in April 1957 Miles Davis fired him from his band.”
He fell into that dark pit but he didn’t stay there. Curry continues, “Soon thereafter, Coltrane became determined to get clean and sober. Rather than entering a treatment facility… he went cold turkey. He stopped drinking and shooting up, which can be dangerous without proper supervision and care. Withdrawal was a long, horrible, painful, dangerous journey into night: hallucinations, seizures, and terror…And then in time, after he crossed what the slaves call ‘the danger waters’ into freedom, release, the end of night, he reached the light and survived.” Sometimes resurrection takes longer than three days, but new life is always possible.
Bishop Curry tells what happened next: “Coltrane later composed a musical piece telling the story of his struggle to overcome addiction. It begins with loud chaotic wild sounds from his sax. In the background is a haunting melody straining to be heard—but it is all drowned out by the chaos of the sax. As the music evolves, the chaos continues to do battle with the melody. Over time, the melody wins out. A voice emerges singing words that at first are faint, but eventually clear: “A love supreme, a love supreme, a love supreme.”
Bishop Curry concludes, “On the jacket to the album, he wrote these words ‘In the year of 1957 I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening, which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life.’ The peace itself was titled ‘A Love Supreme.’” (p. 101-102).
The melody always wins out. The Resurrection testifies to this Love Supreme. There are a lot of powers in the world that tell us they are supreme. They try to deceive us into believing in their primacy and priority. Might makes right. Nice guys finish last. Kindness is weakness, compassion is toxic, and serving others is for suckers. But they are lying. The Love of God—the Love Supreme—is the only power strong enough, effective enough, dependable enough, to bring order out of chaos, light out of darkness, and life out of death.
My sense is that we’ve seen enough chaos, darkness, and death. Here’s the good news: the risen Christ has conquered all of that. Death does not have the last word. Most astonishing of all, this Love Supreme invites and incorporates us into this new life. Easter isn’t only about the resurrection of Jesus, it’s about resurrection for all of us. The hymn we sang last night at the Easter Vigil proclaims it beautifully:
“We share by water in his saving death;
Reborn we share with him an Easter life;
As living members of a living Christ
Alleluia!”
Living members of a Love Supreme, living an Easter life. So how do we live this Easter life? The angel’s message to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary apply to us, too:
- Don’t be afraid.
- Come and see.
- Go and tell.
Both the angel and the risen Lord greet them with the words, “Do not be afraid.” There’s no need for us to fear God’s presence. Jesus doesn’t return from the grave to berate us for our failings. There’s no need to hide from this Love Supreme. There’s every reason to surrender to it. To fall into Love.
Next, come and see the tomb. There’s something important about revisiting the site of sin and suffering, of remembering the pain of the separation and death. We have to know there’s something wrong before we’ll look for something to make it right. If we don’t acknowledge our need for saving (ours—not just “those” people’s), why would we look for a savior? Or as Mark Scott taught our Book Group, we have to admit, “I can’t. God can. I think I’ll let him.” Come and see the tomb—visit, but don’t stay; remember, but do not remain there.
Because the next step is crucial: Go and tell. Tell the world we have seen the risen Christ. Witness to the world that the power of God’s love alone can bring order out of chaos, light out of darkness, life out of death. Go and tell the world the news that nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even death.
Friends, do not be afraid. The tomb is empty. The powers of death have done their worst. There is now and always another power at work, endlessly brining light out of darkness; continuously bringing life out of death. Don’t be afraid. Come and see. Go and tell about this Love Supreme.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
