It’s Easter. It’s time to “pull out all the stops.” a saying that comes from the pipe organ world. At all the organs I used to tune or work on or hold keys for a tuner, I could not resist pulling out all the stops that controlled which pipes could play and playing the first little bit of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, you know that scary sounding organ thing that you hear when Dracula, the Phantom or somebody shows up. Aside from another beginning to a Bach tune, it’s the only thing I can sort of play on an organ and I learned it because it was loud and sounded cool. I guess I just don’t relate to the formality of the pipe organ. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an awesome instrument, but I’ve seen it naked, so to speak. I’ve worked with its humble components: tin, lead, brass, copper, cow leather, sleep leather, horse hide glue (it smells as bad as it sounds and don’t get it in your mouth), the same goes for the dust that come from sanding cow bone, ivory or plastic. There are different types and grains of wood, shellac, varnish, stain, lacquer and metal powders. Add the components together with some knowhow and you get the “King of Instruments”. Each of those components has its own sort of personality or little world. They all came with their own nuances, beauties, frustrations, dangers and need to knows, but looking back they are like old friends who truthfully share the same characteristics with actual friends. I’ve seen reviews on organs and those are really formal. Lot’s of lofty and astute words about tonality, harmonic richness, powerful reeds and beautifully engineered diapasons. You get those things from training and sitting at the bench or in an audience and hearing. I’m not so sure though, that the sound is the sum total of the artistry of the instrument. We could say, Oh yeah, you can’t forget about the casework, It’s a beautiful instrument. Even then, for me there’s a lot missing. You want to get to know an organ? Crawl in and see the stuff no one gets to see. Crawl through the dirt and dust. You’ll see the mess ups, cover-ups and workarounds and even then you won’t know that when that board was still rough cut lumber it was really big and heavy and I dropped it and it hit the top of my kneecap and I thought I was going to die, or that’s where I was using the air nailer and the nail hit a dense spot, curved and went through my finger, or where I misread the blueprint and had to do it over. I remember one of the first pipe organs that I crawled into. It was old and very dusty. It’s saying a lot when I tell you that I think that this was probably the dirtiest organ I ever went into. I’m laying under there on the top of an organ component called a regulator. It’s a box with an expanding top that regulates the pressure of the air or “wind”. At that point I knew nothing about organs. It was dark and it felt like I was laying on a rock. I got a flashlight and examined my situation more carefully. I was laying on a tombstone. I just didn’t know what to think about that. Time to ask the boss, because I had some grave concerns. I learned that regulators either need calibrated springs attached to the top or a certain amount of weight on top to achieve the right pressure. He explained to me that in the old days the organ guys would go into the graveyard and kick over a tombstone or two and use them on the regulators. At that point, this was a summer job. What kind of industry had I associated myself with? And not only was I laying on a tombstone, but I was laying on a vandalized and stolen one. No one would ever really know. A secret hidden in an unfindable place there on a regulator, under a windchest, in a dark organ chamber where only one person would go maybe once or twice a year and even they wouldn’t be under there, but I crawled inside. I crawled in and was covered by the dirt and grime and gained not an astute, formal appreciation of the King of Instruments but an intimate one, one that appreciated the individual parts that no one would see or hear, a knowledge of what it took to create them and place them there, my frustration when they wouldn’t work right, and how important they were. Being there I experienced by seeing, smelling, hearing, touching and unfortunately sometimes tasting. My discussions are not astute, sure I can tell you and spot a few things about tonality, but I’ve spent a lot of time becoming acquainted with what’s inside, good and bad, and I speak much more casually of what’s behind the facade. That right there, that to me is the foundation of the Good news in the Gospel today. It centers around knowing,and being known through and through, a relationship and getting beyond formality. This understanding came from a discussion and a lot of fun over a single Greek word that actually wouldn’t have been Greek when Jesus said it. We hear of this massive spectacle, a huge earthquake, stones rolling, an angel with the appearance of lightning. OK you have my attention. Big time. The angel speaks and is very formal in delivery, and I joked about it sounding like the answering message at a business where I was going to have to press 2 to get to the right department. Mary and Mary are scared and excited and they’re running to share the news. That’s when Jesus shows up. We’ve had a massive build up and we are waiting for him to speak and the text says, “Greetings!”. Wow, what a let down, or is it. What we don’t see here is that the word that was chosen is a very casual informal greeting. We played around with that for awhile. What’s that like? Boom, there’s Jesus! Hey ya’ll or Hi! Or my personal favorite where we envisioned a little more dialog, ‘Sup! (seeing the resurrected Jesus) obviously you are! Aaah, I get it! I love you guys. Hey, no need to be afraid, go tell everybody. How disarming is that? Beaten, berated, betrayed, mocked, tortured, crucified, thunder, lightning, angel, message. He tells them to not be afraid. I’m not so sure that it’s just because he was dead and now he’s walking around. Think about what all the horror movies tell us. Person mistreated and killed- always comes back for vengeance, especially on betrayers or those that abandon them. But instead Jesus goes with “Hi!” or ‘Sup?. Easter is not about formality and everything sounding and looking just so. The resurrection is about not giving up. All through the Old Testament people continually mess up, some flagrantly in broad daylight and others with stolen tombstones hidden away in the darkness. God ceaselessly forgives and here in the death of Jesus we see all those things done directly to God made flesh and ‘Sup! Not givin’ up! Jesus displays boundless love and expresses humility. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. People may act aggressively towards those who are humble because they perceive them as weak or vulnerable. Humility is often associated with traits such as modesty, meekness, and selflessness, which can be viewed as signs of inferiority. In contrast, aggression is seen as a sign of strength and dominance. Some people may feel threatened by the humility of others because it challenges their own sense of self-importance. They may feel that the humble person is not giving them the respect or recognition that they feel they deserve, and respond with aggression in an attempt to reassert their dominance. Isn’t that pretty much the Garden of Eden story, a tale as old as time so to speak. Aggression and selfishness brought death and sealed the tomb and the God that refuses to give up on us breaks the tomb open and brings life. They were out there at Sunrise, just like we are. Christ is risen and so are we, no longer in bondage to sin and death. Sunrise brings a new day, it doesn’t have to be like yesterday. That tombstone that’s hidden in us that we expected no one to ever see, Jesus has shined the light on it and forgives. The dust, grime and dirt are washed away. Jesus says, “‘Sup! Me! Get it?” and calls us forward to life and light. It says in 2nd Corinthians, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. So will people see us living in the resurrection? What does that look like? The prophet Micah clues us in. He said, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? There is life in loving one another and seeking blessings and benefits for all. It’s Easter! Let’s pull all the stops, but they aren’t labeled pageantry and formality. They are labeled love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, grace, faith, mercy, justice, and forgiveness. It’s truly the king of instruments and is built by the master builder, the composer of life, who knows all of its humble components and rejoices in its wholeness, seen and unseen, mighty and humble, big and small, all the uniqueness and all the differences. So, are you ready for the music? Are you ready for the world to hear it? I’m not sure how loud it is but I assure you, it’s guaranteed to raise the dead!.
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