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?
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