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Easter Sunday homily delivered on April 12, 2009
at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Palisades
It is a curious and yet uneasy relationship Unitarian Universalists have with certain holidays. Although participants in a faith deeply rooted in Christian traditions and teachings, we no longer ascribe to the orthodox beliefs of traditional Christianity, particularly those having to do with supernatural attributes. Adding to the challenge is the convergence of other holidays with roots in spiritualities that also serve as sources of inspiration and influence in our faith. I refer here specifically to the Jewish holiday of Passover and the Pagan observances of spring as they relate to Eostra, the goddess of Spring and fertility.
The story of Easter in the various Christian communities is one of triumph of good over evil and of life over death. For many it inspires thoughts and feelings of renewal and rebirth as one finds inspiration in the story of a young man who devotes his life to teaching others to live lives of kindness, compassion, and justice. His increasing popularity raises suspicions and fear in some. Feeling threatened, the political authorities accuse him of treason. His execution is swift, unjust, and cruel.
For his followers, the loss of their spiritual leader is devastating. Surely this was no ordinary man. He was too humble, too good, too wise, too perfect to be a mere human. Surely, he must be a son of God, with a lower case “s”, better yet the Son of God, with a capital “s”. He must have been God Himself incarnate. Such were the murmurings of those who had looked upon him as the hope of better times to come.
Three days after his death a small group goes to prepare his body for burial. But the tomb in which his body had been enclosed is open and his body is nowhere to be found. Alarm eventually turns to joy as the news spreads that Jesus has resurrected and returned to his heavenly father.
In the years that follow, many stories are told of his greatness as people try to keep hope and memory alive. Some scholars believe these stories took on a life of their own. The Easter story becomes one of resurrection following a death that cleanses all believers of sin. With Jesus’ death, everyone has a chance to be born again—a chance to start over, this time more intentionally mindful of the ways the great teacher preached.
Through the rituals and observances that developed over time, Christians today are called to pause and take stock of their lives. They are called to spend time in prayer and renounce the ways that separate them from goodness, compassion, love, Godliness, and to reset the course of their lives—to summon up from within all that can put them in right relationship with God. And so the Easter holidays are a time to begin again as if given a second chance—to be freed of a previous life of mindlessness and even self-centeredness and to heal the wounds of the spirit.
The Passover story is also a story of starting over. It intersects the Easter story in that Jesus was a Jewish man. Only a few days before his arrest, he had celebrated a seder with his disciples. It was their Last Supper together.
The story retold during Passover is of a people freed from oppression and slavery in Egypt and given a chance to start over in covenant with each other and with God. The seas part long enough to deliver them to a new land and a new life. In recent years, this story is retold at many seder tables alongside the stories of other struggles in modern times—struggles against racial and ethnic oppression, homophobia, and classism to name a few. All are stories of what is possible when we awaken to our best selves and rise up against the injustices that plague our world.
It was in December that we last had a similar convergence of holidays coming around at the same time. At that time it was Christmas, Hanukkah, and the winter solstice. And, I invited us to observe a Unitarian Universalist advent during which we would allow ourselves to fall into the increasing darkness of winter in preparation for the Gestation of the Soul. I invited us to give in to the dormancy induced by the increasing darkness—to lie in the cave of our soul as it grows and mends in the long winter nights—a time for the development and transformation of the soul—a time for healing wounds of the spirit and body so that when spring arrives and new light breaks through, our minds will be illumined by new truths revealed and our hearts warmed by love found anew.
Daylight is increasing at this time of year and the temperatures are trying to do their part. Each day it seems the chorus of birds is greater and louder. Tree buds are beginning to burst into flower and crocuses, daffodils, and tulips are beginning to break through the ground. This morning some of our children might have awakened to baskets of chocolate bunnies and colorful eggs. All of these are clear signs that spring has arrived. But Pagan tradition would have us believe that Eostra has returned.
According to a Norse tale, Eostra, the goddess of Spring and fertility, was touched by the kindness of a little girl who wanted to take care of a bird that had gotten hurt during a very cold winter. Knowing that an injured bird would not be able to survive even with the best care the little girl would give it, Eostra decided to turn the bird into a hare. But this was to be no ordinary hare because each year just as the winter days were done, the hare would come around and leave a colorful egg for each child as a sign that spring was on its way.
And so it came to be that a whole month was named after Eostra. During this Eastermonth there were many celebrations as country folk began to prepare for a new season of planting and tending crops. Scholars believe that just as had happened with Christmas being embedded into a holiday already celebrated by many, so it was that in the midst of these festivities the first Passover and then the Christian Easter were embedded.
Today I invite us to celebrate a Unitarian Universalist Easter that gathers from these holidays the qualities that resonate well in the depth of our souls and let it last for more than a day. In fact, let it take us into the summer solstice. As the daylight hours increase, let us awaken to the glint of light that signals the beginning of hope being born into our hearts—hope for the rich possibilities that await us. Let us rouse from the winter sleep and explore them. In the words of the Rev. Scott Alexander, I extend to you the same invitation he extended to his congregation not long ago. It is an invitation:
“. . . to live fully and finely while on this holy, tender earth
. . . to celebrate and savor the fantastic feast that is spread out on earth around us
. . . to live and love large on earth and with one another
. . . to serve justice, resist evil, act gently, and dream of a world transformed by our care
. . . to live boldly… to shape ourselves into works of tenderness, gratitude, service and hope
. . .this day and every day”1
I invite us to awaken to who we are.
Happy Easter --- Happy Passover --- Happy Spring
Que así sea. Blessed be.
1 This is an adaptation from The Easter Moment, a sermon delivered by the Rev. Scott Alexander on April 15, 2001 at the River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation.
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