Olive Crest United Methodist Church
7180 North 60th Street
Omaha, Nebraska 68152

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Rev. Debra Tompsett-Welch

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Olive Branch Newsletter For April 2001

FINDING EASTER IN MY NEIGHBOR

By Rev. Michael Lee Burgess

Holy Week is here! Am I ready to do healing work? Am I ready for Easter? Or to say it another way, am I ready for freedom?

Easter is about new life, conquering death, being freed from fear and tiny narrow boxes. When God renewed Jesus' gift of life, more was changed than just breathing. The fear and boxes we build around our life that say "you're not good (smart, fast etc.) enough" or "you're too stupid (fat, thin, short, etc. insert word) to do that", were also broken. All the bad thought habits and emotional boundaries that keep me scared and hiding are now fragile, ready to be broken. New life in Christ means new possibilities in this present, living time, not just in the life to come. We celebrate Easter not just for our future life, but our present time as well. This is hard to say, so let be give you an example.

See the nine dots? Using only four straight lines, connect all of the dots without lifting up your pencil or retracing any line. (pause for frustration) Having trouble? The secret is "thinking outside the box". I never said you had to stay inside the square. If you extend lines past the dots you can do it. As long as you saw the edges of the square as walls you were trapped. Jesus came to reveal the will of God for us, and that will is that God desires us to have life and have it abundantly. But our mental boxes rob us of that abundance. When we got hurt growing up, we made boxes that said, "don't try anything like that, it will hurt." Some of those boxes were mistakes because we were too young to understand, especially the ones that say unloving things to ourselves and keep us from reaching out in love to the world.

When God conquered death through Jesus, God showed us that our fears, our "little deaths" that keep us from love and true life can also be conquered. And not just by the "great" people of the past, but ordinary people like you and me. This gift of life that God pours out is for all of us in our everyday life. But we have to receive the gift of Easter in both the big and little ways. This process takes focus and effort. Sometimes we call it sanctification or becoming more like Christ, but all that means is focusing your life on living in harmony with God. We know people who have done that, our great saints of the faith. But sometimes we let our thinking get boxed again and we don't look anywhere else for this Christ likeness and we don't see what God is doing in the lives of people all around us. Oprah did an interview with Nelson Mandela in the April 2001 issue of the Oprah magazine. Listen in and see if you can see how Easter invaded his life and changed him, even if he did not know it at the time:

Mandela: Before I went to jail, I was active in politics as a member of South Africa's leading organization - and I was generally busy from 7 A.M. until midnight. I never had time to sit and think. As I worked, physical and mental fatigue set in and I was unable to operate at maximum of my intellectual ability. But in a single cell in prison, I had time to think. I had a clear view of my past and present, and I found that my past left much to be desired, both in regard to my relations with other humans and in developing personal worth. When I reached Johannesburg in the 1940's, I was neglected by my family because I had disappointed them - I'd run away from being forced into an arranged marriage, which was a big blow to them. In Johannesburg, many people were kind to me - but when I finished my studies and qualified as a lawyer, I got busy with politics and never thought of them. It was only when I was in jail that I wondered, What happened to so-and-so? Why didn't I go back and say thank you? I had become very small and had not behaved like a human who appreciates hospitality and support. I decided that if I ever got out of prison, I would make it up to those people or to their children and grandchildren. That is how I was able to change my life - by knowing that if somebody does something good for you, you have to respond.... And that is what I am doing now - responding. There is nothing I fear more than waking up without a program that will help me bring a little happiness to those with no resources, those who are poor, illiterate, and ridden with terminal disease. If there is anything that will one day kill me, it will be the inability to help them. If I can spend a tiny part of my life making them happy, I'll be happy....

Oprah: During the day, when you were forced to do hard labor in the lime quarries, you also had the chance to talk with your colleagues. But when I visited the prison I was told that at 4 P.M. each day, the cell doors were closed and you weren't allowed to speak.

Mandela: That's true, but we challenged that rule. The officers who were senior to the wardens treated them like vermin, but because we treated the wardens with respect, they helped us. Once the cells were locked and the senior officers went away, the wardens allowed us to do anything except open the cell doors, because they didn't have keys. They let us speak to those in the cells opposite us. As a result of the way we treated the wardens, they tended to become good people.

Oprah: Do you believe people are good at their core?

Mandela: There is no doubt whatsoever, provided you are able to arouse the goodness inherent in every human. Those of us in the fight against apartheid changed many people who hated us because they discovered that we respected them.

Oprah: How can your respect people who oppress you?

Mandela: You must understand that individuals get caught up in the policy of their country. In prison, for instance, a warden or officer is not promoted if he doesn't follow the policy of the government - though he himself does not believe in that policy.

Oprah: So you can change someone who is only carrying out a policy, since that person himself isn't the policy.

Mandela: Absolutely. When I went to jail, I was a trained lawyer. And when the wardens received letters of demand or summonses, they didn't have the resources to go to an attorney to help them. I would help them settle their cases, so they became attached to me and the other prisoners.

Do you remember Jesus saying, "Love those who hate you" and "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God"? Easter has invaded the world and God is constantly at work to bring about the victory of life and love over hate and death. Look around you. If you look hard enough you can find it everywhere, working in small, unnoticed ways in the midst of all that is wrong to bring healing to creation. Easter is real and in our world today. Look for it and share it with each other and with me. We need to share in the victories and encourage each other in our work.

May the God who brought life to our brother Jesus, bring life to you also, and may you have a blessed Easter filled with joy.

Your brother-in-Christ, Reverend Michael Lee Burgess

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