If I were to ask you to tell the Easter story you could do that, right? I suspect we can all tell that story. We may not be able to describe the details and nuances of each gospel but we can outline the basics of the story. 

• Jesus died on a cross. 
• Jesus was buried in a tomb. 
• And on the third day women discover that the tomb is open and empty. He is not there but has been raised. 

For most of us that’s the basic Easter story. We hear it every year, year after year after year. Most of us know it by heart. It’s probably what you think of when I say to you, “Alleluia, Christ is risen,” and you respond, “The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.”

But is that the extent of the Easter story? What if there is more to it than that? 

Here’s why I ask that. What good is it to us if Jesus’ tomb is open and empty but ours is full and closed? What good is it to us if Jesus is risen and alive but we are not? 

As important and foundational as the story of Jesus’ resurrection is, there is another equally important Easter story to tell. Yours and mine. It’s a story we often forget about, rarely tell, and sometimes don’t even know. 

If I were to ask you tell your Easter story could you do that? What would you say? What’s it about? When has Easter happened in your life? How is it happening today? 

The reason I am asking about your Easter story is because I think we often leave ourselves out of Easter and make it all about Jesus. Or if it is about us we focus on some kind of future afterlife we are waiting and hoping to receive. 

I think recognizing Easter in our lives today and telling that story is often the more difficult Easter story to tell. That’s what we saw in last week’s gospel (John 20:19-31) and we see it again in today’s gospel (Luke 24:36-48).

In last week’s gospel it was the evening of Easter. The tomb was open but the doors of the disciples’ house were closed. “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’”

In this week’s gospel account it’s again Easter evening. The tomb is open but the minds of the disciples are closed. “Jesus himself stood among the disciples and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” and “he opened their minds.”

Last week Jesus told Thomas, “Do not doubt but believe.” This week he asks all of them, “Why do doubts arise in your hearts?” 

Closed doors, closed minds, closed hearts. Easter begins in the closed places of our lives. I wonder what in you and me is closed today. What keeps us from recognizing and living the new life before us?

You might be thinking to yourself, Mike, that’s the same theme you preached on last week. You’re right, it is, but it’s also the same theme that runs through the gospel for last week and this week. Sometimes we need to hear something more than once before we begin to get it. Some things are so important they are worth repeating. Maybe hearing the same basic story two weeks in a row is the Church’s way of reminding us that sometimes resurrection can be difficult and takes time. It’s more than a three day weekend. 

What parts of your life are closed off to the possibility of something new? What relationships, circumstances, or parts of yourself have you given up on? When and about whom or what have you said, “Nothing ever changes. It will always be like this. It’s the same old same old”? What about the Easter story is so familiar and well known to you that you just can’t see or hear anything new? 

Those closed off places are the very places in which Jesus shows up and stands among us. He did in last week’s gospel and he does again this week. Last week it was about opening doors. This week it’s about opening minds. Both are openings to our Easter story. 

I don’t often tell you what to do but today I’m going to offer you some possibilities for recognizing, living, and telling your Easter story. You’ve heard me say them before but they are worth hearing again. They come from the poet Mary Oliver. She calls them “Instructions for living a life.”

“Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”

(Excerpted from “Sometimes,” by Mary Oliver, Devotions, 105)\

Pay attention.
Paying attention is less about focusing on something in particular and more about openness and receptivity to everything. It’s about curiosity, discovery, the willingness to be surprised or to learn something new. It’s less about what we do with our eyes and ears, and more about what we do with our hearts. It’s staying awake to and aware of our needs and hopes and those of others, the beauty and disfigurement of our lives and world, the gifts and the callings coming to us. It means taking it all in and closing our eyes to nothing. 

Paying attention is what keeps us in the present moment. The present moment is the only one we have. It’s the only place where Jesus shows up, meaning is made, relationships are restored, hearts are healed, and life is lived. The present moment is where your Easter story happens. 

Be astonished.
If we are paying attention we can’t help but be astonished. There is something astonishing in every moment. To the degree I am not astonished, I’m probably just not paying attention.

What is astonishing you today? What has taken your breath away? When has love overwhelmed you? When has the beauty of creation, the mystery of love, or the wonder of life left you speechless? When has another’s generosity and compassion brought you to tears? When have you caught a glimpse of your own goodness and holiness? And when have you seen that in another? When have you tasted joy? What has left you saying, “Thank you, thank you, thank you”? When has another’s pain, an injustice, or violence broken your heart and left you astonished that we can do that to each other? 

Tell about it.
Astonishment always asks for a response. What is your astonishment asking of you today? Tell about it. Sometimes that means speaking up and speaking out. Other times it means taking action and doing something. Either way we are engaging life and the world in a new way. 

Those three instructions from Mary Oliver are summarized in Jesus’ words, “You are witnesses of these things.” Have you ever thought of yourself as a witness to resurrection? 

Witnesses have seen, heard, touched, tasted, smelled something. They’ve had an experience and now have something to say. “You are witnesses of these things,” Jesus says. You have an Easter story to tell and the world needs to see and hear it.

What is your Easter story?

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Image Credit: Photo by Dee. on Unsplash.