Barneyisfat

Many of us find ourselves in great turmoil this day. Our lives are busy. Eurocup has reduced our semester from a gentle walk through the park into an endurance run. There aren't enough days. Our finals and credits and state exams all run into each other like a train derailment. We have more exams than friends and even those of us who are not students feel the push and pull of this world.

And in that dark garden that morning, Mary approaches the gardener. Now - I fully sympathize with Mary. I hate approaching strangers here in Ukraine to ask for directions or help. I know it's going to be an awkward encounter as they try to understand my accent and as I try to understand the words they speak to me. I can imagine the thoughts going through Mary's head as she asks the most awkward question ever, "Excuse me, have you seen the body of my dead friend?"

When I was an exchange student in Russia I lived with an older woman who was still a member of the communist party and an avowed athiest. On Easter Sunday we traveled to Moscow together. In the train she began telling me her favorite story from childhood. Her grandmother used to tell her the old slavic story of a brave and fearless leader. He was leading his tribe through a dark and lonely forest. He knew exactly where they were going and knew exactly when they would get to the safety of their destination. As the night went on they burned through all of their torches and had nothing left to light to show the path to safety. The people became terrified in the darkness and began to lose trust in their leader. They began going off in their own ways and being eaten by wolves and killed by the other dangers of the forest. The leader, in a final act of sacrifice and determination reached into his own chest and pulled out his own heart. He lit it on fire held it up as a final torch. It lit the way through the final steps of the forest and into the safety of their destination. As they entered the safe and bright place the leader fell over in exhaustion and died.

Lena looked into my eyes that Easter morning and said, "I have always wanted to follow such a man. And you Christians believe that that man is your Jesus of Nazareth. When I repent, I will repent sincerely."

And Jesus - whom we have known for so many years, stands before us and we simply can't tell who he is. We hear the stories of our childhood and do not realize until we are adults that those stories were about Jesus. We see the teacher or the classmate and we make small talk - but we do not notice that it is Jesus standing before us. He is the gardener that we question. He is no longer dead - He has risen.

Христос Воскрес! ВОІСТИНУ ВОСКРЕС

These are not merely words. This is who we are. As John Paul II said, "We are an Easter people and Hallelujah is our cry."

When the world is ready to take us down, and when the world hates us so much and rears its ugly head; What is our cry?

Do we shout and complain about how bad the world is or do we cry Hallelujah - He is risen. As an Easter people, every day is a celebration. Even the terrible ones. Even the exam ones. Even the bad news ones. Hallelujah is our cry.

My failures are substantial and you can count the number of whip marks on Jesus back that I am responsible for - but still this day; in my weak and human voice I can still cry out Hallelujah, He is Risen. Because we are an Easter people.



And we can stand up against all the evil in this world and we can point to that empty tomb and cry out - do you see that he is risen? Do you see the empty tomb?

And we can stand up against all the evil in our hearts and we can point to that empty tomb and cry out - do you see that he is risen? Do you see the empty tomb?

We have walked this path with Jesus - we have climbed the hill with him, we have stood at the cross with him, and we have stilled in the tomb with him. And we rise with him.

We watched as they stripped our king of his robes and mocked him. We watched as they placed a crown of thorns on our king. And with our king we have triumphed over death and the grave.

The last time I was in Ukraine I followed from afar as my best friend from college slowly succumbed to cancer. I thought that when he died that I would be devastated. I thought that it would crush me to lose someone so close and to be so far away. And when he died I was certainly sad - but more than that my heart was filled with peace. Is this all that death can do? Can it only take us out of the pain and suffering of our daily lives and release us into eternal glory in heaven? Is that the death that we spend billions of dollars to evade? Oh Death, where is thou sting?

We celebrate that our King has won the victory over death. We celebrate who our King is and what he has accomplished.

That's my King.