A Sermon by The Rev. Dan Rondeau

Easter Faith

The Rev. Dan Rondeau

St. Margaret's Episcopal Church & School

The Holy Spirit to assist us I welcome you to St. Margaret’s, welcome to "Your place in the Son" and I’m glad that out of all the things you could do this morning, you chose to come here and to hear the wonderful mystery and mysterious story and resurrection, you’ve come here to praise God to that gift given us, you’ve come here to revel in the victory of God in Jesus Christ. Thank you and welcome all of you.

In order to truly understand or enter into the beauty, the wonder of this mystery, in the flowers, in the vestments in the spectacular music shared with us to lift our hearts -- in order to do that we really need to begin as of Good Friday, we need to remember the darkness of Friday, we remember as Peter was exhorting his first audience, this whole story began from the time of his baptism preaching here and there, doing good works, ending in Jerusalem with Jesus being handed over to be crucified, killed, buried, entombed, and then on the third day rising and appearing as you heard in the gospel story. Appearing to Mary Magdalene and others as you heard Peter testify, appearing to him and others, as you heard Paul testifying in his letter, not just for Himself did he rise, but that he might be the first fruits, the first of all who would come to believe, the first to rise, like you and I who gather in 2007 might also rise to new life.

The story had the darkness and death of Good Friday. And so contrasted to that darkness Easter becomes all the more vibrant and beautiful. And in order to understand some of the emotion that must be around the preaching of Peter, the letter-writing of Paul, the testimony of John the Evangelist, let me tell you a story from our day. A story that has darkness and death. And also has light and life -- Easter and resurrection, but in order to get to that we have to go through the darkness. The story is told by a woman, Cindy, who is a mother, who is a teacher, who helps in educating folks, takes care of them, to live healthy lives, she is a public health teacher. In her role as a teacher and a health care provider - she worked in hospitals and she worked with children. In particular, Cindy worked with a group of children who were infected with AIDS, however that happened, that was Cindy’s role. Now, some of you may think, I’ve heard this story before and you may have. It is a powerful story and it has captured my heart, it brings to light the teaching that Peter was giving recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. It is a story of death and resurrection.

For one of the children that Cindy encountered was Tyler. Tyler was born infected with HIV. Tyler needed medications every day just to survive one more day. And with Tyler and others who she served, Cindy says you know from these kids I learned that great courage and great faith could come in small packages, I learned a lot from these children, they were a gift to me in particular, Tyler was a gift to me. At age 5, Tyler had to have a tube implanted in his chest so that the life-giving medications that he needed each day could be delivered, he had a back-pack strapped to his back, and a pump in that back-pack took the medications and pumped them into his body. So every day, he had to carry this back-pack. As the disease worsened, as it does of course, he needed oxygen and so he was given a tank of oxygen and tube so that he could breath easier. He continued to get sicker and sicker and Cindy continued to visit. And when, at age 5, it became clear that he wasn’t going to see age 6, his mother came into the hospital with him to talk to him about death and about dying. Likely, it wasn’t the first time but it certainly was the most important conversation. Of course, she was infected with the same virus and she also was dying. And so in a way to comfort her son, she was encouraging him not to be afraid that, of course she was ill too, but that she would see him in heaven. Comforting him with those words. Now, every day prior to his hospitalization, Tyler was a pretty normal little boy and what do little boys like to do - they like to play. And so while he was able, he would play in the back yard, back-pack on his back, riding on his tri-cycle pulling the wagon that had the oxygen tank, darting about here and there and his mother had teased him prior to his hospitalization, teased him that she would have to dress him in red so that when she looked out the back window, she could spot him easily because he was constantly moving about and playing and so she teased him about wearing red. So, in the hospital, she talks to him about dying and she is also dying and that they would be together in heaven, and that he should wait for her.

A few days before his death, Tyler asked Cindy to come by the bedside with him because he had something to tell her and he had something to ask her and so Cindy came to the bedside and Tyler whispered to her, "You know I am going to die soon but I am not afraid, my mom is going to be with me in heaven. Cindy, when I die, will you dress me in red? So that when my mother gets to heaven she can spot me." A few days later he did die - so those were his words and that is the story that Cindy passed along, a story in our own century about death and resurrection, it’s a pretty heavy story to share on Easter and indeed without Easter, it would be much too heavy to share.

Without the flowers and the music, the proclamation that Christ is risen, I would have shared that story if it was only about the death of a 5 year old I wouldn’t have shared that story, but it is of course, about so much more. As we delve into that, Jesus, remember, said that ‘whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child, will not enter it at all’. So let us try to receive Tyler’s story, the story of Good Friday, our Easter Proclamation, as a child. First, as we encounter Tyler’s story of course, we want to protect him, we want to make it all better, we want to make it all better for his mother, we are rather unprotected, we want to help and we also want to experience our helplessness and powerlessness in the face of a virus whose cure still eludes us. We weren’t able to help Tyler or his mother. This taste of yearning and powerlessness grabs us before we can prevent it, it pierces our hearts and I tell you it is Good Friday. It is the taking down of Jesus from the cross and placing that limp body into the arms of His mother. It is taking the body from that place on the cross to the tomb and placing it gently in there and rolling the stone in front of it. It is Good Friday.

What you experienced when you heard Tyler’s story are the same feelings that had to run through the disciples from the moment that Jesus was wrestled away from them - the moment when he was falsely accused, maliciously condemned, you’ve tasted the ache and the despair of those disciples when Jesus was beaten and scourged and mocked and I think when you heard Tyler’s story you experienced something of what the disciples might have felt as the crowd, shouting, crucify Him, had their way. They, the disciples, were as helpless as we who heard Tyler’s story. In listening to Tyler’s story, in feeling the ache of our hearts said, you and I were transported to the foot of the cross. Tyler’s story has the power to plunge us into the darkness of Good Friday. But like our own sacred story, of death and resurrection, Tyler’s story isn’t only about death and darkness, the real power in his story, the real beauty in our story and his is about the life that God shares -- about the light that God shines into the darkness, a light that won’t be extinguished. Tyler preaches a wonderful Easter Sermon and so let this five-year old teach us this morning. As he pulls Cindy into his confidence, we learn all over again, that receiving the kingdom like a child involves telling the truth -- without excuse, without denial, without whining, without any kind of diplomacy, Tyler simply announces, I might die soon. He faces it. He tells the truth and then in a testimony that astounds us, amazes us, and thrills us, he says, I’m not scared. What, you’re not scared of dying?

Here we discover another element of child-like faith, clearly as a child; Tyler has trusted his teachers - most especially as we heard in his story, his mother. He trusted his teachers. No doubt he had a million questions, children do, and no doubt he was encouraged to ask them and encouraged to keep asking. I picture his mother as a patient mother and answering each of those questions from her own faith. What an example of faith he sets for us. Our faith need not be silent, need not be unquestioning, of things that we don’t like that we don’t understand, make us fear. Our faith doesn’t need to be unquestioning; our faith indeed will be served best by finding teachers we can trust.

You and I turn to Holy Scriptures in our worship, we open our Bible in our home, we have our prayers and then you and I turn to each other when we face perplexing questions, we turn to each other in this community or the communities we’ve come from - we seek out those who have journeyed through darkness to light. How did you do it? What did you find comforting? Where was your strength to be found? We trust our teachers; we ask questions and develop a trust. I think, we’re here this morning because we welcome the kingdom like a child with all our questions. Indeed it is part of the duty of being an Episcopalian, to be able to ask more questions and to have answers. I encourage you to find teachers you can trust just like Tyler did. But the real punch, the Easter Proclamation in Tyler’s faith and in Tyler’s story and teaching comes in his final words. Words that he and his mom are going to heaven and that they will be reunited and that they will enjoy their new life.

Without using the same words, Tyler spoke like Peter the Apostle, spoke like Paul, the Apostle, spoke like Mary Magdalena that first morning as recorded by John, in his own words, Tyler expressed an Easter faith. Tyler’s faith is without guile or pretense, and you know what? At our best, so is our faith, without guile or pretense. Probably he could not recite the words of our creed, a word we’re going to stand and recite in just a moment, but he gives powerful expression to truths that we hold, that I hold. Easter truths that dawned as Jesus rose from the dead, that first Easter morning. Tyler believed in the communion of saints; did you hear him? Mom promised, she is coming to heaven. I want to make sure she can find me. He believes in the resurrection of the body, Cindy please dress me in red so my mom can find me. He believes in life everlasting, and something else, that I love about Tyler’s faith, when he enters into glory, when he arrives in his new home, because the resurrection of Jesus, when he’s welcomed into the fellowship of saints - Tyler is going to have fun, no more back-pack, no more oxygen tank, he’s going to play and play and play and that is Easter faith, that is our faith. I pray that you will never tire of making the proclamation that we make on this glorious day.

Halleluiah Christ is Risen, the Lord is risen indeed. Take that message into the world and let that light of that message shine into the darkness of the world - Christ is Risen

Amen

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