IT BEGINS - a poem for Easter 2017

(This can be listened to here)

It began well enough

small at first

but after some healings

and moments of deep caring

soon the crowds began to grow.

As did the numbers

calling themselves disciples.

Those were heady days.

He embodied God’s love

for all who crossed his path

even Samaritans.

He lived the kingdom of God

here on earth

in the here and now.

People touched by compassion,

God’s generosity there for all.

God’s promises lived out.

God’s covenant to Israel fulfilled.

We touched

earth renewed

and hoped.

Sure, some left

when  the teaching got too difficult -

I mean - who wants to eat bodies

and drink blood –

and some left as the tension grew –

no one likes hanging around

on a cross.

But mostly we stayed.

It all looked so promising

as Jesus rode the donkey

down into the Kidron.

We cheered and shouted

“Hosanna to the Son of David.”

the villagers cloaked and

palm branched our way.

Jesus the king riding on

on to victory and restoration.

Maybe now the great exile would end?

Maybe now the glory of God

lost to Babylon

would be restored

Maybe now the Shekinah of God

will  return to the temple.

We hope that Rome with all

their legions and weapons

and sheer military might

will return from whence where they came.

We pray that on their heals

their puppets with

all our wealth

and grandeur

will follow?

Maybe now is the end

for the high priests

and all their greed,

corrupting the temple.

For surely  now is the year of Jubilee!

It began as Jesus rode

up from the Kidron,

up into the chill of Jerusalem.

No cheering here.

Just cold indifference.

Our small group

passed through the gate

under Rome’s careful eye.

Surrounded with bemusement

we trekked up into

deadly fear and loathing

as the temple

loomed on our path.

That shadow never left.

The threat grew darker.

The sun dimmed

until on Friday

he was stripped of his humanity.

The powers nailed him to that cross.

The gods of war and wealth,

the idols of power and fame,

the spirits that destroyed communities,

devastating lives

impoverishing the landless

using God as their justification

crucified the one who named

their shame and selfishness.

They wrapped him tight  in their hate

crushing him

and all our hopes.

As the darkness drowned us

they danced their eternal victory

those false gods.

We watched and prayed in silence

while Jesus breathed his last.

God defeated.

God’s faithfulness shredded.

We sat with Mary by the tomb

waiting to bury God’s promise.

Nothing to do but anoint and wrap. 

held in the eternal night of despair.

It begins in deep darkness

this new dawn

a sliver of light

that greeted the cold breathe

of our grief.

We huddled and waited

just a few women

gathering in the gloom

to offer this

one final act

before life resumes

in the grey hopelessness.

It begins

with angels and earthquakes,

soldiers afeared and quaking,

stones rolling back

to reveal

a tomb

not occupied

and  linen cloths

that once held the dead.

tidily folded to one side.

What

begins

with

this

emptiness?

Everything begins.

Hope is reborn

Compassion renewed

Justice announced

Love reigns.

With this empty tomb

the revolution begins.

God is not defeated

The chains of death

have been broken

The Covenant with Israel holds.

The promise with humanity stands.

The powers that nailed him to that cross

are rendered impotent..

The gods of war and wealth,

the idols of power and fame,

the spirits that destroy communities,

devastating lives

impoverishing the landless

using God as their justification

They have been defeated

their dance has finished

their power is gone.

The revolution begins

resurrection begins

begins in God.

And it begins with Mary’s

simple words

the first sermon

“I have seen the Lord”

The revolution continues each time

we utter those words

each time we participate

in this resurrection of divine life

We have seen the Lord

It begins.