Coronavirus Easter Sermon

Today is Easter Sunday. It falls in the midst of a Coronavirus crisis where death is virtually everywhere. In developed countries, death is often hidden from plain sight. Yet, during this crisis, death is not so subtle. It is sometimes in prominent display, like in a body bag moved from a hospital into a truck.

Easter Sunday is a good occasion to talk about death. But the deep spiritual message is death AND rebirth. The order of these two ideas is curious. First, death. Then, life. It is a complete reversal of our common understanding, which is that first we live, then we die. The spiritual understanding is therefore counter-intuitive.

In Zen teachings, there is this saying, “First die the big death. Then, live in the present.” It parallels the story of Jesus in the gospels — first he died, then he was resurrected. There is also a Chinese idiom which says “finding life in the midst of a hopeless situation.”

There is a Zen story which is about a traveling man who is chased by a tiger. He runs and runs until he comes to a cliff and cannot go further. He sees some wild vine hanging down the cliff which may provide a means for escape. Holding on the vine, the man climbs down the edge of the cliff. As he looks down, he can see another tiger waiting for him at the bottom. In the meantime, there are two mice, one black and one white chewing at the vine…