Easter Sunday 2024

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
and Rev. Michelle LaGrave
March 31, 2024
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

In the gospel stories, the people who found Jesus’ tomb empty or experienced his resurrection felt uncertain. They wondered: What is happening? What does this all mean? What should I do? Like them, we too, have much to feel uncertain about – in our lives, in our church, and in the wider world, and we ask ourselves similar questions. What might happen if we decided to embrace these feelings and experiences of uncertainty? What gifts might we discover? What joy might we find?

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

On this joyous day, enter into this sanctuary with an alleluia in your heart, and a hosana on your lips. For though we know not what tomorrow, or even today, will bring, we know that we have each other and that makes us rich in spirit. So let us rejoice and be glad. Our hearts beat as one community. We share a great Joy and a great Love. Hallelujah and Amen.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Reading

Mark 16:1-8 NRSVUE (New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition)

16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.

2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.

3 They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”

4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.

5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.

7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”

8 So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Sermon

REV CHRIS’ HOMILY

It is so good to be back with you all this Easter Sunday.

In the Christian religious tradition, a major theme during the Easter holidays is death and resurrection.

As most of you know, my spouse, Wayne, entered home hospice care about three weeks ago.

So I have been thinking about this theme a lot.

By the way, Wayne is fine with me sharing our journey with you. And what rises up for me within the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus in the Christian gospels is that we can find a larger theme about faith rooted in a love powerful enough to embrace uncertainty and unknowing.

And, of course, death may be our greatest unknowing.

Within the time between Jesus’ death and when he rises again, the Gospels tell of a great unknowing.

Those days contain so much uncertainty. Has the promised Messiah really been vanquished? What are his disciples and followers to believe now?

What will become of the movement for justice and love he had begun?

Additionally, the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all tell the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection differently. As far as the resurrection, among the many differences between the gospels are:

which folks first arrived at the tomb of Jesus,
whether or not they experienced a violent earthquake,
and how and to whom we experience Jesus reappearing after he has risen from the tomb.

These are just a very few of the differences.

I think that these variances between the gospels also create a sense of uncertainty, require a faith in the metaphorical messages they all present about about a divine love that lasts forever and focuses especially upon the disenfranchised and the downtrodden.

But perhaps we find this theme of uncertainty the most in the gospel of Mark. As you heard in our reading earlier, the original version of Mark ended without a scene in which Jesus reappeared at all.Instead, a mysterious young man in a white robe, presumably an angel, tells the women who have come to the tomb to anoint Jesus that he has risen, and that they are to tell his disciples that he will meet them in Galilee.

But they are terrified and flee the tomb, saying nothing to anyone.

Now, apparently that original version of Mark got terrible reviews, and I understand that Jesus was extremely miffed about not getting to make his final appearance.

So, later biblical scribes added not one but two happy endings, in which Jesus does reappear – several times – to many different people – and then ascends to right hand of God, and they all live happily ever after, proclaiming the good news.

Personally, I like the original ending of Mark much better. Because it is filled with uncertainty and unknowing, just like life is.

Those of you who saw my message to the congregation earlier this week know how much uncertainty Wayne and I are living with on a day-to-day basis.

This church has shown such resilience through so much uncertainty, from surviving through the stay at home days of the pandemic; to the retirement of a much loved minister due to serious health issues; to a time of much transition and unknowing between called ministers.

Any now this, with me and mine.

And yet, I think the real message we can find in the original Mark and in the broader themes of Easter is about how love not only sustains us through uncertainty and loss, it can help us find new life and new creative possibilities out of the unknowing.

I think this is the true essence of having faith. The very word faith implies uncertainty. I believe, in fact, that faith without uncertainty becomes dogma and fundamentalism.

True faith is when, even out of our state of unknowing, we invest ourselves in trusting that love survives all, continuously giving rise to rebirth and renewal.

When we engage in a great love like Wayne and I have for almost 34 years; a great love for all humanity and all that is;

or a love for an art or music;
or a love for searching out new discoveries in physics
or computer sciences or the endless mysterious of consciousness and the human mind;
or perhaps some combination of many or all of these and more.

When we build a love as great as this, we have already created the resurrection.

Happy Easter, my Beloveds.

Together, may love lead us to rebirth and renewal, time and time agaIn.

REV MICHELLE’S HOMILY:

Back in the day (I love that I get to say this now) which was about 17 years ago, I was in seminary, going through a process that we call ministerial formation. That means that I was growing into a minister and there were a lot of people involved in helping me to grow, especially a lot of professors and ministers and even some psychologists, as well as the other seminarians. Back then, we had to pass through 2 committees to become a UU minister, to get fellowshipped. That meant going before a group of about 8 or so people and getting questioned on a variety of things.

The first committee was called the Regional Subcommittee and that one happened early in our formation. Once we passed through the Regional Subcommittee, we became candidates for ministry. It was a big and exciting step in the process of becoming a minister. So at the end of my first year of seminary, it was with a great deal of excitement and apprehension that I went before the New England Regional Subcommittee. And guess what happened?

I didn’t pass. I didn’t pass. After my interview, they called me into the room, and picture this -I sat before a room filled with about 8 people and they told me what they thought I needed to do to become a minister. They said a lot of things that day, including that they thought my therapist wasn’t doing me any good and they thought I needed to get a new one so that I could better integrate my life experiences into my ministerial formation. I was shocked that the committee could and would be so bold to say such things to me. And I was devastated. I had felt my call to ministry to clearly and strongly that I was heartbroken to hear that I had more work to do and needed to come back to the committee next year.

I left the building and sat on a bench on Boston Common and wept. I was grief-stricken. I felt the committee had an image in mind of who I needed to grow into but I couldn’t see that image and I didn’t know how I could grow into something that I couldn’t see or even imagine. I was filled with uncertainty.

In some ways all of our lives are filled with uncertainty. We never know for sure what will happen tomorrow, later today, or even a few minutes from now. Most of the time, we don’t think about all of that uncertainty all that much. And there are other times when are lives seem filled with uncertainty. Maybe even rich with uncertainty. Or pregnant with uncertainty. Like the seeds we planted this morning and many of you will plant later today or this week, we don’t always know what it is we are growing, exactly. We might have an idea, like that we are growing some kind of plant, or growing as a human, or growing into a better minister but we don’t always know what that looks like, exactly.

These times, these potentially rich times of uncertainty, are times when we can grow as individuals, as families, as a church community – if we embrace them. If we embrace uncertainty and allow the growth, as difficult as it may be, to happen, we can find joy, even in the midst of grief.

So, back to that scene on the Boston Common. What happened? Well, I did a lot of thinking, a lot of grieving, and a lot of processing. I thought about all the ministers I knew who I respected and admired, affirmed to myself that my call was clear and true, and decided to embrace the process, even though I didn’t understand it and couldn’t see the outcome. I did all of the things that the committee asked of me: I took an extended unit of CPE, clinical pastoral education, I continued my seminary studies, I took a job working in a church as an interim ORE, Director of Religious Education, I took care of myself – and got diagnosed with and treated for an autoimmune disorder, and … I got a new therapist, who worked with me by using the enneagram as a model for personal and spiritual growth.

And guess what? The committee was right. I had needed a new therapist. I had needed all the things they prescribed. As horrible and devastating and grief-filled as the experience was, it was also a time of great growth, great joy, and great love. And I am filled with gratitude for the committee, and the person, who with great courage, spoke the truth, the hard truth, to me, in Love. So, the next year, I returned to the Regional Subcommittee and passed into candidate status, and later went to see the MFC, the Ministerial Fellowship Committee, with passed with the highest ranking. My experience with the MFC was the complete opposite of my experience with the Regional Subcommittee – instead of being devastated, I was filled with joy.

There have been, and are, and will continue to be times in my life that are rich with uncertainty, as is true of all of you, and of this church. This church has been filled with uncertainty for several years now. You went through a pandemic and began recovering, only to find that your senior minister needed to retire for devastating medical reasons. You’ve called and settled one co-lead minister, only to hear that his husband has now entered hospice. And you’re approaching the end of your second year with interim ministry. This church is rich with uncertainty and grief. It is also pregnant with great joy and new life. May you, may we, all embrace the gift of uncertainty and in the midst of grief give birth to new energy, new joy, new hope, new life, and new love. For you are held in Love, not only by me, and Rev. Chris, but also a wider community of ministers and UU congregations. Have faith, dear ones, have faith. As Julian of Norwich had said and Rev. Meg has sung many times – all will be well, all manner of things shall be well.

Amen and Blessed Be.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

In times of uncertainty, and grief may you always be open to
New Growth
New Joy
New Love

Go in peace, knowing that you are Loved.

Amen and Blessed Be

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