Christ is Risen, Now What? - Acts 5:27-32
Last Sunday evening, as I settled onto my couch with a cup of tea and my television remote, I took a quick scroll of my Instagram feed. One meme in particular kept popping up over and over again from my clergy colleagues around the country. At first glance, it looks like an excerpt from the Book of Common Prayer, but on closer inspection, it was something else altogether. The first line says, “An Order for Easter Evening,” in large font. Underneath it, in italics, is a rubric that says, “the priest goes home.” Finally, there is a typical, prayer book style call and response. The “people” say, “Do you have some time Monday morning to get together?” The “celebrant” replies simply, “No.”
It’s true that Holy Week and Easter can leave clergy, church staff, and other volunteers a little fried. After all the hours spent planning and implementing programs and worship services to observe Christ’s final days, his death, and his resurrection, there’s not much brain space left. The week after Easter can leave us wondering… now what? And this is not just a practical question about what to do with our time and energy. It’s also a theological one. Christ is risen, now what? What do we do after resurrection?
As always, the author of Luke’s Gospel and the book of Acts has plenty to say in answer to our question. These texts report to us in great detail what the disciples were up to after the resurrection. After they met the resurrected Christ on the road to Emmaus and witnessed his Ascension into heaven, the Jesus Movement began in earnest, and from the very start, it was risky. By the time we meet the disciples this morning in chapter 5, they’ve already been imprisoned - and have already escaped.
The disciples have been busy preaching and teaching and healing and performing miracles in Jesus’ name. The local political and religious authorities do not care for this at all. Not only was it treasonous to claim authority from anyone other than the emperor, the apostles’ miraculous acts were threatening to make the emperor look ridiculous in comparison. Citizens who were satisfied with their civil rights, or least terrified of losing them, were not interested in seeing a fringe group emerge to rattle their community. So the disciples were arrested. They hadn’t been out of custody for two minutes before they picked up their work again, and today we hear the exasperated temple council lament. “Didn’t we just see you? Haven’t you learned your lesson? When are you going to turn your life around and start obeying the law?”
We also hear from our friend John on the island of Patmos this morning. John is imprisoned too, although he will not see his escape in this world. Like the other disciples, imprisonment and fear of death don’t seem to slow John down as he busies himself writing his epic saga of God defeating the cosmic forces of empire and evil. As a side note, if you’ve never read through Revelation, I highly recommend it. It rivals Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 for my favorite post-apocalyptic book.
It may seem odd just one week after the most glorious celebration of our church year that we find ourselves metaphorically behind bars. But there’s some practical and some theological truth here, too. We certainly had an incredible feast day last week to commemorate the resurrection and the death of sin and destruction in the world. But of course, we are still surrounded by sin and destruction. While we sang our Glorias, people without food or shelter in our very neighborhood came looking for aid. In the days following, people continued to test positive for Covid. Personally, it didn’t take long at all for my Easter joy to take a back seat to a frustrated tone in my emails.
Suddenly, our question, now what? seems to carry more weight. The resurrection has brought with it a saving hope we’d never known. But there is still work to be done. Our scriptures today respond to our query by turning our gaze sharply towards what God is up to after the resurrection. And God is busy. God is busy tending to those who are imprisoned, those who need a miracle, those who are still at the mercy of the broken system that put Jesus to death in the first place. Perhaps after the resurrection, this is what we should be busy with, too.
The disciples’ hope and joy was unbounded, but their celebrations were not. They had resurrection work to do. After two years of a pandemic, and for some one us, several weeks of very busy liturgical work, I know we’re all tempted to ask for just a little more time to bask in the glow of last Sunday’s festivities. But maybe some marching orders are just what we need to get back in the groove. Maybe it’s time to stop asking “now what,” and starting taking action.
Inspired and empowered by our glorious celebrations last week, let us follow the example of Christ and of the disciples. Let us go forth from this joyous place and move towards those most in need - both in need of practical aid, and more importantly, in need of the saving hope that resurrection brings. We may not be able to break people out of prison cells or heal wounds in the street, but we can certainly tell the story of the resurrection, how it has brought us new life and how it can bring new hope to everyone. This is risky business. The Jesus movement always is. But it is also always good news. Amen.