Press Releases11 Apr 04

Archbishop Neill's Easter sermon

EASTER DAY SERMON 2004

by the Archbishop of Dublin and Bishop of Glendalough
the Most Revd Dr. John Neill
at
Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin
Easter Day, 11th April 2004

?All will be made alive in Christ? I Corinthians 15:22

Happy endings to long sagas may sometimes bring a measure of satisfaction, so that the book may be put away and the reader fall quickly asleep. Outside the pages of such a story, in the harsh reality of the real world, not only does the happy ending often escape us, but the pain of many an experience seems to linger and to leave its mark. Easter is far more than the happy ending to a tragic event; Resurrection is the presence of God in everything to do with Jesus of Nazareth.

As people encountered Jesus in his earthly ministry, God?s power was already there bringing a dynamic love and compassion, experienced at times in profound healing, or forgiveness, often linked to an exciting call to discipleship. To encounter Jesus in any manner was and is to encounter life transformed and renewed, which is an experience far deeper and far more real than simply a happy ending. The Resurrection is not simply an event at the end of the ministry of Jesus, for the same power of God was present throughout every moment of his life.

The Gospel writers themselves give little impression of the Resurrection as an earth-shattering event. It is more about gradual realisation than a sudden explosion of certainty. The tomb is found empty, a fellow traveller is encountered walking along the road, a gardener is glimpsed near the tomb, a stranger is seen on the lakeshore, and yet each of these encounters ends up as a life-changing moment of disclosure. What is realised in the identification of the Risen Jesus is what has been previously known in the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth ? the divine life that makes such a profound difference.

Of course the Resurrection is a wonderful, profound and happy ending, but it is recognised as such not for its dramatic impact, but because of the unique quality of the life that was raised ? the life that Jesus lived in Galilee and Judea, in Nazareth and at the place called Golgotha, or Calvary. Every encounter that took place in the life of the incarnate Lord is suffused with the power of the Resurrection. The Fourth Evangelist perhaps portrayed this most vividly of all as somehow even in the darkness of Calvary, the Lord reigns from the cross, lifted up form the earth drawing all to himself. Easter is not the reversal of Good Friday; it is the revelation of the power of the love and the life that was there at that place of suffering and death.

Where is this Risen Christ to be found in today?s world? Where is the power of the Resurrection? Some would look for the Christ in the success stories that we love to be able to tell. It is encouraging to us all when we can speak of things dramatically changed, where light bursts through in darkness, and where somehow sorrow is swallowed up in joy. Yes the Risen Christ is found there, but not only there.

The Risen Jesus is present also in those places where the success is harder to see, where the suffering seems prolonged, and where there is disappointment and almost total despair. It is in such places that the power of the Resurrection, the power of God displayed in raising Jesus from the dead, can be seen again and again as somebody claims the power of God to resist being sucked totally into the darkness. This can be seen where a word of reconciliation may be spoken, a touch of forgiveness offered, a gesture of love extended. Yes it can be so exciting to be there at the moment of momentous breakthrough, but the power of God may be at its most intense when the first glimmer of light is kindled ? and to be right there is a wonderful privilege.

Reflecting on the Resurrection St. Paul wrote ?All will be made alive in Christ?. The Resurrection points to God?s eternal purposes, and so is the Good News or Gospel at its most explicit ? God intends life for all in Christ. Evil cannot have the last word, death and despair cannot finally triumph. It is the good news implicit in the Resurrection that has driven women and men of faith to attempt things for God and for others that many would deem totally impossible.

The Risen Jesus points us to the possibility of being ?alive? for him and with him in the very situations that are part and parcel of life in today?s Ireland and today?s Dublin. We cannot always solve every problem on a vast scale ? but we can surely bring, even in some small way, a sign of life to those who cannot see their way out of many an impossible situation.

Is there anything imaginative that can be done in our own local communities for the young couples trying to establish a home and yet who cannot possibly afford a house or flat in which they will have any privacy of their own? Can anything more be done by us all, churches included, to provide resources for young adults who in their boredom and lack of direction are drawn into a sub-culture of drug dependency? Can a fresh start be made by society as a whole on the issue of alcohol abuse? In our failure to address these issues, we are behaving as if life is cheap. The Resurrection points to the exact opposite, that life is full of potential for transformation. ?All will be made alive in Christ.?

In celebrating Easter, Christians are indeed rejoicing in an event of two thousand years ago, but the reality at the centre of this event is about today. Those who reach out to the Risen Lord receive God?s power not to escape from the world of today, but to experience in the middle of it all, something of that ?Risen life?. The calling for every Christian is to share that life where we are, and to look for new opportunities of bringing life to others ? for this Jesus came to bring life, and that life in all its fullness. Easter points to a future fulfilment when all things come together in that Christ, that one anointed by God as his Son. God?s call today is to share the news of Easter now in the situation where we are, and for the people we meet today and tomorrow and the next day. ?All will be made alive in Christ? ? This is the Good News of Easter, it is the mandate to go and live the Resurrection now just where we are.