Easter is all about proclaiming resurrection. Proclaiming eternal life. And because of that it is the main holiday in any Christian environment. The hope of eternity is what we believe in. And the mercy shown through granting us this, is what makes God a God of Love and us love our neighbours.
Resurrection truly is something that divides the waters though. We Christians believe in it. Other religions have it as a part their dogma as well in a more or less similar way.
Yet to some belief in resurrection is straight out stupid. Marx called it populistic ‘opium to the people’. Nietzsche called it a ‘neurotic disease’.
What then is resurrection? What then is faith?
Back in 2023 we had a The Beatles Sing Along Service here in the church. It was a great Service. And I remember how we as a postlude listened to the rather special song by The Beatles called ‘Now and Then’.
It had been released just a couple of months prior to the Service – way after both John Lennon and George Harrison had passed. Yet it still contained unreleased voice and guitar from the two former band members.
The reason was that old recordings was found containing unreleased material from the two. The recordings were in such a bad condition that they prior had been useless. But with modern technology the sound was suddenly possible to restore.
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr met, did their contribution, and released the song. And back then when we played it as a Postlude, I remember calling this song – and the story behind it – on of the most tangible examples of what Easter is all about: Resurrection.
The song is not true resurrection. John did not sing in-person, nor did George play. Only Jesus has truly resurrected. Yet it is tangible and shows that we have at least a small understanding of the concept of something being everlasting.
The song, ‘Now and Then’, is not the only example of this:
When Abba reunited for their ‘Voyage’ tour back in 2022 they did so as holograms showing themselves as they looked in 1979.
This February our College and Career Group went to the Dome to celebrate the 50th anniversary for Pink Floyd’s release of their album ‘Dark Side of the Moon’.
In Denmark, the Danish writer Tove Ditlevsen is having a huge comeback these days as all her work is being reprinted catering to modern feminists.
And then of course we have all the remakes of movies. None to be mentioned, non to be forgotten.
Again, resurrection is more than a remake and the like. Or maybe one could say that a remake and the like is a human way of trying to make something everlasting. Yet only God can make something truly everlasting.
Marx and Nietzsche did not approve of God’s remake – resurrection. Would they approve of all the remakes made by human? Funnily enough I think Marx might call remakes populistic and Nietzsche might call our need for remakes neurotic. So let us leave those two behind.
What stands though is the question from before: What is resurrection? What is faith? And I add: What does it mean that God is behind the remake?
Many theologians and pastors have tirelessly tried to answer these questions. One of the best answers – or maybe explanations – is made by the Danish theologian Søren Kierkegaard.
In short, he simply calls it a paradox. He even calls it the absolute paradox. Something that he does in his book ‘Philosophical Fragments’ from 1844.
The whole book is quite intriguing as Kierkegaard in the book does not explain theology right away. He rather invents it – or remakes it – as an existential urge.
In the second chapter of the book, he determines why an almighty being would even safe some minor beings. He argues that as no arguments should be able to convince an almighty being, only reason left is pure love.
But if pure love is to exist, the almighty being and the minor being must become alike as “in love, the different are made equal.” As he argues.
The minor being could become like the almighty. But this would not work, as the minor being would not appreciate the love shown, but appreciate becoming almighty instead. Hence, there would not be truelove. The minor and the almighty would not be truly equal.
Only option is for the almighty to become minor. Something that happens in the incarnation. With Jesus Christ.
After ‘inventing’ the need of incarnation, Kierkegaard continues describing how he understands the word paradox. To him a paradox is the motivation for every reasoning as a reasoning wants to explain something that it cannot understand. And if all was understood, there would be no need of reasoning and no paradox would exist, he argues.
Many paradoxes though are solvable. Many things can be explained. Maybe all but one: The absolute paradox. Which is the paradox of faith.
A paradox works as passion for the mind, Kierkegaard argues. We are satisfied after solving something. But as the absolute paradox – faith – cannot be solved, the passion leads to offense.
This offense, Kierkegaard finally argues, can be handled in two ways:
First, we can truly take offense of the paradox resisting to accept how it is unsolvable. By doing so we tend to solve the paradox by calling faith either ‘opium’, ‘neurotic’, or something in-between.
This is not accepting the paradox for what it is though. And therefore, second, one can decide to give in to the paradox accepting that our mind cannot comprehend God. This is by Kierkegaard called faith.
To sum up: Kierkegaard’s answer to the questions: What is resurrection? What is faith? Is that it is a paradox. But not just any ordinary paradox solvable by reasoning. It is an absolute paradox that we either in faith can give in to or in offense can find neglecting ways to falsely ‘comprehend’.
I have always found Kierkegaard’s existential reinventing or remaking of faith genius as it so thoroughly points towards what the real question regarding faith is:
As you cannot solve an absolute paradox, the question to answer is not ‘what’ is resurrection, ‘what’ is faith. The real question to answer is ‘how’. ‘How’ do you react to the absolute paradox?
Here in church we react to the absolute paradox by tirelessly making remakes. Every Sunday we do so. And I am proud to somehow say that I believe in doing that the Church both makes more and better remakes than Netflix or any other streaming Service.
I hope all of us will relive Easter well this year. And let the message of easter shine yet stronger through us out into the world. It is gravely needed out there in our world, where the sadest parts of human history somehow is having a revival – a remake.
Let us counter those movement. Let us celebrate Easter.
Amen.