Brief synopsis of the readings: The first reading comes from the 10th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles (get used to this: we’re going to spend the entire Easter season reading from Acts). Here Peter recounts Jesus’ life, how he was baptized by John and began his public ministry, after which Jesus spent his time doing good and healing those possessed by the devil. When he was killed, God rose him from the dead and revealed to his disciples who were charged with proclaiming that he rose from the dead to forgive sins. John’s Gospel depicts Mary Magdalene finding the tomb empty; panicked (for she feared someone had stolen his body) she races to Peter and John who race to the tomb. They found the tomb empty and believed that Jesus was raised from the dead.

And they all lived happily ever after. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to go after Jesus rises from the dead? This past week we’ve read (and reread) passages describing the chaos surrounding Jesus’ last week before his crucifixion, how seemingly random events all came together on the cross at Golgatha.

And then today, we discover………..nothing. In this account Mary of Magdala comes to grieve at the tomb and finds that it’s empty. OK, quick show of hands: how many of us picture this scene where she, Peter, and all the other disciples immediately understand that Jesus rose from the dead as he promised? Maybe it’s just me but for much of my life I looked at this scene and assumed everyone saw the empty tomb and said: “Yes, he did it. Just like he said. Now we are redeemed, saved, destined for Heaven, and (let’s face it) rock stars.”

Here in John’s account of the resurrection there is a hint of this: “Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” Other Gospels paint a similar, though different, picture. In Matthew an earthquake precedes an angel who tells Mary that Jesus has risen from the dead. Mark describes a young man dressed in white who tells them that Jesus has been raised. Finally, Luke describes two men in dazzling garments who announce that Jesus has risen from the dead.

I’ve said this before: I’m grateful not to be a fundamentalist because I’m not troubled by these different accounts but whenever I picture them in my mind I’m struck by how chaotic this event must have seemed to them. While we, two thousand years later, can pick out passages where Jesus foreshadows his passion, death, and resurrection, I’m fairly certain that his disciples didn’t (and it bears mentioning that the Gospel accounts we read were written decades after the event).

What did it mean that Jesus was arrested and tried by the Romans? Given their collective decision to flee I don’t imagine they were looking ahead to his resurrection. The same with his death, abandoned and alone. Given that I’m not convinced that their first response to the empty tomb was joyful. As a matter of fact perhaps the most honest response was Mary Magdalene’s: someone has stolen his body.

So indeed what did happen that first day, that first Easter? Frankly I think we continue to unpack that question even to our own day.

For all my criticism, I do give props to those first disciples (and, to give credit where credit is due, the term “apostle” is given to anyone who saw the resurrected Jesus). In fits and starts they were able to journey beyond their shock and grief to ultimately understand the incredible scenes they witnessed and become the saints we honor to this day. In this season of Easter we will read in the book of Acts how they proclaimed and ultimately suffered from the message that began this first day of the week.

But we need to understand that they did this against a backdrop that did not give them much evidence. The resurrection of Jesus was supposed to be a deliverance from a depraved world to a redeemed world. Non Christians point out that this did not cure us from death (people still died) or violence (wars continue to this day) or suffering (disease also got a pass). They ask us how the resurrection of Jesus changed anything and we Christians struggle to find evidence to challenge them. Nor are they satisfied with the simplistic answer we were taught as children: “But now when we die we will go to Heaven and anyone who doesn’t believe in Jesus won’t.”

Is it really just that? Did Jesus rise from the dead so that only those “in the know” will be saved? What of those who lived and died before these events? What of those who lived and died after these events but weren’t told about it? What of those good, honest, and life giving people who were told about it but chose another path? Is Heaven really just for us?

You know me well enough to know that I don’t think that’s true. I can’t believe that Jesus’ resurrection saved Martin Luther King but not Gandhi. This message that is proclaimed isn’t just for those who hear it, but for everyone. I believe that the resurrection of Jesus is meant for the entire world, not just a select few.

And here’s the problem: too often in our history we’ve treated this event as if it were proprietary information. As if the secret code for salvation is that Jesus rose from the dead, and that the Gates of Heaven are some sort of speakeasy.

It’s not. The message we proclaim, the true Good News, is that Jesus rose from the dead not so much that we will do better in the next world, but that we now have the tools to do better in this world.

In the last several decades it’s become fashionable as Christians to believe the world is getting worse and that we are “going to Hell in a hand basket” but I challenge that. As a lifelong believer in Jesus Christ I come to these events with the belief that the world is progressive and not regressive. What does that mean? It means that things are getting better and when asked for proof I point to the empty tomb. I believe, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, that his resurrection frees us not only to salvation in the next world, but to redemption in this world.

You don’t have to be a student of history to know that we live with events of the past that trouble us. Let me begin with an obvious example: crucifixion. I’ve spoken of this before, but crucifixion was intended to bring about the most horrible death imaginable. I don’t think I’m stretching things to point out that in the Roman Empire crucifixion was outlawed 300 years later by the Emperor Constantine, the first Christian Emperor. Here we see a disciple of Jesus who outlaws they method of execution that was used on Jesus.

The rest of history is teaming with examples. In the days when Scripture was being written slavery was a given and nobody questioned it. Now we look at passages of Scripture where slavery is accepted and it troubles us. This is hard even to stomach, but Exodus 22:15 and Deuteronomy 22:28 command that if a man rapes a woman (literally seizes her and lies with her), that man shall compensate her father and marry her. In other words, if you break it you buy it. The woman is a commodity that no longer has value.

In our own history as Americans we flinch when we recognize that our 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson, had a sexual relationship with one of his slaves, Sally Hemmings, and she bore him several children. Since she was a slave and did not have the ability to deny him, he is (according to our definition) a rapist.

I could go on for pages but here’s my point: we live in a world where we are learning how to better treat each other. In the last 50 years racism has gone from a given to a sin. Sexism is heading in the same direction (just watch an episode of Mad Men to see my point). Homophobia, while still lagging, is also being called out for this sin it is.

Is this because we are getting smarter? Or is it because we are continuing to learn the message Jesus gave us in his ministry and emblazoned in our hearts that first day of the week?

Does the resurrection mean that this world doesn’t change but means that we get the sweeter deal in the us vs. them afterlife? Or does it call us to see not only Jesus with new eyes, but each other?

And finally (and perhaps most cynically), if I’m wrong and this is all about how we get in and others don’t, what do we lose by treating everyone as being saved? Think about this the next time you see someone who needs encouragement.