Easter 3, Year B

A Sermon from the Church of  

Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida

Preached by the Rev. Timothy E. Schenck on April 14, 2024 (Easter 3, Year B)

One of the most inspiring people I have ever had the privilege of knowing was the late Bishop Barbara Harris. Bishop Harris was a fierce, prophetic, chain-smoking, Chardonnay-swilling, occasionally foul-mouthed warrior for social and racial justice, who just happened to be the first female bishop consecrated in the entire Anglican Communion. I got to know her when she was a retired bishop in Massachusetts, and every time this tiny gray-haired black woman walked into the room, everything just stopped. She had a saintly aura that drew people to her, and you just knew that if you hung around long enough, she’d soon be dropping some deep wisdom and hard truths. In her uniquely colorful way.

At her consecration in 1989 — and it’s crazy to think there were no female bishops until 35 years ago — despite pleas from security officials and police concerned with a whole host of death threats against her, she refused to wear a bullet proof vest. She was fearless in her faith and fearless in her ministry.

But the one quote of hers that I always come back to, again and again, is her description of what it means to live out the Christian faith: “We are an Easter people,” she would say, “living in a Good Friday world.” In other words, we are people of hope, even when things feel hopeless; we are people of joy, even when things appear to be falling apart all around us. Living a life informed by the power of Christ’s resurrection is at the very heart of our faith.

And this is an important reminder as we continue our Easter celebration at Bethesda-by-the-Sea. We can hold onto the deep joy of knowing that we are loved and forgiven, even if things are actually not okay in our personal lives. And we can hold onto the knowledge that God is present, even as things seemingly spiral out of control in the world around us. It is precisely because “we are an Easter people living in a Good Friday world,” that we never give up hope even in the darkest of days.

And if we truly are an Easter people — even when things don’t go according to plan, even when heartbreak disrupts our lives — then we’re reminded, once again, that the resurrection can’t be reduced to a single event. Easter is not just a single day, but a way of life. As Easter people, we live in the warm glow of resurrection glory every moment of our lives.

So what does resurrection mean for us today? How can we embody what it means to be an Easter people? Well, I think we’re offered some clues this morning as we hear the story of one of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. We get a number of these in the Sundays after Easter, as the resurrected Jesus appears to the disciples. 

In this one, Jesus eats some branzino. Or flounder. Or something. “Broiled fish” is what Luke tells us. Maybe it was a filet-o-fish. I don’t know. But the point is less about the fish, or Jesus eating a heart-healthy meal, than proving to the disciples that he is not a ghost. That he was bodily resurrected in their presence. But he begins with four of the most encouraging words in all of scripture: “Peace be with you.” He actually says this three times to the disciples in the days immediately following his resurrection. We heard these very same words last week, when he heard the story of Thomas. So he must really want these words to sink in. “Peace be with you.”

And I think that’s the place to begin when we talk about what it means to live a resurrected life, what it means to be an Easter people. “Peace be with you.” 

The resurrected life means living a peaceful life. Not a life without conflict. Jesus isn’t offering us a conflict avoidant life. But a life where despite whatever else is going on, our faith leads to a deep and abiding peace at the very depths of our souls. Jesus offers us a resting place, an oasis. A place where we can revel in his presence, and simply receive the deep, unconditional love he has for each one of us. That’s the peace that passes all understanding. The peace that Jesus so desperately wants you to experience in your life. That’s what it means to be an Easter people.

The resurrected life also means living with the promise of eternal life. We throw that term around a lot, but that is one of the bedrock promises of our faith. That through Christ’s resurrection, he has gone ahead to prepare a place for you in God’s eternal care. And when you truly hear that, when you truly believe that, doesn’t that take away so much of our built-in anxiety? We will one day join Jesus, not just for a day trip, but we are marked as Christ’s own forever. So our lives have purpose and meaning that transcends both the minor annoyances and major headaches we encounter as part of the human condition. That’s what it means to be an Easter people.

Finally, the resurrected life means living always in the presence of the risen Lord. Jesus promises to be present with us right in the midst of our very real, very imperfect lives. That’s an amazing thing, right?! That Jesus walks right alongside of you in times of joy and in times of sorrow, when things are going well and when things have completely fallen apart. That’s what it means to be an Easter people.

Before she died, Bishop Harris published a memoir titled Hallelujah, Anyhow. The title comes from an old Baptist hymn that gets to the heart of what we’ve been talking about this morning, about being “Easter people in a Good Friday world.” Here’s the verse; “Never let your troubles get you down. When your troubles come your way, hold your hands up high and say, Hallelujah anyhow!” Of course, it’s a bit more compelling to hear these words sung by a full-throated gospel choir. 

But it’s that “Hallelujah, anyhow” spirit that comes shining through when we take seriously our call to be an Easter people. To live lives of resurrection. To embody Jesus’ promises for peace, for eternal life, and for his abiding presence. That’s what happens when we refuse to leave Easter at a fancy brunch, or at a backyard egg hunt, or when the sugar high wears off, or when the flowers inevitably wither. 

We are an Easter people. Never forget that! For it is what lifts us up and sustains us even when troubles get us down, even when troubles come our way. And we can say, right alongside Bishop Harris and all those who walk with us along the path of this resurrected life, Hallelujah, anyhow.