Many of us UUs have a lot of difficulty with Easter, perhaps more even than Christmas at which we can celebrate the birth of a child with great promise. But here we are faced with the gruesome story of a brutal murder and asked to believe that the man Jesus conquered death and was resurrected, a logical impossibility for thinking people. And I know that there are many who did not come to our service today because they didn’t want to hear the “J” word, however it is explained. And I think that is something that we need to get over! But I will have to share the fact that UU ministers, including this one, often dread the “Easter Sermon” like no other throughout the year. In fact the ministers’ worship e-list has been inundated in recent weeks with requests for help from other ministers with “Easter material” that can safely be used in our congregations. Why is that, if, as we claim, we are open to beliefs from all of the world’s religions.
As we were rehearsing yesterday for last night’s dinner show at the Methodist church, I was aware of a sense of anticipation and preparation among church members of that church for their morning Easter service. There were flowers being brought into the church and preparations for an early morning breakfast. And I’ll have to admit I felt a little bit of envy in their conviction that Easter was a celebration that Jesus had returned from the dead and that all was right with the world. There have certainly been times in the not too distant past that I have wished I could believe that. But I have read and studied too much biblical scholarship to be able to do it with integrity.
I know for example that:
None of the new testament was written down until the latter part of the 1st. century of the Common Era. (How good is your memory of century-old news, even with the advent of TV, radio, videotapes, and the internet - to say nothing of books, tapes and CDs to remind us?) and that the idea of a miraculous birth and resurrection after death was a common feature of many world religions both before and after Christianity.
Listen, for example, to this description to the from a
book called The Jesus Mysteries: “(He) is God made
flesh, the savior and ‘Son of God.’ His
father is God and his mother is a mortal virgin.
He is born in a cave or humble cowshed on December 25
before three shepherds.
He offers his followers the chance to be born again
through the rites of baptism.
He miraculously turns water into wine at a marriage
ceremony.
He rides triumphantly into town on a donkey while people
wave palm leaves to honor him.
He dies at Eastertime as a sacrifice for the sins of the
world.
After his death, he descends to hell; then on the third
day, he rises from the dead and ascends to heaven in
glory.
His followers await his return as the judge during the
Last Days.
His death and resurrection is celebrated by a ritual
meal of bread and wine, which symbolize his body and
blood.”
Sound familiar? - That is a description from research by philosopher Timothy Freke and historian Peter Gandy of a god in Egypt known as Osiris and in Greece as Dionysus, long before the time of Jesus. But it could also be used, with some minor differences, to describe Attis in Asia Minor, Adonis in Syria, Bacchus in Italy, and Mithras in Persia.
I also know that the idea of the trinity appears nowhere in the Bible and that that doctrine did not become orthodox in Christianity until after the Council of Nicea in 325 when Constantine declared that the Athanasians, who believed that Jesus was divine, won out over the Arians, our forebears, who believed that Jesus was an exemplar and a model for human life, but not of the same substance as God - And there is no evidence, biblical or otherwise, to shows that Jesus believed that he was divine or that he had any intention of founding a religion named after him as the Christ (the anointed one).
In fact, many of the doctrines that have become central to Christianity were not part of the events recounted in the earliest version of of Jesus’ life. Biblical scholarship tells us that the book of Mark was the earliest story of Jesus’ existence on earth, and it contains no story of either the virgin birth or the resurrection (other than the first eight verses of the 16th. chapter - recounting the visit of women to the tomb where the stone had been rolled away the and where they were greeted by a young man in white who predicted Jesus’ return). These miraculous stories seem to have been additions by early Christians, attributed to an unknown source document that biblical scholars call Q.
But, my point today is not to expose the flaws of Christianity. It is to look at the ways in which Jesus’ life and death can have meaning for us today as Unitarian Universalists. And I believe it can! Whether we believe all the ideas about Jesus in the Bible really happened or not, the stories told about Jesus picture him as a real radical who revolted against the laws and customs of his day and who gave us a template for living our lives in the present.
I think that an excellent source to learn about how Jesus’ life can enhance our own is through the writings and speeches of retired Episcopal Bishop Shelby Spong. I heard him speak recently when I was in Birmingham, Alabama, for a continental UU ministers’ Convocation; and I was inspired once again, as I have been by some of his previous speeches and books, by his courage in going against the orthodox view of Christianity and in bringing fresh light to our understanding of the importance that Jesus can have for our lives. In fact, I kept having the uneasy feeling that he was taking his life in his hands by speaking so provocatively before an audience in the deep South. But he is a man of great integrity who feels that he must share his truth with the world. As I heard him speak, it became obvious to me that his theology was very congruent with that of Christian Unitarian Universalists. I encourage you to read some of his books such a Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, or A New Christianity for a New World. And I kept wishing that he would join us as a UU, but I also recognized that he can have a great deal more impact as an Episcopal bishop than he could hope to have as yet another heretical UU.
So what does he say?
He pictures Jesus as a real extremist - a person who was more deeply and fully alive than anyone he has ever encountered - a man who was constantly tearing down barriers between people, risking fear and even death to stand up for what he believed. He was man who was asking others to abandon their own tribal fears (How about our UU fear of Christianity ?) The man called Jesus was described as socializing with the outcasts of society and calling on those in the population of his day to abandon their prejudices.
Bishop Spong reminds us of the parable of the good Samaritan (which even the scholars in the Jesus seminar believe to be authentic). You remember the story, I’ll bet. It tells of a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho who fell among thieves and was beaten, robbed, and left battered and bleeding on the side of the road - A Levite (Hebrew official) passed even though Jewish law taught compassion - A Priest passed, perhaps because of prohibition against touching the dead - Finally, a Samaritan (despised by others as a half breed and a heretic) stopped, gave the man wine and water, bound his wounds, and took him to an inn where he left money to pay for his care until the healing process is complete.
According to Bishop Spong, the central message in this story and others in the life of Jesus, is the call to put aside our preconceptions and to break down the barriers that separate us from each other. That sounds like a Unitarian Universalist message to me!!!! So why can’t some of us do that in our relationships with Christians. We are good at pointing to the hypocrisy of others but slow to recognize our own. If we really believe what we say about every Sunday in our Statement of Purpose about affirming the essential dignity and worth of every human being, how can we limit ourselves to just those who believe as we do?
Now, I can’t tell you how the words of Bishop Spong or any other Christian should affect your life. But I believe that we have a great deal to learn by opening our lives up the the message of Jesus on this day or any other - to break down the barriers between ourselves and all those people who are different from ourselves and to, as Spong says, “love wastefully.” Whether the biblical story of Jesus is literal or not, I challenge you to open your mind and heart to the message of the possibilities that Jesus life and death can provide for us here and now. I believe that love and compassion for all people touches something eternal in each of us. It lifts us beyond our quest for survival and enables us to transcend our limits. Let the love of Jesus be born in your heart today - - Alleluia!!!!
In closing, I would like to read a poem by one of our members, Len Gille.