Sunrise
Rev. Mark Schaefer
Kay Spiritual Life Center
April 11, 2004
1 Corinthians 15:12-23; Luke 24:1-12
I used to have a walk-in closet where I kept all my work clothes and suits. One day, the bulb burned out in the walk-in as I went in to get dressed for work. I got dressed and left for work, getting about half-way down the block before I realized that I was wearing a blue suit jacket and green suit pants.
It’s a phenomenon of low light circumstances that colors blend together and you have a hard time making out detail. Perhaps you’ve noticed this at dusk, when everything appears to be gray, or just before sunrise…
But at sunrise, as we are already able to tell, as the light increases, so does our ability to make out detail, to see color, to see the world as it really is.
The Resurrection does the same thing for us. It casts light on the world so that we may see it as it truly is, as God intends for it to be. The light of Easter shines on a world of brokenness and pain and shows us the world of wholeness and healing God intends.
Today, unlike last year, we have this covering blanket of cloud. We aren’t able to see the sun rise through the trees over Ward Circle as we were last year. But we can still sense its light. In the same way, the clouds of our own lives—despair, violence, war, injustice, bigotry, fear—cannot completely shut out the light of the Resurrection. The light of the risen Christ is able to shine through and even in the overcast skies of difficult times, yet sheds light on our world, helping us to see the way. Even the clouds of Good Friday cannot totally shut out the light of Easter.
The Resurrection becomes for us the light that illuminates everything else. We see the world through the light of the Resurrection. Because we understand that in the Resurrection God is making good on God’s promises to us. God is showing us through Christ that we are heirs to eternal life. As St. Paul said, we all have a share in the Resurrection, “as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.”
And knowing that is like casting a bright light on the world, piercing through the dusk and the shadow that blurs details and makes it hard for us to see the world as it actually is, and illuminates for us the world of hope that is there. Where there is bigotry and prejudice we can see the promise of unity and fellowship. Where there is violence and war, we can see the promise of peace and reconciliation. Where there is fear and doubt, we can see the promise of hope. Where there is injustice and suffering, we can see the promise of justice and restoration.
The Resurrection becomes our light. We can look upon a broken world and become the light of Christ for the world. And we can stand under the clouds of this world and yet proclaim with loud voice: “Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed!”
