Let go with Christ, die into his love; and rise with Christ

It's back!  The Theologian of the Month for April 2005/Easter season is Archbishop Rowan Williams!

I bought Resurrection several years ago.  As part of my Easter season observance, I will finally read it. 

A (Methodist!) friend of mine thinks I should name my baby, whether male or female, Rowan, after the Archbishop.  He's a big fan.  Good Methodists name their sons Wesley, of course.  (Okay, I only know of one for certain - a Methodist theologian's son who attends our evening eucharist service is in fact named Wesley.)   

Here is an excerpt from his Easter sermon.  It starts out by discussing our fear of death and the denial of limits, both individual and societal.

"So the importance of Jesus’ resurrection is not that it somehow proves there is life after death in a general sort of way. What it proves is that God keeps his promises: the commitment of God the Father to Jesus his beloved son is absolute and eternal; so the cross does not separate Father and Son, and life is restored on the far side of the cross, life that both is and isn’t like the ordinary physical life Jesus had in Galilee. And the divine promise Jesus, God among us, makes to his friends, the promise of mercy and renewal, is absolute; not even the unfaithfulness of the disciples can destroy it. Jesus’ life is there for them once more, the source of their joy and hope. The violent and terrible death of Jesus does not stop God from giving what he wants to give, giving consistently and steadily. If Jesus is raised, we can count on the faithfulness of God.

And perhaps we can dimly see why death can be called an enemy. Death seems to challenge the idea of an eternally faithful God; and it poses an obvious difficulty for any belief that God wants to develop with us a relationship that is always growing and developing. It looks as though death means that our relation with God comes to a halt, as if God eventually treats us as disposable. But if we see in Jesus’ resurrection the confirmation that God is faithful, we can face death differently – not because it has stopped mattering or even hurting, not because we have assurance that we shall carry on as before (we shan’t), but because God has not finished with us...

Easter proclaims to individuals and economic systems and governments alike that we shall not find life by refusing to let go of our precious, protected selves. Let go with Christ, die into his love; and rise with Christ, opening yourself to the eternal gift of the Father."  Amen.