Easter Fools!
- Rev. Aaron Houghton
- Apr 1, 2018
- 5 min read
April Fool's Day—a day in which we brace ourselves to be lied to or tricked. But when this day coincides with Easter, the foolishness tends to take on a new meaning. 1 Corinthians 1:18 talks about how “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” We talked a bit about what this implies at our Bible Study on Wednesday; in a nutshell, the things that are perishing, or being lost, are the “things of old” to make way for the “new thing” that God is doing. God wants to do away with the systems of manipulative powers that exploit the most vulnerable among us. By placing himself among the “least of these,” Jesus was restoring power to the vulnerable and weak and establishing a new system ruled by an all-loving God. If people believe this Good News of God’s Kingdom…then this world is in for a pretty tremendous shift of power.
Those who currently have the most power feel like they have a lot to lose should this happen. So you see why it is that these who have become great on account of the “things of old”, would be the most likely to call this Gospel “foolish.” The chief priests and elders were able to give a large sum of hush money to the guards at the tomb because they had large sums of money to give away. They were prospering under the manipulative power system and did not want people to believe that Jesus had been risen from the dead. If people believed that, then the system which kept them in power and privilege would perish.
Walter Wink talks about the Powers in stark simplicity: “The Powers are good. The Powers are fallen. The Powers must be redeemed.”[1] But he warns us that these three statements must be held together, we cannot talk about this world as good without, at the same time, recognizing that it is fallen; and we cannot face the oppression and brutality of these fallen powers “unless we remember that they are also a part of God’s good creation…[and as such] these Powers can and must be redeemed.”[2] But, he warns, if we focus on their redemption outside of the limits of the fall, we run the risk of “utopian disillusionment,” or expecting perfection...which is simply impossible.[3]
“God at one and the same time upholds a given political or economic system, since some such system is required to support human life; condemns that system insofar as it is destructive of fully human life; and presses for its transformation into a more humane order.” Now, think about this, he says, “Conservatives stress the first, revolutionaries the second, reformers the third. The Christian is expected to hold together all three.”[4]
I bring this up, because it would seem that our Nation isn’t simply bracing itself to be lied to on April Fool’s day. We do not trust one another across party lines and we use the manipulative power tactics of this world to shame and belittle those with whom we disagree. When someone says something I don’t want to believe I can simply choose to not believe it by convincing myself that that person and their belief system is foolish. This kind of political tribalism is exactly the kind of system in which the “things of old” thrive. Our cold and compassionless culture ensures the fallen Powers that they are safe from the threat of God’s new redemptive order. Conservatives call Liberals “whiny baby libtard snowflakes”, Liberals call Conservatives “uneducated backwoods inbred hicks”…it's ugly, offensive, cruel, and yet...somehow an expected and acceptable part of life in our tribal culture. In such a tribal culture, being seen as “cool” often translates to being “cruel” towards members of the “other” tribes.It’s our way of writing off the “other” as a fool and making ourselves feel justified in not having to listen to and take them seriously.
What is troubling, however, is how often we justify this political segregation by using our faith. That’s where I find Wink’s words to be very convicting, Conservatives stress how God wants to uphold the Powers, revolutionaries stress God’s condemnation of the Powers, reformers stress how God wants to transform the Powers…but “the Christian is expected to hold together all three.” If we really are to do this, then we run the risk of being seen as foolish by those in our tribe. We run the risk of being ridiculed by those in power. We run the risk of being slandered, lied about, and publicly humiliated. But we are called to live counter-culturally by loving one another...and you know what? I think this world could use a few more fools like Jesus. Are you ready to be an Easter Fool?
Easter Fool
by Rev. Aaron Houghton
Jesus came a-teachin’ peace
To captives he proclaimed release
To the ones caught up in sin he said: “That means you, too!”
He had good news for all to hear
A message that would calm our fear
“God’s kingdom is a-coming near, so here’s what you should do:
“Act like an Easter fool.
Stop tryin’ to be so cool
God’s work ain’t over yet
Gonna build up a kingdom here, you bet
‘Love one another’ is the kingdom’s rule
So act like an Easter fool.”
Some heard those teachings as a threat
They had power and couldn’t let
Some “Nazarene” take that away by exposing all their lies.
“Let’s change the message people hear
To one that keeps them trapped in fear.
Keep them in the dark; don’t let him open up their eyes.”
So they said:
“This guy’s a raving fool.
What kind of king would ride upon a mule?
Jesus can’t be your Messiah,
He’s nothing but a stinking liar.
If you think he’s a teacher
Then I pity your schools!
You’re acting like a bunch of fools!”
The Pharisees and scribes conspired
To try to get this Rabbi fired
So they could keep what they desired: their power and their pride.
So they scoffed at what saw,
Claimed that Jesus broke the law.
But he was righteous, without flaw; his truth was hard to hide.
So they said:
“He’s breaking all our rules
He makes us look like fools
Let’s persecute this Jesus guy
The courts will sentence him to die.
The cross would be our strongest tool--
Then we’ll see who looks like a fool.”
He stood before the judge on high
While people shouted “Crucify!”
So they sentenced him to die and they sealed him in the grave.
The chief priests thought that they had won
But God had only just begun
For Christ arose to shine like sun on all he came to save.
God said, “He’s not dead, Easter fools!
Did you really think I’d be that cruel?
He’s at my side, not in a tomb,
He’s gone ahead to make your room
And if you wanna join him, there’s just one rule:
Act like an Easter fool!”
Act like an Easter fool.
Stop tryin’ to be so cool
God’s work ain’t over yet
Gonna build up a kingdom here, you bet
‘Love one another’ is the kingdom’s rule…
‘Love one another,’ that’s the only rule…
Love…yeah, that’s the golden rule
So love like an Easter fool.
Act like an Easter fool!
Words of Institution before Communion:
One night as he ate with friends
And he told them “Now it ends”
And while they wondered what he meant, he served them wine and bread.
“My body and my blood I share
So when I die you’ll be aware
Something else is happening there. Remember what I said:
“Act like an Easter fool.
Stop tryin’ to be so cool
God’s work ain’t over yet
Gonna build up a kingdom here, you bet
‘Love one another’ is the kingdom’s rule
So act like an Easter fool.”
[1] Wink, Walter. The Powers That Be. Doubleday, 1998. NY, NY. 31.
[2] Ibid. 32.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
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