I have seen the Lord

I have seen the Lord.

In the end, this is what makes a difference.  Not some preacher's rambling about the deep meaning of Easter or some theologian's rendering of doctrine, but no, it is this

I have seen the Lord.

Me, personally.  One day I woke expecting death and sorrow and instead I encountered life.  It slipped in unaware in the darkness to astound me in the morning.  Like Mary Magdalene I went to a tomb, expecting what had always been true....what will always be true in this world....dead is dead and Jesus was gone

                                         and instead I encountered an empty tomb and a  risen Jesus.

I am not here to persuade you with logic or metaphysics.  I am here to witness to what I have seen and the Jesus I have encountered in my life because in the end, it is only personal witness that begins to lead us to consider the possibility that, in fact, Jesus is risen.

Like you I have carried burial spices to the places of the dead.  I have expected life to be erased - erased by violence or hatred, by neglect or abuse, by injustice and apathy, by auto accidents and disease, by addiction or greed or poverty or fear....and instead I have discovered life.

What I see are small glimpses of a new beginning, like
    each time kindness and truth respond to ruthless and callous rhetoric or
        each time hearts and wallets open to the need of total strangers.
Each time, life is beginning again at the very center of death. Each time it is the Lord.  The living Lord.  The Lord who will transform your today as much as he will transform your tomorrow.

You have seen the Lord.

You have seen folks whose lives are powered by mercy in a world of judgment and ill will.  You have seen the Lord each time someone chooses grace instead of rejecting the other, turning a deaf ear to their cries and a blind eye to their needs, even when that would have been both easier and socially acceptable.  You have seen the Lord.

It usually looks like light in the darkness,
           it tastes like sweet arising out of the sour,
                    it can be a moment of peace in the midst of chaos.
It is also that unsettling dis-ease with the status quo and frustration with ignorance that crushes others. You have seen the Lord - breaking out of the tomb and into this world..

There is no metaphor here, no side-stepping analogy.  This story of resurrection is no parable or the faded gullibility of ages past.  It is Mary's proclamation, and the proclamation of generations after her "I have seen the Lord."  In my time, in my life.

Now I give you permission to claim this proclamation for yourself.  Try it out...say it to yourself on a day when something within you is dying.  Say it out loud for those you know who have been locked in tombs so long they can't say it for themselves.  I have seen the Lord.  The tomb did not hold Jesus; your tomb cannot hold you.  Jesus is risen and Jesus is Lord.

Yes, it was a miracle.  Yes, it is a miracle.  A miracle open to you, your life, your loved ones and your future.  He is not here.  He is risen.  Alleluia.



Many thanks to Karoline Lewis and workingpreacher.org and John Updike's Seven Stanzas at Easter for their inspiration.