“Please Remain Seated!”
If you have ever flown somewhere on an airplane or ridden an amusement park ride, you are quite familiar with that phrase. It is issued for your safety to remind you that even though things may appear to be at the end, there is still a bit more to come. The concept of an “Encore!” has almost become such an expected part of an evening at a concert or musical performance that it is practiced in rehearsals. Even movies have adopted this philosophy by including a short treat for people who sit through the credits! I believe the first time I experienced this was after viewing “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” where Matthew Broderick reappears to ask the audience why they are still hanging around. “It’s over. Go home!”
My earworm this week from Pastor Zach’s sermon is Jesus’ command as recorded in John’s Gospel: “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.” [John 20:17] Huh? Why not take hold of and embrace the risen Lord? Isn’t it time to celebrate, to unfasten the seat belts, to rise to our feet, to sing and dance and laugh as death lay defeated in the empty tomb? Why such a solemn word of caution and restraint?
Perhaps this is to remind the disciples (and us) that it is not “finished.” The climactic battle is over and a victor appears, but the plot has one last twist. You see, without the ascension to the Father, some might view this as “man defeats death.” Jesus would “become god” instead of being part of (yet all of) God. The power of the resurrection comes from the source of the miracle, and this connection back to the Father must occur to complete the cycle. God did not abandon what and where God was when God took human form. Instead, God opened a doorway to be “both/and”.
So Easter Sunday is a very special day. But the celebration needs to continue through the Easter Season to reach the day of Pentecost where the real credits declare to us “Thanks be to God! Alleluia! Alleluia!”
Happy Easter!
David Krueger