Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our risen Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Plots. Intrigue. Strategies. Collusion and subterfuge. The realm of espionage…It’s the stuff TV shows are made of. And it’s everywhere, all around us—if we take the time to account it.
Take for example CIA agents working on a case for several months now. They’ve been meticulously planning and are ready to execute a mission to dismantle the intricate web of an exotic insect smuggler known as Beatrice “the Queen” Crowley. Months of intense surveillance culminate in a dramatic showdown as agents apprehend the elusive smuggler in an old, abandoned factory out in West Fitchburg. Everything is in place, the night comes, and Crowley awaits what she thinks is a buyer for her contraband. To her great surprise, the CIA agents burst in. “Hands up! We’ve got you surrounded!” Caught and cornered, Crowley utters incredulously, “What is this? A sting operation?” To which the CIA special agent in charge calmly responds, “Oh, honey, yes. It looks like you should’ve had a plan B.”
I must admit, I’m happy to hear the buzz of groaning. Or should I say the drone of the groan? Whatever you might think, I think that little story was a real hum-stinger…Okay. Okay. Moving along…
“Death has been swallowed up in victory,” St. Paul declares to us today, and then he goes on to ask death itself, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” These are words of uttermost hope for us. In the face of our deepest fear, in the face of death, the resurrection of Jesus shines like a beacon of hope, casting light into the darkest recesses of despair. Death, once feared as the insurmountable foe, is shown for what it truly is—powerless in the presence of the resurrected Christ, powerless in the face of God’s love. The sting of death, that sharp pain of finality and separation, is numbed, neutered, nullified by the victory of Jesus’ resurrection. The resurrection is God’s sting operation on everything and anything that would stand in his way of full, abundant, good relationship with everything he’s made, and especially with us, especially with you.
Yet I don’t have to tell you that the world, that our lives are beset with all sorts of problems. In fact, people today seem to be often asking if things are worse now than they were before. There seems plenty of reason for hopelessness, for despair in world. It’s silly and even dishonest to say or think otherwise. We can’t look at the world, at our lives with pink-tinted glasses and will it to be better just because we wish it were so.
Yet for Christians, yet for us, the problems aren’t all we have to consider. We have something more. We have the resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus. We who’ve been united with Jesus through baptism in death, have also been united with him in resurrection so that just as Christ was raised from death to newness of life, we too share in his victory over everything and anything that would seek to thwart God’s will. The resurrection is the wellspring of hope for us in the face of our problems, in the face of all that besets this world and sucks into the pits of despair.
But we, even as faithful Christians, might still ask ourselves what difference the resurrection makes today. In a world riddled with turmoil at home, in our communities, across our nation, around the globe, in a world where the shadows of hopelessness loom large, the resurrection makes all the difference. It’s a reminder that death doesn’t get the final say, that even in the face of life’s most daunting challenges, there’s still reason for hope. The resurrection of Jesus undoes the schemes of hopelessness and despair—upends the schemes of sin, death, and the devil who would nothing more than you to lose hope, lose trust in God’s promise that nothing can separate you from his love.
In the midst of personal struggles and global crises, the hope of the resurrection reminds us, beckons us, goads us to embrace a different reality—one marked by devotion, courage, and unwavering hope in God and his Word, his promise. It invites us to confront our fears and doubts with assurance, with conviction that nothing can or will separate us from his love for us in Jesus. Yes—we face the complexities of life, but the resurrection is our source of strength and resilience for those complexities. The resurrection empowers us to get up each day with renewed confidence that, though so many things seemed stacked up against, all things work together for good for those who love God—and for those whom God loves.
The resurrection of Jesus is the linchpin of God’s sting operation against death. As Jesus emerges victorious from the tomb, the power of sin and death is shattered. The grip of hopelessness is broken. This is redemption. God replaces the sting of death with the hope of resurrection, and brings us even now into the eternal victory that awaits the whole creation when Christ comes again.
Moreover, the victory of Christ over death calls us to embody resurrection hope in our interactions with others and in our engagement with the world. It compels us to work for justice, reconciliation, and peace, knowing that our labor is not in vain. The resurrection of Jesus brings an end to the powers of sin and death and ushers in hope and redemption for all creation.
We see the signs of resurrection hope all around us, if we take the time to actually account them.
Take for instance scientists who are on the cusp of developing a new treatment for a debilitating disease. After working for almost a decade on research, their clinical trials prove they haven’t yet arrived at the cure. A seeming setback, wouldn’t you say? But no—these scientists don’t see it that way. They take what they learn and don’t give up. They keep going. They could easily throw their hands up in the air and say they’re done. That would seem to make sense. But they keep going—to find a cure, to defeat the disease, to help people in need. That tenacity in the face of challenges is a reason for hope.
Every moment someone takes to teach a severely handicapped young girl to read, or to walk—those moments are reasons for hope. I knew a guy who donated a kidney, with no identified, known recipient. Just donated it because he wanted to. Offering a vital organ without expectation of personal gain challenges the notion of selfishness—that’s a reason for hope. People who adopt, whether those who have children already or those who can’t have their own children for whatever reason, providing a loving home to a child who is truly wanted and will be loved—that’s a reason for hope. Volunteering for the armed services or as a first responder—that’s a reason for hope. These folks put themselves in harm’s way to protect others and uphold the safety and security of society, and that embodies selflessness that’s hard to match. Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this, than to lay down your life for your friends.” Well, what of a willingness to sacrifice your life not only for friends and family, but for strangers, and potentially even your enemies? Indeed—a reason for hope.
Those who stand up for and strive for a just, equal, and free life for all people regardless of gender, race, language, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, age, or occupation—especially when it doesn’t not directly benefit them and goes beyond their personal interests, potentially even jeopardizing their privilege for the greater good—that’s a reason for hope. A young boy sitting down and spending time to listen to an elderly woman’s stories. Forgiving someone who’s wronged you. Free tutoring in after-school programs or mentoring for those who’ve just been released from incarceration. Community clean-up events. Donating blood. All reasons for hope.
The list could go on and on and on. If we take the time to account for each and every sign for hope, we see God undoing the powers of death and despair all around us each and every day.
What difference does the resurrection make today? The resurrection makes all the difference. It forces us to change our perspective on life and death, suffusing our whole lives with hope and meaning. No longer bound by the clinch of death, we’re freed—freed from fear, freed from worry, freed from despair—to live boldly and courageously, to live with hope, knowing that the ultimate victory belongs to God.
In the midst of despairing darkness, the resurrection shines as a beacon of hope. The resurrection of Jesus illuminates the path to new life. It’s a reminder that no matter how dire the circumstances may seem, God is always at work, turning causes for despair into reasons for hope. The resurrection makes all the difference in our lives today. Every day, it fills us with renewed confidence, so that we indeed can know, that we indeed can believe and by our lives indeed proclaim that the sting of death has been conquered by the hope of resurrection in Jesus Christ.
Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Rev'd Daniel W. Spigelmyer, Jr. 