Reflections on Bright Tuesday

Sunrise

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD
DFMS Noonday Prayer via Zoom
Tuesday in Easter Week, April 14, 2020

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. And may that point us to the Living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I learned recently that in the Eastern Church, today is known as Bright Tuesday. It is Bright Week actually. All the way from Easter Sunday to the first Sunday after Easter. It is a “bright” day and a “bright” week. Our lives have been illuminated with profound truths. The light of God’s love is shining brightly indeed. It is shining in our lives and in the world. Just when we need it the most.

We have an invitation to carry the truths of Easter with us, to extend our celebrations beyond a single feast day. We have an invitation to carry the reality of the resurrection, the truth of God’s promises to us throughout this week, throughout this season and beyond.

As I may have shared with you, when I pick a Lenten discipline, I prefer to pick up something to take on. A new habit that I will endeavor to continue after Easter, not just a temporary act of self-deprivation for a season. For me, that has been a far more spiritually fruitful way to do Lent. And I find myself wondering if there is not an invitation in this “Bright Week” for us to take on an Easter discipline. To allow the light of God’s love and truth to shine in our hearts and through our lives. An invitation to see how we might more fully enter into the Easter story and carry it with us for the rest of the year.

I think we could all use a little more Easter right now. I think we could all use a reminder of how God’s love can transform moments of horror and pain into stories of new life and possibility. And so I think there is a two-fold invitation for us on this Bright Tuesday.

First, it is to truly let the Easter message take up residence in our hearts and minds. This may seem particularly challenging. We are in the midst of a pandemic. Fear and anxiety are dominant emotions. For lots of reasons, we are experiencing grief and loss. This time is challenging on so many fronts. It can seem counterintuitive or just like too much to ask for us to be filled with Alleluias and joyful. But I am not talking about superficial celebration or merely trying to be cheerful and happy even when we feel sad. I am not expecting us to paper over or pretend our grief is not real. I am asking us to ground ourselves, to firmly plant our feet in the truth of Easter. We need the hope and joy of Easter to be our foundation. If we can start there then we can keep our perspective in the midst of our grief. In fact, Easter can hold the key to the beginning of our healing.

Easter is a story of transformation. It is a story of how God’s love can heal and change things. Don’t forget that the resurrected Christ still had his wounds. After Easter everything didn’t just become wonderful, easy or simple for the disciples. That is not what Easter promises us. Easter promises us that there is always hope. Even when things seem at the bleakest. Even in the darkness when we have come to care for our dead friend whose body seems to have been stolen. Even when we are sure that the suffering is more than we can handle. Even when it seems that things could not possible get any worse. Even when the fear and the pain are overwhelming. Easter promises us that is not the end of the story. Easter promises us that the dawn comes. The light comes. It promises us that in the light will shine in our hearts, in our lives and in the world. It might not always shine as soon or as bright as we would like, but that does not mean it is not there.

After we have grounded ourselves in the promises of Easter, I think the second invitation on this Bright Tuesday is to follow Mary Magdalene away from the tomb. Remember that Mary is known as the Apostle to the Apostles. Quite a title for a woman who would have been on the margins of society and regarded as someone else’s property. She is the Apostle because she was the first to see Jesus, and she was sent to proclaim the promises of Easter to the world. Just as God has done down through the centuries from Moses to Elijah to Jeremiah and Isaiah, from Miriam to Rahab to Ruth to Elizabeth, God picked the unlikely candidate to deliver God’s message. So what does that mean for us? It means it is not about us. It is not about our status or our identity. It is not about what we have or what we don’t have. It is about God. About God’s message. About God’s love. All of us are qualified to share God’s love with the world. All of us. We only need to keep ourselves grounded in the amazing truth of Easter, of the reality of resurrection. If we are connected to the transforming power of God’s love, then it will be evident to everyone we meet.

The world needs that love. It needs that love in abundance. Take note of all the ways it is manifest in your life at this present moment. Through the support of a friend. In the flowers and trees blooming forth. In the myriad of ways we are able to stay connected and build relationships even at a distance. In all the acts of kindness and generosity that are happening each and everyday in our communities. May we be inspired and go forth, like Mary Magdalene, and share the glorious truth of Easter with the world. AMEN.