Sermon Easter 1 (C)

 ALLELUIA!

Alleluia INDEED!

The Lord is Risen! Alleluia!

May his grace and peace be with us! May he fill our hearts with joy!

Oh yes, gentle people, today is the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ.

Today is the day that we get amazed by the living and Risen Lord!

Today is the day where we are all a little extra energised – and caffeinated, I bet. And there may be a bit of extra sugar in there too.

But: Mostly: we are energised and enthused because it is EASTER: A day when God has come into our lives with such commitment and confidence that we see the whole world differently.

And especially after a 2-year long Lent (thank you COVID), this Easter we are REALLY seeing things differently.

The world is still the same – but it’s also… different. Better!

Colours are brighter, aromas are more fragrant, the sunshine is more vibrant.

It is a good day.

It is a GREAT day!

It is a day to shout out the Alleluias

The world looks different.

So here’s a question for you…

Why does the world look different?

(Jesus! Usually when a preacher asks a question – the answer is Jesus. Especially at Easter!)

There are many ways that things can be the same but different.

A new coat of paint brightens up a building, a beam of light shining through stained glass projects colours everywhere.

Nothing has changed, but everything is different: if only we can see it.

One of the ways I can think to talk about this is to talk about stained glass. Our glass windows here are exquisite – they convey Biblical teachings to folks without words, they express emption in ways that words cannot.

And, we know, as with all things glass – they can sometimes break. (glass pieces)

And broken glass doesn’t mean the end: these pieces don’t look like they used to, but:

There’s new possibilities for broken glass.

Sometimes it can be put back together, and patterns re-created. (windows)

Sometimes smaller pieces can be connected in new ways to create an entirely new thing of beauty. (suncatcher)

And sometimes: even the smallest pieces are used to make something amazing.

Like in a kaleidoscope. (kaleidoscope)

My young friends – do you know what a kaleidoscope is?

It’s a tube – and inside there are a couple of mirrors, and a few very small pieces of different coloured glass. And when you look through the eye hole, you see patterns from the glass –

And the best part is, when you turn the tube, the glass shifts around – and a new pattern is there.

So every time you look into a kaleidoscope, you see a new beautiful pattern.

It’s never not beautiful; and it’s always a little bit different.

Even the name kaleidoscope – it comes from a few Greek words that mean “looking at beautiful forms.”

But if we just focus on the broken bits of glass, we miss out on the beauty.

And Easter is the celebration of eternal beauty in this life and the next.

Because: Jesus. A beautiful gift from God, that shared good news.

A gift that was broken; by corrupt empires and human sinfulness.

Yet from this brokenness, God gave the world a new way to see what is holy – what is beautiful.

In the resurrected Christ.

Jesus. (I told you – most sermon questions – the answer is Jesus!)

So Jesus! Risen! Alive! Changed!

And yet, entirely still the same.

This is the Jesus who was unrecognised by Mary, until he called her by name.

And she saw the world in a new way: with the love of God in her eyes.

And – she preached the shortest and most succinct Easter sermon EVER: “I have seen the Lord!”

This is the Jesus of whom Peter boasts about to Cornelius in Joppa, when he tells of baptism and ministry and miracle – and of death and resurrection – and of the forgiveness of sins.

And both Peter and his new companion saw the world in a new way: with the love of God in their eyes.

This is the Jesus of whom Paul writes to the church in Corinth, proclaiming the power of hope and the assurance of a shared resurrection: for the last enemy to be destroyed is death. What powerful witness to know that even our ultimate earthly end is just the beginning of life.

And Paul and the Corinthians saw the world in a new way: with the love of God in their eyes.

And in all these cases, and every Easter since, people have celebrated that the world looks a little bit different: brighter, happier, more colourful.

Because while the world may look the same, we see it differently:

And we can’t help but share the good news:

Because WE are different.

And so we act differently, we speak differently, we think differently:

coming from a place of being touched by the divine presence in our midst;

coming from the place that wants to see things as beauty-filled;

coming from the place that wants to see through the eyes of faith..

For the resurrection shows us God’s perfect love.

It amazes us, astounds us, awes us, and inspires us.

It gives us energy and hope; joy and jubilance!

It gives us the encouragement to see the beauty that God is always showing us, seeing the world in a new way: with the love of God in our eyes.

For it’s Easter.

And we are Easter people.

And together we proclaim that WE have seen the Lord.

For the Lord is risen; Christ is risen indeed.

Alleluia!