Eyebrows and Easter

The Reverend Dr. Lynn Cheyney

"You always get to me," the pastor said, close to tears, turning to the choir as she stood to begin her 8 am Easter sermon.  

The sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses of Westwood Presbyterian Church had just performed the anthem, "My Eternal King," by Jane Marshall. 

Then the Reverend Dr. Lynn Cheyney cleared the choking from her voice and began preaching.

"I was getting my eyebrows done," she smiled, adding an aside: "How's that for a transition?"

The congregation chuckled.  I sat there delighted: only a woman pastor, and a confident one, could begin this way.  It was payback for all the goofy football illustrations I've had to listen to in sermons all my life.

"I was getting my eyebrows done the week before last when the delightful Pakistani woman hovering over my face, a Hindu who knew that I am a minister asked, 'So what is Easter about?  What does it mean?'"

"And I confessed that I panicked.  In a nanosecond the following thoughts flashed through my brain: 'Oh my gosh, I'm a pastor, I should know the answer to that question.  I've been to two seminaries, preached dozens of Easter sermons, taught Bible studies on the Passion and Easter narratives, I've read countless articles and books and read Gospel accounts a thousand times.  What on earth is the meaning of Easter?  Why haven't I prepared my 30-second Easter elevator speech?... And what is she really asking?  Do I need to fit in bunny and eggs?"

We all laughed several times. After a moment, she replied to the woman:

"It can get a little complicated, but most simply, Easter is about two things: it is about love and it is about hope.  It is the ancient story of a God who loves the world enough to die for it.  On Good Friday God's son Jesus was put to death because he would not give in to hate.  But then just when it seemed that death and evil would win, God raised Jesus from the dead, and it means that whatever is bad or terrible or painful now is never the end of the story.  There's always hope because bringing life out of death is what God does.  Easter is about love.  Easter is about hope."

Then she launched into her sermon.  You can listen to it from the church website: http://westwoodpres.org/worship/worship-services/sermon-videos/ 

or from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=25&v=I28whE0VS_c

Here are some excerpts:

About Good Friday:

"The worst possible thing that could have happened happens...  And yet two millennia later, some two billion of us remember and revere this failed moment.  The week that began with hosannas ends in crucifixion as a movement is crushed and a hero is humiliated.  At least that was the thinking when they put their heads on the pillow that not-yet-so-good Friday night."

About the women at the foot of the cross:

"They watched his breathing slow to nothing....  And if you have seen death, you know there is no mistaking it when it comes.  Something is so obviously gone." 

About the women on Sunday at the tomb:

Bewildered and terrified, they sprint for home when they are met on the way with a living, breathing Jesus.  Life too is pretty obvious when you see it. The worst possible thing has happened.  As the Apostles' Creed puts it, "Crucified, dead, and buried"--but that was yesterday's news....  The worst possible thing has given way to the best possible thing.  Jesus is alive.  Christ is risen indeed."

Quoting Harry Emerson Fosdick:

"One of the most colossal defeats in history becomes one of the greatest triumphs ever won."

Quoting Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

(on his way to his own death in a Nazi concentration camp)

"This is the end, but for me it is the beginning of life."

In summary:

"The cross alone bears up under the weight of life as we know it...."

"From time to time all of us find ourselves in Good Friday failure.... And we are met in those dark places by Jesus, God's own son....  There is, whether or not we feel it in the moment, hope."

"Easter's profound truth is simply this: that in some mysterious way that is difficult in the moment to comprehend, Jesus reverses the power of death.  Endings become beginnings.  Failures pave the way for successes.  One of the worst possible things becomes the best possible thing."

Quoting Anne LaMott: 

"I believe in resurrection because I got sober against all odds....  Life happens, death happens, and then new life happens."  

Last line:

"Easter is about love.  It is about hope.  Christ is risen.  Christ is risen indeed!  Amen and amen."

Note: The full texts of Pastor Lynn's recent sermons are available in the church lobby and probably by mail or email request as well:  office@westwoodpres.org  or 10822 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90024.