Luke 24:1-12
Easter Sunday / Year A
Facebook has figured out something about me. I am a sucker for videos of furniture
restoration. It knows this because it
keeps feeding them to me… and, apparently, I keep watching them. Have you seen any of these? Someone finds, say, an old dresser thrown out
on the curb, picks it up, and takes it home.
It’s crusted in layers of paint, each more hideous than the one before. Perhaps a leg is missing, but there are
always nicks, scratches, and various marks indicating a history of rough
treatment. In the best-case scenario,
handles, knobs, and hinges are tarnished, in the worst case… they are gone
altogether. There is absolutely no
mystery as to why this hunk of drawers had been discarded as trash.
But then the treasurer hunter gets to work: stripping off old paint, replacing
lost chips, fabricating missing pieces, and sanding… lots and lots of scraping
and sanding. And then comes the payoff…
the refinishing… something which brings out the wood’s grain and gives the
piece an up-to-date, luxurious look anyone would be proud to own. The before and after pictures never fail to astonish
me. What had been cast off is turned
into a gem… an heirloom… a showpiece that will bring dignity and grace to its
new home. The refurbished piece has been
resurrected; brought back from the dead and given breathtaking new life.
I suppose folks celebrate Easter for different reasons. For some, it is little more than a joyful
reminder winter has passed, and the earth is springing back to life. Some see in it proof Jesus is the Son of
God. Others rejoice in its promise our
sins are forgiven and we will inherit eternal life. But me, I give thanks for the hope one day we
will find (to use the language of the prayer book) our “consummation and bliss”
with Christ in his eternal glory.
What do I mean by consummation and bliss?
Well, we who have been baptized into the Christian faith and life, dedicate
ourselves to forsaking our sins, to patterning our lives after our Savior, and
to walking with him daily throughout our earthly pilgrimage. And though this is our aim, it is a
destination we never fully reach. In
addition, life has a way of leaving its marks on us. Some are inflicted by others, while many are
self-imposed. Let’s just say we leave
this life and enter the next in need of repairs. For some it requires only a little polishing,
others need a bit more touch-up work, while for people like me, a total
make-over will be in order. The idea of
consummation and bliss suggests to me it will be God’s work to make us who we
have always striven to be, but never quite could achieve. It will be God’s work to heal what is hurt,
to replace what is broken, to clean up what is tarnished about us. This, for me, is our ultimate consummation –
what awaits us in the end. This, for me,
is our ultimate bliss – the highest possible happiness.
When Jesus emerges from the tomb he emerges just as he entered, wounds and
all, because he lived his life completely as God intends. We, well we who have fallen short of this will
be changed into his glorious likeness.
Perhaps what St. Paul wrote to the church in Philippi resonates with you:
All of the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing
Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for
me is insignificant – dog dung. I’ve
dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by
him… I gave up all that inferior stuff so
I might know Christ personally, experiencing his resurrection power… I’m not saying that I have this all together,
that I have made it my own. But I am
well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for
me. Friends, don’t get me wrong; By no
means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the
goal, where God is beckoning us onward – to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning
back. (3:8-14,
The Message)
On this day as we celebrate the glorious resurrection of
our Lord and Savior, we give thanks one day our life-long pursuit of being like
him will be complete.
