Sermon Transcript for April 8, 2007 Sweet Jesus Some of you will have heard, in the news over the last two weeks, the story of the chocolate Jesus, an exhibition in New York City. An artist in New York has sculpted, out of 200 lbs. of milk chocolate, a chocolate Jesus. His arms are outstretched on an invisible cross, not even covered by a chocolate loincloth. This chocolate Jesus was supposed to hang in an exhibition running from Palm Sunday through Easter, but there was such uproar from Christians because they said it was sacrilegious, that the exhibition was canceled. I wonder what you think of the chocolate Jesus image. Do you think the chocolate Jesus is a worthy Easter image? Or is it sacrilegious? I think the chocolate Sweet Jesus is a wonderful image for Easter. I think the chocolate Jesus is an intriguing image that brings together the secular and religious of these holidays. Jesus embodies all that is human, earthy, real, and sensual. I think it is particularly relevant for us at this time of year. I don’t know about you, but I love chocolate. I love its taste. I love the sight of it. I love everything about it, except the calories. My favorite quote about chocolate is- “Chocolate flows in deep dark, sweet waves, a river to ignite my mind and alert my senses The Chocolate Jesus as representative of all that is beautifully satisfying and deliciously inclusive? Why not! You might even say that its an immaculate confection!!!!!!!!!! Chocolat and Resurrection I wonder how many of you remember the film that came out in the late 1990's called Chocolat? It is set in a small French village in the 1950's. A woman of dubious character moves into the village and sets up a chocolate shop, and she does it during Lent. The mayor of the town is fasting because he is a “good Christian”, and encourages the villages’ people to fast, because they are all “good Christians”. They are not allowed to go to the chocolate shop, but while they are alone in their homes, of course they sneak a little chocolate. And they abuse their wives, and generally behave badly. But they are “good Christians”, so they won't go to the chocolate shop. After all, chocolate is evil and brings to light all their secret desires and fantasies. The scene I want to talk about takes place on the night before Easter. The mayor gets so agitated about the chocolate shop that he breaks in and begins to tear the place apart, throwing chocolate and destroying all the stands, and there is chocolate from wall-to-wall. At one point during this flurry of fury, a small piece of chocolate lands on his lips that haven’t tasted food for days, and he unintentionally swallows it. At the moment he swallows the chocolate, he finds himself in a feeding frenzy, a sweet ecstasy. That leads him to gorge on all the chocolate that he can grab in the shop. Early Easter morning, the other villagers find him there, asleep in the chocolate shop window, inebriated with chocolate. He was drowning in a river of the most beautiful chocolate that you could imagine. As the mayor wakes up, he has his Easter epiphany. It occurs not in church on Easter morning, but in the chocolate shop. Easter for him was waking up to his humanity and seeing, as if for the first time, his divine essence, which was nowhere other than in his humanity. That is a wonderful truth of Easter. That is why I think the chocolate Jesus is a perfect image for Easter. It calls us to look again at our humanity. When you see the divine essence in your humanity, you’ve had your Easter epiphany. Nature and Resurrection Now, most Easter images revolve around nature, and alongside the chocolate Jesus, I want to also offer you some natural Easter images. Stop and think about what we have here on the chancel- yeast that is alive, and symbolizes that which rises, and which has new possibilities. Think about seeds that lie dormant through winter, waiting for the springtime. I want to quote Martin Luther, and you won't hear this very often from me (that is quoting Martin Luther.) Martin Luther was the 15th century reformer, and he writes: Our Lord has written a promise of resurrection; not only in books; but in every leaf in springtime. Those of you know Martin Luther can get a sense of how radical that statement is! A Seed Waiting for Resurrection My Easter story for you this year is the story that took place in Japan in 1993 in a University: A dormant seed blossomed into a beautiful Magnolia. That does not seem out of the ordinary, except that the seed was 2300 years old. 11 years before that, the seed had been found in a tomb. A professor took the seed, watered and nurtured it, and it blossomed into a 7 ft. tree. For hundreds of years this seed had held onto its genetic code, while civilizations rose and fell all around it, and it finally blossomed. The seed held onto its promise of life, waiting for resurrection, while nature ebbed and flowed, and generations came and went. My Easter message to you this year is what I believe the gospel is as it relates to your life: Hidden deep within the tomb of your soul there is a seed. That seed is waiting to blossom into a wondrous Magnolia. You are the gardener of your soul, nurturing your humanity with intention. Resurrection is waiting to happen in you and around you. The Easter journey is both an inner and outer journey. The inner journey is opening up to that which has been hidden deep within, locked in the tomb of fear and despair. The gospel message is that at the right time- that time might be three days, it might be three years, or it might be 2300 years, but at the right time, that seed will blossom. When you rise above your fear and despair, the seed will blossom. Resurrection and Your Life When I say to rise above, I don't mean to minimize or forget, but rather to rise above being attached to the sadness. Rise above in the sense of seeing your life from a broader perspective. At the right time, you will choose to give up the attachment and hostility and move on. That's the gospel message, and it is an outer message as well: All the tragedy that surrounds us, at the right time, be it three days, three years, or 30 years, choose to act, to agitate for change, and work for justice. I look around this morning and I see myself reflected. Each of us carries untold sadness in our lives that cannot be named or known by others. My Easter message is that you might touch that place of sadness, to bear the cross that no one else can bear for you, the cross that only you can carry, that you might touch that place. And at the right time, choose to give up your attachment to sadness and move on. Resurrection is waiting to happen. Is this the right time for you? Is this the time when your seed is ready to blossom? Is this the Easter when you'll see, as if for the first time, your divine essence? And know who you really are, in all of your humanity, all of your sensual, earthy humanity? Is this your time? Easter is a wonderful opportunity to be reminded of this story of death and rebirth, and to be reminded that Resurrection is all around us if we will just look with new eyes. Resurrection is found in church, but it's also found in chocolate shops, and it's found in Easter bunnies, and it's found when you share Easter Sunday dinner with your family and friends. Wherever humanity is shared, resurrection is always present. My Easter message is that you might dwell in splendiferous, delicious possibility, all of your days.
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