The Rev. Carol S. Wedell 
April 8, 2007

(Begin by looking around in the chancel, the choir loft, the sanctuary).  I'm sure you know why I'm looking.  No - not for Easter eggs - although I sure enjoy Easter candy! I'm looking for Jesus.  Have you seen him?  Oh - I love our Jesus doll, but I was looking for the real thing - isn't that why you're here today?  Didn't you come today because we've been told that Jesus might just show up?  Don't most of us come hoping to catch of glimpse of Jesus - to be caught up in the excitement - to experience just a bit of God's resurrection power?

That first Easter morning, the women got up early and went looking for Jesus, as well.  And they knew where to look. Jesus was dead.  They had seen it with their own eyes.   They had watched as his body was lowered from the cross and taken to the tomb. They knew reality when they saw it.  And nothing was more real than death.  Their dreams, their hopes died along with him.

Now that the Sabbath was over, his body needed attention. Tired and overwhelmed with grief and sadness, they simply came to do what needed to be done.  Death does that to you. Many of us have been there, in a daze, simply going through the motions. There were practical matters to attend to. With great love, they brought the necessary spices and ointments to embalm his body. 

When they get to the tomb, they see that the stone has been rolled away, so they go in.  But Jesus' body is not there - not there where they had seen it laid just two days before.  The tomb is empty. Luke tells us that they were "perplexed" about this.  I should think so! 

There's not much time to think about it, however, as "suddenly" two men appear - presumably angels, based on their dazzling clothing.  Now the women are scared to death, and fall down with their faces to the ground. Then they are confronted with a question that still challenges us today:  "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He's not here - he's risen!"

If Jesus is alive, then why are they looking for him in the graveyard?  Why do you look for the living among the dead? 

That really is the question for us this day, isn't it?  If Christ is risen, why are we still looking for the living among the dead?   Why are we so convinced that we can find life - true, meaningful, fulfilled life - the life Jesus promises us - in the land of the dead? Why do you -- why do I -- look for life in all the wrong places? 

In spite of lip service to the contrary, why do we look for security in our bank account or the bottom line?  Why do we act as if our jobs define us, spending more and more time with less and less satisfaction?  Why do we look for joy in gathering bigger and better "toys," as if they could breathe into us the breath of life? Why are so many of us (at least those of us of a certain age!) obsessed with "looking young" - as if that could keep the reality of death at bay?    Why do too many of us seek the living among the dead in the lure of instant gratification, finding ourselves addicted - to alcohol, gambling, tobacco or dare I say it -- food?

Why do we look for life in the hyper-competition that seems to begin in pre-school these days, and doesn't end even when the grandchildren graduate?   Or perhaps we play the "some day" game - you know how it goes.  "Some day I'll graduate or get a new job or buy a new house or lose some weight or you name it... and then I'll be happy." You and I are experts at looking for life in places of death, at looking for the right things in the wrong places.

We look for life in those places, because it's what we know, it's what we've learned, it's what the entire world around us tells us we should be doing.  We know the shape of these tombs.  Have more, be more, do more - and you'll be happy, right? 

Friends, I believe most of us are here this morning, because we've tried all that - we've worked hard, competed well, got the new house or car, sent our children to the best schools - and still come up empty.  Looking for the living among the dead has led us to a dead end. 

So we're here, in a wonderfully full sanctuary, with the beauty of spring flowers laughing at the weather outside, with glorious music, and hoping, praying that we will catch a glimpse of Jesus - hoping, praying that we will find resurrected life among the living.

You know, that first Easter morning, those women got up just like you and I do - expecting everything to be just the same.  They thought they knew what was going on - even if they didn't like it.  In very short order, all of their expectations are blown away.  They are confronted with awe and mystery, confusion and fear - all rolled up together.  Easter begins there - at the empty tomb, where things don't make sense, where logic is defied, where past expectations and future hopes crash into one another.

But notice what happens.  The Easter story starts with death and confusion, with emptiness and longing.  But it does not stay there.  "Why are you looking for the living among the dead?  He is not here - he's risen!  Remember what Jesus told you!"  And what do the women do?  They certainly don't hang around the graveyard. 

No, they move on.  They go back and tell the eleven disciples what they have seen and heard - the very first Easter sermon!  Even though the disciples blow them off, the women were faithful.  They proclaim and celebrate Christ's resurrection even when the men who were closest to Jesus thought they were full of hot air!  And if we were to continue to read where this morning's lesson left off, we would read that soon - even that very day, they began to see Jesus here and there.  At a meal, in the middle of a discussion, on the beach.  They can't contain him or control him - but Christ is alive and in their midst.

Are you and I here this morning hoping to catch a glimpse of the risen Christ?  We will not see him in the way those first disciples did.  But he did point us in the right direction.  Like the three women, we are called to leave behind the comfort and familiarity of what we know, and go into the world where Christ will be found.  What is clear is that Jesus will never be contained by the church or by our expectations.  "We look for Jesus in churchy things, but we are more likely to find (him) among the pots and pans, or around the kitchen table." (Ruth Burgess and Kathy Galloway, Fire and Bread, p. 38).

If we look at Jesus' life, we most often see Jesus "out and about" hanging out with the people that good religious folks like you and me walk by.  We see Jesus touching the untouchable, eating with the lowlifes, and mixing it up with foreigners. We must seek the living Christ where he is to be found -- not among the dead, but walking with us, in our midst, struggling with us to bring God's kingdom. 

Last Sunday, a story in the New York Times (Sunday, April 1, 2007) gave me a glimpse of where Christ may be found.  The lead article was about the pressure and competition that high school girls face, especially as they prepare for college.  The title?  "For Girls, It's Be Yourself, and Be Perfect, Too."  One girl, with perfect SAT scores said, "It's out of style to admit it, but it is more important to be hot than smart." Talk about seeking the living among the dead!  As the parent of three children, I read with interest and anxiety. 

However one part of the story was for me, a glimpse of the resurrected Christ.  A top student, Esther Mobley is an active member of First Baptist Church in her community.  To quote, "First Baptist Church counts on Esther.  She organizes pancake suppers, tutors a young congregant and helps lead the youth group's outreach to the poor.  On a springlike Sunday afternoon toward the end of winter, Esther could be found with her father, her two brothers and members of her youth group handing out food to homeless people on Boston common.  She had spent the morning at church.  About 2 p.m. a text message flashed across her cellphone from Gabe Gladstone, a co-captain of mock trial:  "Where are you?"  Esther, a key member of the group, was needed at a meeting.  Esther messaged back:   "I'm feeding the homeless.  I'll come when God's work is done."   Christ is risen!  Christ is risen indeed.

Friends, to catch a glimpse of the risen Christ is to move out of our comfort zones, into the world Christ calls us to serve.  Jesus told us that when we love his children, we will see him.  So you may see him here this morning - as a newcomer is welcomed, as our children are embraced, as the flowers which adorn the sanctuary are taken to those unable to be present this morning. 

Can we, like the women, quit looking for Jesus among the dead?   An Easter Jesus is not a dead Jesus!   We must seek the living Christ where he is to be found - walking with us, in our midst, as we continue to build the kingdom, as he did.  Like the disciples we may suddenly see Jesus right in our own home in the faces of our loved ones as we gather around the table to eat.  We may run into Jesus at work, when we stop and think about how it is we go about our business and how we treat others. You may run into Jesus down at North Church when you volunteer to help serve a Sunday meal, as several of our members are doing this very day, or on a Mission Trip to New Orleans this June.

"Why do you look for the living among the dead?"  The women who came to the tomb that first Easter morning showed us how to answer that question.  They left that graveyard and went to live Easter.  By God's grace, may each of us do the same. Christ is risen!  Christ is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

(With thanks to The Rev. Larry Bethune for the opening of this sermon).