Proving Easter

Before I went to seminary, I spent a summer as a city reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times. In that one summer, I covered stories about the mayor, Jesse Jackson, the Pope and the police beat. That just about summarizes life in Chicago, doesn't it?

I only got on the front page twice, for feature stories. One was about the Taste of Chicago: I interviewed a woman who said her only regret was that she should have worn a bigger pair of jeans. The other was about a frog-jumping contest held at the Hyatt Hotel downtown; it was a slow news day.

In the Sun-Times newsroom, all the reporters sat on one side and the editors and fact-checkers sat on the other side, facing us. Every time we submitted a story, the editors and fact-checkers would look it over and often send it back to us with questions. "Can you verify this name and address? Did you double-check this number? Are you absolutely certain about this quote?"

Feature stories are one thing, but if you're writing a story that involves someone's reputation, that's a whole different story. Not only do you want to be accurate, you also don't want to get sued. If we couldn't prove the truth of our stories, the editors wouldn't print them.

Every Easter Sunday when I get up to preach, I feel like I'm back in the newsroom again, and all the folks in the congregation are the fact-checkers and the skeptical editors. They have every right to hear this story about Mary Magdalene going to the empty tomb and send it right back to me with plenty of questions (John 20:1-18).

Yes, I realize in John's gospel, natural laws are broken. The most fundamental biological fact of nature is that when people die, they don't come back to life.

Yes, I realize there are no actual eyewitnesses to the central event here: the moment when Jesus' body rose up from the tomb. The resurrection is one event that is strictly between Jesus and God, in all four gospels.

Yes, I realize there is only one person who saw the risen Christ in this story, and she is highly compromised as a witness. She is a woman, for one thing, and by law a woman's testimony was not trusted in first century Palestine. As a witness, Mary Magdalene is also dubious because she was formerly possessed by seven demons, which Jesus drove out of her. In addition, she was grief-stricken, which would have impaired her judgment.

Yes, I realize that this whole story takes place while it is still dark. Why should anyone believe that Mary saw the Lord, when her eyes could have been playing tricks on her? There was no video camera, and no one has found any physical evidence to this day.

The gospel proclamation of Easter will never pass journalism standards. There are too many holes in the story, which is why Easter is the occasion for great doubt among skeptics.

But the Easter gospel is also the source of our most profound faith among believers. Because this gospel was not written as a piece of journalism. It is the good news of Jesus Christ. It is a faith testimony about finding hope, even in the midst of darkness.

You can't prove hope. You can only see its results.

I seem glimpses of resurrection hope every day in the ministries of First United.

We see long lines at the food pantry, so we make it our mission to provide jobs, affordable housing, advocacy and mentoring.

We see our teens using drugs, so we plan parent meetings, share ideas, and look for opportunities for our youth to find meaning and community in other ways.

We see our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered brothers and sisters excluded from other churches, from leadership positions, from equal rights to marry in church and society, so we commit to increased advocacy in our denominations and support for PFLAG.

We see mainline church membership dropping, so we invest ourselves in outreach, hospitality and extravagant welcome.

We see religious divisions causing conflict in our world, so we engage in a Year with Islam, getting to know our Muslim neighbors as people.

We see the effects of global warming, so we practice environmental stewardship.

We live God's vision with hope. What more proof do you need that Christ is alive?

Finding God in the Wilderness

I've been taking my daughter on college visits recently, and today we visited a nearby campus and heard a lecture by an economics professor. I was intrigued by the title, which had to do with understanding the recession. After a one-hour lecture, accompanied by charts, graphs and lots of power power slides, my daughter was asleep and I felt lost in the wilderness.

You see, at the end of his lecture, the professor said, "I don't have any good news about this."

He explained that federal monetary policy could not leverage a recovery any more than it already has. He explained that interest rates for savers are low (though we are saving more money than we did before) and interest rates for borrowers are high; meaning there is no incentive to either save or borrow. The housing market remains depressed and workers can't move to find new jobs. There is a mismatch between skills available in the labor market and skills that are needed by potential employers (too many construction workers, not enough health care workers).

The professor explained the economic stimulus package passed in 2009 was the one thing that seemed to increase employment, but its effect was only temporary. Now, the political winds have changed in the direction of spending cuts, meaning that any future stimulus spending proposals don't have a chance. His message was: Get used to it. High unemployment will be around for awhile.

Wow, I thought. I couldn't get away with that giving kind of hopeless message in the church.

Nor would I want to.

During this Lenten season, we have been walking through the wilderness, exploring the challenges of our lives through the words of the Psalms. We have not been shy about admitting that temptations and dark valleys lie before us.

But, unlike that economics professor, we have faith that God is with us. We trust that Christ walks beside us. We experience the power of the Holy Spirit, lifting us up when we need inspiration.

The church does not give up. Instead of saying, "We'll never be able to feed everyone who comes to the food pantry," we begin to explore how we can provide more jobs, affordable housing and mentoring for pantry clients. We begin to develop relationships with our legislators, so that we can advocate for justice.

Instead of bemoaning the religious conflicts in our world, we commit to A Year with Islam in our adult education ministry. We engage in regular visits and share meals with Muslim neighbors from the Islamic Foundation in Villa Park.

Instead of saying, "The problems of four million people who have been displaced in Colombia are beyond our help," we set up an exhibit about the Colombian people in our sanctuary and are signing letters and postcards to demand a new U.S. policy toward Latin America.

And so we are not left without hope. We can find God at work -- even in the wilderness -- even in the recession -- even in the conflicts and pain of the world. Because on Palm Sunday, God's love comes to town. And that changes everything.

What lasts forever?

There they are, escaping from the clutches of Pharaoh after decades of oppression. What a fantastic feeling, to be free at last! But the band of newly liberated Israelites encounters a big obstacle in their path to freedom: the Red Sea. The Egyptian chariots are hard on their heels, breathing down their necks, and if they have to skirt the edges of the Red Sea the bad guys will surely catch up with them and haul them back to captivity.
So Moses holds up his staff and stretches his hand over the waters and God divides the Red Sea, and leads the Israelites across the middle on dry land. It is a miracle. Even better, when the Egyptian soldiers try to follow the escaping slaves, the waters close over them and they are drowned. The Israelites are blown away and say, “The Lord will be my God forever.” You can read this amazing adventure story in Exodus 14. Share it with your children and grandchildren.
But if you keep reading Exodus, you discover a few days later the Israelites have already started complaining to Moses. They are hungry and would rather go back to the land of Egypt – where at least they had enough bread. Rabbi Harold Kushner says, “What we learn is that the word ‘forever’ is a technical term meaning 48 hours. Somebody promises to be grateful forever. You can hold them to it for 48 hours and after that it is a lost cause.”
Yesterday’s miracle is not always enough to nourish us today. So instead of one spectacular miracle, God changes tactics. God provides manna one day at a time. Food is spread on the ground outside their tents overnight, and in the morning they go out, gather it up, and bring it in. They feed their families. God provides daily sustenance, only enough for one day at a time.
No miracle lasts forever. The miracle is that God gives us this day our daily bread. And that is enough. We are not capable of feeling grateful forever. But we can be thankful for the blessings we receive one day at a time. Poet Thomas Chisholm said it well in this hymn:
Great is your faithfulness! Great is your faithfulness! Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed your hand has provided. Great is your faithfulness, God, unto me.
Trust that God will give you what you need . . . in this day.
In Christian love, Julie R. Harley