(The following is a submission to The Recorder’s weekly column, “Faith Matters.” Each Saturday, a faith leader in Franklin County offers a personal perspective in this space. To become part of this series, email religion@recorder.com or call 413-772-0261, ext. 265.)
Why do you look for the living among the dead? (Luke 24:5)
I’m not really a fan of scary movies, but I have seen enough B grade horror films in my day to know that an empty grave means one of two things: grave robbers or zombies.
Easter begins, not with Jesus’ reappearance, but with his disappearance. The women — the first apostles — come to the tomb and he’s not there. What could this mean?
I’m guessing the women’s initial hypothesis would have been grave robbery. Zombies weren’t really part of the cultural imagination of first-century Israel. Grave robbers, however, were not unheard of, especially when there was a political significance attached to a corpse. The disappearance of the body from the tomb could easily have been a statement by his adversaries — a final desecration and annihilation of Jesus and all that he stood for.
No wonder the women were afraid, when two men suddenly appeared beside at the tomb. Who knew who these strangers might be? But the men speak to the women gently, saying: If you’re looking for Jesus, he is not here. He has risen.
Which brings me to the second hypothesis: zombies.
Zombies loom large in the cultural imagination of 21st-century America. Alongside “The Walking Dead” there has been an explosion of zombie literature: “Shakespeare Undead,” “Alice in Zombieland,” and of course, the best-selling “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” (For those of you unfamiliar with the zombie genre — no, I am not making these up.)
With all of these zombies roaming our imaginations, it was only a matter of time until someone came up with a Zombie Gospel. And so it wasn’t really that much of a surprise when my young godson came home from Sunday School one day and announced his great revelation of the morning: Jesus was a zombie.
But, with all due respect to my godson, the Zombie Gospel has in fact existed for decades, maybe centuries. It is the belief that when Jesus returns, he will bring suffering and retribution. As if somehow death and resurrection will transform our merciful healer into something else altogether.
After all, what is the scariest thing about zombies? It’s that the very people who loved us most, may come back to destroy us. So when someone tells you that Jesus is coming, not to save sinners, but to smite them; when someone tells you that Jesus is coming, not to seek the lost, but to abandon them — that, my friends, is the Zombie Gospel.
It turns out that the zombie hypothesis is really just another form of grave robbery; either way, the Jesus who loved us is gone, and we can no longer find him.
But there is a third hypothesis. It is the possibility that Jesus is not dead, but living. The possibility that neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor anything in all creation can keep us from the love of God.
Let’s call it the Easter Hypothesis.
So now we have multiple hypotheses before us. Which are we to believe? How shall we put them to the test? I can offer you no definitive proofs. But I can offer you an invitation — an experiment, if you will — to test the Easter Hypothesis. Here it is:
If you would find Jesus, look for him among the living.
Look for him among those you love; but don’t stop there.
Look for him among your coworkers. Look for him among your neighbors. Look for him behind the counter at the CVS or the RMV. Look for him at the bus stop.
But don’t stop there, either. Look for Christ in the headlines. Look for Christ in the bread lines. Look for Christ in homeless shelters and hospitals. Look for Christ in the refugee camps, and in the rubble of a suicide bombing.
To test the Easter hypothesis, ask yourself: if Jesus were alive today, where would he be?
And then go there. You may be surprised at what you find.
The First Church of Deerfield is an inquisitive, inclusive, open and affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist Association. The church gathers for worship and song each Sunday at 10 a.m. in the old “Brick Church” at 71 Main St. in Old Deerfield. Children are welcome both in our worship and in our Sunday School. Whoever you are, wherever you may be on life’s journey, you are invited. For more information, look for us on Facebook or on the web at www.firstchurchofdeerfield.org.