Easter, 2016
27/03/16 04:02
Easter is the big moveable feast in our calendar. Yes, it is earlier this year than is often the case. Yes, you have to pay attention to several things in order to determine its date. Yes, the length of the season of Epiphany is also variable to accommodate the fixed date of Christmas and the changing date of Easter. On the other hand, celebrating Easter in the spring at least puts it in the same season as events in the life of the historical Jesus unlike Christmas which is celebrated on a date fixed by tradition, not by remembrance of an actual date. We’ve been pretty good at arguing about dates in the Christian Church, especially for the last 962 years since the Great Schism divided our faith into its Eastern and Western expressions.
Still it is important to remember that all of the dates in our Christian calendar are the product of a mixture of faith and simple politics. It was at the First Council of Nicea, in AD 325, a distinctly political event in the history of the church, that it was decided that Easter Day should fall on the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, and that it should always fall on a Sunday to represent the day of Christ’s Resurrection.
Don’t mean to burst your bubble, but it isn’t as if March 27 is the actual date of the event. After all Easter will be April 16 next year and , like 2014, 2017 is a year when Orthodox and Western Christians celebrate Easter on the same day. After 2017 that won’t happen again until 2025. The next time Easter fall sin March is 2024, when it is March 31.
We get Easter on April Fool’s Day in 2018 and again in 2029, at least for those of us who follow the western calendar. That is, of course, unless current conversations produce a change in the date. It is rumored that the Roman Catholic Pope, the Russian Orthodox Patriarch, and the Archbishop of Canterbury will discuss such a change in an upcoming meeting, though the date of that meeting has not yet been set. It remains to be seen whether or not those three individuals constitute sufficient authority to change something that has such a long and ancient tradition. I don’t recommend holding your breath for such an announcement anytime soon. It might be a good thing to keep those charts that show the dates of Easter in future years.
The date of the celebration aside, it seems to be that our world is struggling with understanding the depth of meaning of the celebration. Consider the following:
We still hear the popular aphorism, “Might makes right,” even in the context of the current political campaigns in the US. Easter declares that this is not the case. The display of earthly power is meaningless in the face of God’s grace. The authority of Rome held sway in the ancient Middle East. Jesus death sentence had no avenue of appeal. He was killed by the might of an imperial government. Might didn’t make right; neither did it yield the ultimate victory.
There are more than a view voices in our world urging that we respond to violence with violence claiming that there are certain world problems for which the only solution is killing and more killing. This is thousands of years after Jesus demonstrated that sacrifice, not violence is the avenue to peace. Love really is stronger than death. The power to kill is not as great as the power of resurrection.
The teachings of Easter aren’t exactly popular on the world’s stage in our time.
A quick glance at the media might lead you to believe that Easter is about pastel eggs, bunnies, chocolate, wide-brimmed hats, lilies and daffodils and children baskets brimming with candy and presents. These symbols of the ancient spring rite devoted to the pagan fertility goddess “Oestre,” are nearly everywhere and frequently displayed not only in secular marketing, but also on signs and posters promoting church events.
For us, Easter is the celebration of God’s new covenant with the people. The new covenant does not engage the old covenant wherein God and the people promise faithfulness to one another. Rather it provides an extended invitation to all to participate in a relationship that is not dependent upon merit or inheritance or genetics or any other means of selection. The new covenant is offered freely to all. The presence of God is not restricted to the places of authority or special ceremony or a chosen priesthood. Rather the relationship between God and people is constantly available.
Love does not end with death.
It appears that the meaning and message of Easter is a challenge even for those of us who live our lives within the church. Resurrection is not the same as resuscitation. Living eternally with God is not the same thing as being exempted from death. Being a person of faith does not mean that you can avoid pain and suffering, sorrow, grief and loss.
In the lives of the faithful, Easter is less about a specific day and a particular celebration and more about a commitment to an entirely new way of living. That is why even in the convoluted mathematics of the historic Christian calendar Easter is far more than an single day. It is a season. 50 days, more than 10 percent of the year is devoted to the celebration of Easter and learning its deeper meanings. And we repeat the process every year as we add depth upon depth of meaning and layer upon layer of understanding of the mystery of life and death and resurrection.
I would be dishonest if I were to say that I don’t feel pressure about this morning’s sermon. The church will be quite full and since I don’t preach on Christmas Eve, it is likely the largest congregation I will address during the entire year. I want my words to be meaningful. But I also know that the true meaning of Easter doesn’t hang on what I say.
The true meaning of Easter lies in the lives of the people as they go forth from the church into their everyday lives.
Still it is important to remember that all of the dates in our Christian calendar are the product of a mixture of faith and simple politics. It was at the First Council of Nicea, in AD 325, a distinctly political event in the history of the church, that it was decided that Easter Day should fall on the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, and that it should always fall on a Sunday to represent the day of Christ’s Resurrection.
Don’t mean to burst your bubble, but it isn’t as if March 27 is the actual date of the event. After all Easter will be April 16 next year and , like 2014, 2017 is a year when Orthodox and Western Christians celebrate Easter on the same day. After 2017 that won’t happen again until 2025. The next time Easter fall sin March is 2024, when it is March 31.
We get Easter on April Fool’s Day in 2018 and again in 2029, at least for those of us who follow the western calendar. That is, of course, unless current conversations produce a change in the date. It is rumored that the Roman Catholic Pope, the Russian Orthodox Patriarch, and the Archbishop of Canterbury will discuss such a change in an upcoming meeting, though the date of that meeting has not yet been set. It remains to be seen whether or not those three individuals constitute sufficient authority to change something that has such a long and ancient tradition. I don’t recommend holding your breath for such an announcement anytime soon. It might be a good thing to keep those charts that show the dates of Easter in future years.
The date of the celebration aside, it seems to be that our world is struggling with understanding the depth of meaning of the celebration. Consider the following:
We still hear the popular aphorism, “Might makes right,” even in the context of the current political campaigns in the US. Easter declares that this is not the case. The display of earthly power is meaningless in the face of God’s grace. The authority of Rome held sway in the ancient Middle East. Jesus death sentence had no avenue of appeal. He was killed by the might of an imperial government. Might didn’t make right; neither did it yield the ultimate victory.
There are more than a view voices in our world urging that we respond to violence with violence claiming that there are certain world problems for which the only solution is killing and more killing. This is thousands of years after Jesus demonstrated that sacrifice, not violence is the avenue to peace. Love really is stronger than death. The power to kill is not as great as the power of resurrection.
The teachings of Easter aren’t exactly popular on the world’s stage in our time.
A quick glance at the media might lead you to believe that Easter is about pastel eggs, bunnies, chocolate, wide-brimmed hats, lilies and daffodils and children baskets brimming with candy and presents. These symbols of the ancient spring rite devoted to the pagan fertility goddess “Oestre,” are nearly everywhere and frequently displayed not only in secular marketing, but also on signs and posters promoting church events.
For us, Easter is the celebration of God’s new covenant with the people. The new covenant does not engage the old covenant wherein God and the people promise faithfulness to one another. Rather it provides an extended invitation to all to participate in a relationship that is not dependent upon merit or inheritance or genetics or any other means of selection. The new covenant is offered freely to all. The presence of God is not restricted to the places of authority or special ceremony or a chosen priesthood. Rather the relationship between God and people is constantly available.
Love does not end with death.
It appears that the meaning and message of Easter is a challenge even for those of us who live our lives within the church. Resurrection is not the same as resuscitation. Living eternally with God is not the same thing as being exempted from death. Being a person of faith does not mean that you can avoid pain and suffering, sorrow, grief and loss.
In the lives of the faithful, Easter is less about a specific day and a particular celebration and more about a commitment to an entirely new way of living. That is why even in the convoluted mathematics of the historic Christian calendar Easter is far more than an single day. It is a season. 50 days, more than 10 percent of the year is devoted to the celebration of Easter and learning its deeper meanings. And we repeat the process every year as we add depth upon depth of meaning and layer upon layer of understanding of the mystery of life and death and resurrection.
I would be dishonest if I were to say that I don’t feel pressure about this morning’s sermon. The church will be quite full and since I don’t preach on Christmas Eve, it is likely the largest congregation I will address during the entire year. I want my words to be meaningful. But I also know that the true meaning of Easter doesn’t hang on what I say.
The true meaning of Easter lies in the lives of the people as they go forth from the church into their everyday lives.