The imagery we used for the season of Lent, which are the Sundays leading up to Easter, where those surrounding caterpillars and cocoons as a prelude to using butterflies for Easter, which is a traditional symbol for this day of celebration. And that got me thinking about that transition from caterpillar to butterfly. First, it’s pretty amazing, because it’s not like these things really look alike. It’s not just that the caterpillar grows wings, there is a change in shape and size. Imagine if alligators turned into rhinoceroses, or cats turned into birds. We might be a little amazed at that, rather than sort of taking it for granted, like we seem to do with caterpillars turning into butterflies because that’s just what they do; we’re used to it and expect it. But perhaps we should be a little more astonished by the whole thing. But the other thing I was wondering was whether caterpillars know that’s what’s going to happen? Do caterpillars dream of butterflies? Or do they see a butterfly flying around and recognize them for who they used to be? Like, “hey, it’s Amy! I remember her when she was just a caterpillar.” Or do they just go into their chrysalis because that’s what’s encoded in what they do, not having any idea of what’s on the other side? I don’t know that we can ever know the answer to that because last I checked we haven’t been able to interview any caterpillars or butterflies, but there is something spectacular about them anyways, and of course they have obvious comparisons to the Easter story which is why they have become a symbol. New life. New beginnings. Transition and change. And all the other things that come with Jesus’ resurrection and the empty tomb and the reasons we are gathering here this day to shout our alleluias and proclaim that Christ is risen.
Three years ago for Easter Matthew was also the gospel reading for for the day, and I was planning on talking about earthquakes, and the things that happen that shake our lives and change them forever. But then we ended up being online only for Easter, speaking of things that shake up our lives, and because of that we did not get to do the baptism we had planned for that day, which we will finally do today, along with Jesse’s brother who was born in the interim. But what I ended up talking about that Easter was liminal space and times. Liminality is the in-between times in which transition is happening. That it is no longer one thing, but it’s not yet the other thing either. A good example of this is the threshold of a door. When we cross through a door there is a space there where we are no longer in one room but not yet in the other either. We are not yet outdoors, but we’re no longer indoors. We are in that in-between space, and not only was that time with COVID like that, but the gap between Good Friday and Easter is like that. The tomb is a liminal space. And even post Easter can be seen as liminal, because no one yet knew what was going to happen.
The women who went to the tomb did not go there expecting to
find it empty, even though Jesus had predicted that, and they aren’t sure
what’s happening with the earthquake and the angels in white, who appear like
lightning, which is an interesting phrase. And then even after they encounter
Jesus we are told that they run from the tomb in fear and great joy. And then,
of course, when they tell the disciples what they have seen, the disciples
don’t believe it. It’s that liminal space, it’s the chrysalis happening all
over, that in-between space as well as the disbelief or lack of imagination
that keeps people from even understanding and comprehending what is happening. So,
while we can ask if caterpillars dream of butterflies, we might also ask if the
disciples could dream of resurrection? Because everything seems to indicate
that they didn’t. It was beyond their comprehension, beyond their ability to
conceive, it was a failure of imagination, and that isn’t really all that
surprising because it happens to all of us. We get locked into our own limited
views based on what we know and trust. Take a look at this video that sort of
demonstrates that, although not with butterflies or caterpillars but instead
with flees… (Video)
Now I don’t know if that is actually true, or literally
true, and if you try to google it, it becomes self-referential back to this
video, which was originally an ad for PlayStation. But I definitely think that
it is metaphorically true, that we all limit ourselves in what we are able to accomplish,
or what we think can be accomplished either because we bumped up against the
edge of the jar at some point, or we were told that the edge was there and
never challenged it and therefore we are never even primed to try and push
beyond, to try something new, to create new realities, to be transformed or
even to see the impossible done. Afterall, if you asked a child, who knew
nothing about caterpillars and butterflies if they were related to each other,
or asked if the caterpillar could become a butterfly more than likely they are
going to say no because duh, they look nothing alike. Of course, they are not
the same thing, until they see it happen. Just as the women and the disciples
don’t actually believe in resurrection, don’t believe what they have been told
by Jesus, because they’ve never seen it before and it’s not in their realm of
possibility. And because of that they can’t imagine it and have shut themselves off from the
possibilities. They shut themselves off from being set free in Christ, or being
transformed through Christ, at least for the moment. And how often have we done
the same thing? When have we limited ourselves, or others, or situations
because we cannot imagine any way for whatever it is to be different. We get
stuck on caterpillar, or maybe even stuck in a cocoon because we cannot imagine
the beauty of the butterfly. All we can see is the limitations not the
possibilities of the situation. All we can see are tombs rather than
resurrection, which also means we are missing not just the possibilities but
the miracles of God that happen all around us.
And I know that some of you may say, “well, that’s
ridiculous because I know that miracles don’t happen.” And I think that depends
upon your definition of miracle. Each week in our staff meeting we read the
scripture passage for the coming week and then talk about it and if anything
stands out for us. And this week someone said that although they’ve heard this
passage many, many times they had never really paid attention to the statement
that the women leave the tomb with fear and great joy. And then they commented
what a strange combination of emotions that is, fear and great joy. And my
response was that I’ve always liked that reflection exactly because of the
striking contrast, but said there are situations where you can feel both of
those and the most immediate is the birth of a child. New parents at a birth
have both of those emotions, fear and great joy, and many others, all present
at exactly the same time. And for those who don’t believe that miracles happen
or that miracles are possible, then you’ve never been present at the birth of a
child, because if you’ve seen that, and held a newborn, and touched their tiny
fist then you not only know that miracles happen but you’ve seen one. You’ve
seen transformation. You’ve seen new life. You’ve seen new realities taking
shape. You’ve seen new possibilities coming to fruition and possibilities yet
to be or even yet to be imagined, and yet we know they are there. You’ve seen a
butterfly coming forth. You’ve seen part of the magic that is the promise of
Easter.
And so that leads us
back to resurrection, new birth and the baptismal font. In the early church the
only day you could join the church, which meant to be baptized, was on Easter.
It made not only the celebration of the day bigger, but it also highlighted the
importance of what happens in the waters of baptism. Too often now we think of
baptism as just something we do because that’s what you’re supposed to do, or
as that cute moment to take pictures to put in a baby album. But baptism is our
transformational moment, our resurrection moment, because in the waters of
baptism we die to our old selves and are reborn into Christ and made a new
creation. The earliest baptismal fonts we have in archaeological records
actually looked like a coffin or were in the shape of a cross in order to make
explicit this transformation. You would enter into the font on one side, dying
in the waters of baptism and being reborn on the other side. Originally you
would also put on new clothing once out of the water to represent this change
as you clothed yourself with Christ. But, it wasn’t only that we died to our
old selves and were reborn, or resurrected in Christ, given new life, but that
we put on Christ and were then welcomed into our new community, our new family
of brothers and sisters because in the waters we were also adopted as beloved
sons and daughters by God.
That’s a lot that’s happening in this moment, and so the
waters of baptismal are this liminal times, to go back to how we started. In
the waters of baptism we are in that in-between, as Jesus was in the tomb,
having died to our old selves, but not yet a new creation. But on the other
side we become like butterflies, freed in Christ and able to do God’s work in
the world empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is these waters that allow us to
carry the resurrection with us every day. It is these water that give us new
life, but we have to come to them expecting to find and experience those
things. We have to come expecting to find new life and a new creation, and then
to live that out on the other side of the water, empowered by God to see
miracles, to be transformed, to fly into the world as redeemed followers of the
one who was crucified and the one, most importantly, who was raised.
The women didn’t go to the tomb expecting to find life. They expected to find a body, and to grieve and to mourn all that they had lost. Instead they found resurrection, they found an empty tomb, they found angels saying he’s not here for he has been raised, just as he said. They found a new world. A world turned upside down from what they had known. A world in which death and pain and sorrow no longer had the final answer. They found a world in which God had the final answer because God has resurrection power and the ability to make new creations, new visions, new life. And so as baptized members of the church we carry that power with us, and when we forget it then we lose the ability to be butterflies to the world, to be transformed and transformative, to see miracles and to bring miracles about, even sometimes when that miracle is the simplest thing as bringing love to the world when we would rather not, but to seek to be Christ, the resurrected Christ to the world. Our journey as Christians begins on this morning because we are an Easter people, and it begins in these waters because it is here that transformation, new life, new creation and resurrection become our reality and our way of life. I pray that it will be so my brothers and sisters. Amen.
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