I am often asked by friends,  as if I am a theological scholar,  which day is more important… which day is to be celebrated with more vigor, Easter or Christmas?  I do not know if this is a legitimate question to ask,  or one that may be just appropriate for the “everyday” Christians- who tend to view the church calendar in that way- Easter time or Christmas time. But if we reflect on the question, we can find an answer.  Indeed a profound answer, that may even summarize what can become- a great theological statement.

We all know that, “in the beginning… God said, ‘Let there be light.’ and there was light. God saw the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day’ and the darkness he called ‘night’. And there was an evening and there was a morning- the first day.” [Genesis 1:2-5]

Since that very first day, our lives revolve around day and night.  Light and darkness.  As children, we always feared the darkness.  We would ask our mothers to leave a night light on.  We enjoyed playing with our friends and even going to school, but we learned that when the street lights came on- night and its accompanying darkness were coming.

Night and darkness have always seemed unsettling to most of us, if not down right evil.  Things become dark and uncertain. We do not see as clearly as we do “by the light of day”.  The Bible even supports this theory. Genesis refers to “dreadful darkness” and a “plague of darkness”.  Job warns us of  “gloom and utter darkness”-  a “darkness that cannot be escaped.”  Indeed there are nearly thirty references to “darkness” alone in the Book of Job.

And when the world was filled with it’s great despair- in it’s darkest night, the Christ child is born.  Christmas Day!  The beginning of  the story. 

Then we have the Easter story, which is actually an end to the story– but yet a beginning.  Christ suffers his passion. Unlike Christmas with it’s Advent- Eastertide come to us through Lent. A time of fasting and vigils. A time, that unlike Christmas, is somber.  In Easter,  Christ gives to us the gift of his Last Supper and goes with his disciples to pray- at night, in a place called Gethsemane.  So late and dark was the hour that his disciples could not even stay awake.  Christ is arrested and led to trial.  Peter waits through a dark night, but fearfully denies knowing Jesus.  Crucified, though day “a great darkness came across the land”. The world waits in darkness.  Easter morning, by the glow of the predawn light, Mary Magdalene makes her way through the garden to discover the tomb empty.  The glory of Easter morning-  and the Resurrection of the Risen Christ!

We know bad things happen at night, in darkness.  When we are uncertain.  When we are afraid.  Jesus even tells us, “People do not light a lamp and place it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on a stand,  so that it gives light to everyone that is in the house.” [Matthew 5:15]  Indeed Christ knows our fear and comforts us;  “I have come into the world as a light- so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” [John 12:46]

So this then is the promise of Easter.  Indeed the promise of Christmas.  That though we fear the darkness, the uncertainty of life- we have the promise of the Resurrection!  “The Lord is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear!” [Psalm 27:1]  Christ has fulfilled his promise of everlasting life and given to us the proof.  His Resurrection on Easter morning is what makes us Christians!  We can happily and boldly face our lives, and the unexpected bumps we will hit along the road- because we know that Christ has conquered death.  He offers to us the same, if we take up his cross and follow him!

And we can do that.  Without stumbling. Without falling. Without fear.  Because unlike those who live in darkness, we have been saved!  For Christ tells us, “Whoever follows me, will never walk in darkness! ” [John 8:12]

So the darkness is behind us. Before is the light of morning. The glorious light of Easter morning!  “For God is light, in him there is no darkness at all! ” [1 John 1:5]  Alleluia! Christ the Lord is risen today!

“Oh God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.”  [OCACNA Sacramentary (c) 2012 p.179]

While watching the news and reflecting on the election of the new Pope, I cannot help but be struck with curiosity about a picture of the newest Papal leader washing someone’s feet. At  first I thought this was a recent photograph, but it seems this occurred many years ago. So who is this new leader of the Roman Catholic Church? It seems he is a humble man whose promotion has sparked hope among many individuals and groups who did not feel they had a voice within the Catholic Church in years past

Francis, the first Jesuit pope and first non-European since the Middle Ages, decided to call himself Francis after St. Francis of Assisi, the humble friar who dedicated his life to helping the poor.  On his first day on the job, Pope Francis not only returned to the Vatican-owned residence to pick up his luggage and pay the bill himself, he thanked every worker there, each by name. The new pontiff brings a common touch. The son of middle-class Italian immigrants, he denied himself the luxuries that previous cardinals in Buenos Aires enjoyed. He lived in a simple apartment, often rode the bus to work, cooked his own meals and regularly visited the slums that ring Argentina’s capital.

As Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, he showed compassion for the victims of HIV-AIDS and in 2001, visited a hospice to kiss and wash the feet of 12 AIDS patients. In 2008, he also washed the feet of 12 recovering drug addicts at a rehabilitation center in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

It is these vivid images of humility and service which remind me of the Bible reading for today:

John 12:1-8

12:1 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 12:2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 12:3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 12:4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 12:5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 12:6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 12:7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 12:8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

The new Pope, in his humble actions as the new leader of an often troubled Church, reminds me of Mary. Though she was considered no one special, and her introduction is far less publicized than the election of Pope Francis, her role in the recognition of Jesus, as Savior, is no less crucial to our salvation.

Hear this, all you peoples;
listen, all who live in this world,
² both low and high,
rich and poor alike:
³ My mouth will speak words of wisdom;
the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.
⁴ I will turn my ear to a proverb;
with the harp I will expound my riddle:

⁵ Why should I fear when evil days come,
when wicked deceivers surround me—
⁶ those who trust in their wealth
and boast of their great riches?
⁷ No one can redeem the life of another
or give to God a ransom for them—
⁸ the ransom for a life is costly,
no payment is ever enough—
⁹ so that they should live on forever
and not see decay.
¹⁰ For all can see that the wise die,
that the foolish and the senseless also perish,
leaving their wealth to others.
¹¹ Their tombs will remain their houses^[b] forever,
their dwellings for endless generations,
though they had^[c] named lands after themselves.

¹² People, despite their wealth, do not endure;
they are like the beasts that perish.

¹³ This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,
and of their followers, who approve their sayings.^[d]
14 They are like sheep and are destined to die;
death will be their shepherd
(but the upright will prevail over them in the morning).
Their forms will decay in the grave,
far from their princely mansions.
¹⁵ But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;
he will surely take me to himself.
¹⁶ Do not be overawed when others grow rich,
when the splendor of their houses increases;
¹⁷ for they will take nothing with them when they die,
their splendor will not descend with them.
¹⁸ Though while they live they count themselves blessed—
and people praise you when you prosper—
¹⁹ they will join those who have gone before them,
who will never again see the light of life.

²⁰ People who have wealth but lack understanding   are like the beasts that perish.

In reflecting on Psalm 49, We must look within ourselves and realize that wealth won’t last: How should we think about the wealth of the wicked i.e. banks and money lenders of all types?  Should their power and prosperity cause us to worry? Yes absolutely! How should we feel when we have great abundance or lack of resources? Should these circumstances cause us to be either confident or afraid? This psalm answers these questions by reminding us that wealth won’t last. Wisdom teaches us that our financial situations are never an appropriate cause of fear or self-reliance. Let us look at Psalm 49’s clear-headed recognition that wealth won’t last.

Psalm 49:1-4 Explains that the following instructions carry wisdom for absolutely everyone—“both low and high, rich and poor alike”

(Psalm 49:2). The relevance of this psalm’s instruction about wealth is significant. It indicates that everyone needs to be taught how to view wealth wisely. “All who live in this world” (Psalm 49:1) are susceptible to temptation in this area. Money is the leading contender against faith in God!

Psalm 49:5- These passages ask, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Wealth may give us a false sense of immortality, but in the end it cannot save us from death. The ultimate futility of worldly wealth is worthless in the day of wrath. Turning our attention from this world to the next, we must realize that as a part of God’s creation, material resources such as money and wealth are good and not evil in themselves. Wealth has a limited capacity to insulate us from many of life’s dangers and difficulties. We should not despise wealth or deny its practical utility, but we must recognize how incredibly limited worldly wealth is from an eternal perspective (Psalm 49:7-9). Wealth is transient. Cars rust. Houses fall apart. Bank accounts dwindle. Sooner or later it all disappears.

For these very reasons, Jesus warns us not to store up treasures on earth, but in heaven.  Please remember “It’s not just because wealth might be lost; it’s because wealth will always be lost” Either it leaves us while we live, or we leave it when we die. No exceptions. Whether we are rich or poor, God can demand our lives of us at any moment. When that happens, the money we have will be of no use, but righteousness expressed by the right use of wealth will endure forever. (Psalm 49:16-20)  In closing when we see how our minds have been reoriented according to this “eternal perspective”, we will find wealth to be far less impressive and important.

“Mirror , Mirror on the wall, who’s the Fairest of them all?” We all remember this line from that favorite fairy tale, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Who is speaking such eloquent words? As we all know, the evil Queen, who wishes to be the fairest in the land.  As her daily habit, she consults her magic mirror, to reaffirm her beauty and charm. And being an enchanted mirror, it wisely tells her what she wants to hear. That is til someone more fair enters the kingdom, and we all know how the story ends. How many of us wish for just such a magic mirror, one which would show us at our most beautiful. Even on days when we aren’t feeling so pretty, or seem to be stressing over a perceived physical flaw that only we can see.

So what do we do? Well women put on makeup, style their hair, and wear their prettiest dress. Men, take great pains over their facial hair, to shave or not, bring out that tired suit, and of course a tie which must match. All this, serves to clothe us in an armor of acceptance, and allows us to face yet another day. We even plaster a smile on our face, while inside we are crying, dying just a little bit from the pressure of trying to fit in, to appear normal.

As described in Exodus 34:29-35, Moses did this very same thing. 34:29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. 34:30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. 34:31 But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. 34:32 Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 34:33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; 34:34 but whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 34:35 the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Why did Moses feel the need to wear a veil? Surely it was not to hide the affect our Lord had on his countinence, his face shining as if a beacon in the darkness. Maybe he felt others would judge him, that  they would be scared of the change which was clearly in evidence. I can most certainly relate to this, feeling as if others are judging my outer self. Afraid that what hides behind the veil, even if it is good, would cause others to dislike or reject me. But as Moses did, and which we all must do, take off that veil, be our true selves. Our faith will then shine, and God sees us as who we really are. There is no need to be afraid or fear rejection in His presence.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18, 4:1-2 3:16 but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 3:18 And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. 4:1 Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. 4:2 We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.

We have learned to remove our veil, our false faces we present to the world, and let the evidence of God’s love shine plainly on our faces. So let’s look in that mirror again, but this time it’s not enchanted. Just an everyday bathroom mirror, and as you stare at this person whom you have lived with all your life, how do you see her now? Is your face veiled, to hide who you really are, a daughter of Christ? Can you remove your cloth armor (the veil), step out the front door, and face the world as an authentic person? Making no excuses, being someone who loves and accepts herself, warts, tattoos, piercings, cellulite, and wrinkles included, because of that blessed shining love only a Father can give to his favorite children. Can you be YOU!?