As It Began To Dawn

April 6, 1958
Akron

The story of the women in the garden is one of the most hauntingly lovely of all to be found in religious imagery and mythology. Somehow the words communicate to us something of the sweetness of early flowers, something of the thrilling smell of new life bursting through wintered crusts.

As it began to dawn the blackness of night was overwhelmed by our brother, the sun. But there had been more than the blackness of night. There had been desperation of the spirit, far more shadowed than kindly, unfolding darkness of the evening.

The disciples had not stood firm in the disaster. Judas had sold out. Peter had shown the white feather. The rest of the disciples had scattered into the safety of the nameless, faceless mob. There, perhaps, the disciples had to endure the abject humiliation of hearing the cry, "crucify him," while their fright kept them quiet, even though there might have been a frantic wish to shout "hosanna" again, but they had failed.

They had held back in terror, while an unknown man, perhaps his name was Simon,had helped carry the cross. Some traditions hold that Simon was a Negro.

The Messiah had not been able to save himself. There had been no miraculous heavenly rescue. The suffering prophet from Nazareth encountered painful death as women wept and soldiers gambled. Jesus, like all others met death, - "the most absolute, the most irrevocable, the most majestic, and the most unknown of all experiences of life."

If you believe the orthodox Christian theology, your faith is that this man was God and that he rose from the dead. Furthermore, you believe that this rising from the dead was the climax and the proof of the fore-ordained Christian scheme of salvation.

Many of the religions of the ancient Asiatic and Mediterranean worlds have claimed that their savior was killed and then resurrected from his burying place. Most of these religions have long since been but historic and religious memories. Christianity with an almost identical faith in a dying-rising savior God still survived.

But for me, Easter has more profound levels of meaning than the "old story of salvation." Jesus has radiated a brighter light down through the centuries than the forgotten saviors of other faiths, not alone because of ecclesiastical, political, and cultural reasons which combined to make the historic Christian church the most remarkable institution of Western culture, but due also to the vitality of the free spirit of Jesus which has survived all attempts to smother the fertile core of his moral leadership in harsh or over-emotionalized supernaturalism. The Jewish disciples buried the real Jesus after the crucifixion, and later, devout Christian followers resurrected a Savior God.

But Easter has other, and for me, more profound levels of meaning than the old story of salvation.
The Jewish Passover added precious dimensions of human freedom, and the dignity of persons to the ancient rites of Spring. In a similar way, the Christian Easter has constructed a more significant value system around the beliefs ancient people cherished about dying savior gods.
It began to dawn on people that no power can restrain a great influence, - not even death. The spirit of Jesus was triumphant over the grave. It began to dawn on people that the cross was not final. "It was not an accident, but the law of human progress." (Reuschenbush).

Alfred North Whitehead once commented, "I hazard the prophecy that that religion will conquer which can render clear to the popular understanding some eternal greatness in the passage of temporal fact."

The disciples gathered new courage when it dawned on them that the cross was not the end, but the beginning. Suppose the voice of Jesus had been silenced, they could testify by word and deed to the redemptive power of a religion that knew no boundaries of nationality, race, or clan. Even though the hand of Jesus would move no more in healing or benediction, the disciples would work, could help, could be a redeeming influence.

As these realities began to dawn, the cowards found courage. Before long some of the enemies became friends and supporters. Paul is the superb illustration of one who found that hate could be removed from his life by the "expulsive power of a new affection," love.

As it began to dawn, just a handful of men and women began a task of telling people everywhere what Jesus meant to them. They withstood torture, scandal, and privation. They lost public approval as they spoke with conviction and emotion about what the teachings of Jesus could mean to a world in danger of going astray.

We have never yet grown big enough in spirit to adopt the teachings of Jesus as a way of living. The way of love, forgiveness, of not judging others has always seemed to us to be too "idealistic", and not "practical".

So instead of following Jesus in living faithfully by certain standards of conduct, during Christian centuries people have more often spent their time arguing whether Jesus was God, a member of the Trinity, a man, a demi-god, or whatever. Harry Adams Hersey used to tell the parable about this sort of debate. A group of people were in a valley surrounded by seemingly impassable mountains and cliffs. If they stayed in the valley it seemed certain they would perish. Then someone noticed a man standing halfway up on a ledge on one of the cliffs. Soon they realized that he was pointing a way out for them which would save them from the destructive influence of the unhealthy valley, would save them from themselves. Instead of following the way out of their difficulty, they began a long and bitter debate about whether the man on the cliff had come down from the top or up from the bottom.

Easter is a triumph of the human spirit over tragic defeat. But it is nothing short of immoral fantasy to believe that Easter celebrations are going to save the world. Survival depends on the intelligent enactment of the principle of the oneness of the human family. We see a world in fear of atomic destruction; a world that may now be a victim of disease caused by the unhealthy influence of the radio-active products of bomb-testing; a world that because it refuses to accept the simple facts of life about the brotherhood of man, is in danger of tearing itself to pieces.

The notorious Polly Adler once said bitterly, "When society doesn't understand a problem, it conveniently forgets all it preaches about the brotherhood of man." The world is always tempted to sacrifice morality for power; the kingdoms of this world are faced continually with the choice of mastering materials or being enslaved by them; the people of this world are always exposed to the glittering seductive lie that immoral means can produce moral results.

Max Lerner called attention to the American myth of John Henry. John Henry, the giant hero is a man of unsurpassed strength. His achievements parallel the tales of Paul Bunyan. Yet John Henry broke his heart when he tried to compete with the monstrous strength
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The disciples discovered that death could not hold the spirit of Jesus. The doors of the tomb were broken as his teachings became clearer to them. Although they experienced terror, cowardice, guilt, these devastating experiences proved to be a purifying crucible out of which came new courage and new affection.

It began to dawn on them, as it will dawn on our world some day, that one death for a great cause, is of infinitely higher value than the many, dingy, [remaining section cut out]