An Easter Homily
The Unitarian Universalist Church
Rockford, IL
David R. Weissbard
March 30, 1997
What do Jelly Beans have to do with Jesus? It seems to
me that that is a reasonable question. This is Easter Sunday, and in many
churches in our community, people are being reminded that Jesus has nothing
to do with eggs and Easter Bunnies and candy and dress up clothes.
In Unitarian Universalist churches, it is not uncommon
for Jesus to not even be mentioned on Easter. The reason is that on Easter,
Christians celebrate their belief that three days after Jesus was killed
and his body was put in a tomb, he arose from the dead - that he was brought
back to life and that he walked around and his friends saw him, and that
he is still alive today -- not his memory or his influence, but Jesus himself
is still alive and, in fact, because he was willing to die for us, we can
live forever if we believe in him.
Well, hardly any Unitarian Universalists believe what most, but not all, Christians believe about Jesus. What most of us believe is that Jesus was human, not magical, and that when he was killed, he died like all people died. What was special about him was that he was such a good teacher that people today continue to remember him and many people are encouraged to be better people because of remembering him.
Since we don't believe that Jesus came back to life on Easter, we are left with the question of what is Easter about?
One of the things we know is that people all over the world have had celebrations in the Spring - this is a time when people are cheered up by the return of green things. It is a time when we get in touch with nature - when we are aware of change, of seasons, of death and birth. Jesus is a part of that story, because his life and his death are examples of what life is about. His life was about passion about fear and courage, like the red jellybean symbolized. His life was about the sensitivity and vision that the green jellybean symbolized,. His life was about weariness and renewal, which the black jellybean symbolized. His life included the growth and change of which the white bean reminded us. So the jellybeans we ate did have something to do with Jesus.
But they said something more. They reminded us that those things which were a part of the life of Jesus are also parts of our lives. We experience all of those dimensions of life, if our lives are open and full. These are all possibilities for us.
Last Sunday I took part in a concert in which wonderful singers and musicians performed a composition by Franz Josef Haydn which centered on what the writers of the gospels tell us were the last words that Jesus spoke. Representatives of seven different religious faiths were invited to say what they meant to them. I was asked to comment on the last section in which Jesus was reported to have said, "Father into thy hands I commend my spirit." As those of you who were there know, I related that to my experience when I was serving my last congregation. I don't like thrill rides, but I got trapped into going on a white water rafting trip on the Yuckaganey River. I looked at the rapids that were ahead of us and I looked at the rubber raft we were in, and I was sure in my gut that I was not going to live through the day. I decided that since I was going to die anyhow, I might as well relax and enjoy the ride.
Life is like that. We are all going to die. We are going to go through rapids - we are going to experience joy and we are going to experience pain - we are going to be bounced around from time to time. We are not in complete charge of what is going to happen to us - what we are in charge of is how we respond - do we open ourselves to experience or do we waste our lives by trying always to protect ourselves -- do we eat the jellybeans and savor them and get the most from them, or do we always avoid the calories and the artificial colors?
Easter, it seems to me, is a reminder that life
does go on and that we are not in charge - it is not all about us as individuals.
We began our service by remembering those who were a part of our lives who
have died this year , we ate our jellybeans to remind us of some of the things
that give life its flavor, and in just a minute we will conclude our service
by celebrating the hope that new life brings to us.
When you leave, you will not have celebrated the miracle of someone who died coming back to life -- I hope you will appreciate that you will have celebrated something that is just as much of a miracle, which is the mystery of birth and life and death of which we are a part.
Click here to return to sermon index
Click here to return to home page