Nothing foolish about celebrating the Easter miracle

Message as relevant as ever, Rev. John Pentland writes.

This year, Easter Sunday falls on April Fools’s Day, and I figure it couldn’t be better. It made me giggle. Why? Well, because lots of what the Christian religion is about seems to be nothing but foolishness.

Like, for one, the fact that the main text was written thousands of years ago by a variety of mostly unidentified men and women, and that across denominations, we don’t even agree on what the main books and stories are.

Or how could it be that any of those old stories of people who know nothing about quirks and quarks — or the pressure of Facebook — have relevance in 2018. Surely, there are more recent and relevant writings that speak to our current pressures and predicaments.

And the book needed a good editor. For example, it’s ridiculous that the book begins with two different creation stories, back to back. Why not drop one? More, the stories of a spirit — wind — moving over waters and shaping plants, animals and people from clay is preposterous. (Everyone knows the planet evolved 4.5 billion years ago.)

And then we see God’s poor judge of character. There’s Moses (I can’t get Charlton Heston out of my head) and the Ten Commandments. Turns out Moses had a shadowy past. He says, “thou shalt not murder,” and he is a murderer himself ? No joke.

Then there is David. He defeats Goliath with a pebble — great story, but it later turns out he had a suspected fling with Bathsheba. Darn, he had a bright future.

What do we do with all this human messiness? And what about the weak-kneed prophets in the Bible? Everyone has an excuse about why they shouldn’t do what they are called to do: “Too old,” “too young,” “poor speaker,” “too fearful.” It is a joke the ones who God chooses to work with. Why didn’t he pick the top of the class from Toastmasters?

God picks ordinary jokers like you and me. What I love is that God works with ordinary

Easter (not to mention so much about life) defies all logic. Creation, the Bible and its people, and Easter, all celebrate the ineffable, the mysterious, the unknown.

folks to be the bearers of the message. They are human-messy, just like us.

Now, don’t get me started on Jesus. Miraculous birth? Walking on water, feeding crowds, healing lepers, telling people to “love their enemies” and “to do unto others,” preaching parables and challenging crooked powers. Foolish imagination.

The biggest joke of all is the story of Easter. There were people who saw this man crucified, people saw him buried. But then the joke really takes a turn when the story offers a final surprise: an empty tomb. April fool’s indeed!

No wonder Paul wrote years later in a letter to the people of Corinth about how they were all “fools for Christ” for believing it. But then again, Easter (not to mention so much about life) defies all logic. Creation, the Bible and its people, and Easter, all celebrate the ineffable, the mysterious, the unknown.

Easter celebrates a ridiculous love. And herein lies its beauty and mystery of faith. It is the story of a man who took a risk for love and died on a hill for what he believed. It tells of one who provoked and inspired people’s vision from scarcity to abundance, from hate to love, from fear to trust. He was one who lived with love and compassion for the least, lost and lonely, saying “they matter.” It’s no joke.

The tomb couldn’t contain that kind of love. Jesus proposed that there is enough, and we are enough. He promised that death isn’t the end, but rather, a marvellous mysterious new beginning.

Yes, Easter Sunday on April Fool’s Day is a marvellous, serendipitous happening. It makes fools out of those of us who trust this marvellous, mysterious, vulnerable God, who calls us to walk differently in the world. Foolish, if justice is foolish; foolish, if compassion is foolish; foolish, if a deep love for all is foolish.

Or perhaps it’s precisely the relevant message we most need to hear in this modern day and age. No joke.