Many years ago, there was a book by Wendy Kaminer with the strange title, I’m Dysfunctional, You’re Dysfunctional, which took a look at the national obsession with the “cult of victimization.”

In an interview Ms. Kaminer said, “There is something very mean-spirited about this cult of victimization. For all the talk about caring and sharing, it is an excuse for people not to have any compassion. The payoff of claiming that you are a victim is that you always get to put your problems first. Primarily, this self-help movement is a movement of the middle class, and it reflects what is called compassion fatigue. It’s middle-class people saying, ‘I’m tired of hearing about those poor children in poverty…about the problem of minorities in this country. I have problems, too. My father wasn’t nice to me.’ It is as if people are saying, ‘Me too, me too.’ Everyone is vying for the crown of thorns.”

An article I read continues, “If we are faithful to Christ’s call to discipleship, we are to put aside our own sense of victimization for the sake of others. In letting go of ourselves, in putting ourselves at the service of others, in seeking justice and peace and healing for them, we can bring the resurrection into both our lives and theirs.”

From Palm Sunday until today, we have walked together through the most eventful week in Jesus Christ’s life. We saw his resolve to enter Jerusalem on a donkey, even though he knew the authorities there were opposed to him. We saw him in teaching mode, washing the feet of his disciples, showing them the path of humility and service. We witnessed the cruelty he endured, including the crown of thorns, placed on his head in mockery and scorn. And now we come to the heart of it all. Jesus dared to trust in God, even when the Father seemed to be silent. Most of Jesus’ followers ran and hid, for they feared that their fate would be the same as his. Jesus was showing his unlimited love for them, and they wanted only to save their skins. How sad it would have been if it had all ended there.

And how sad for us if that is all we carry in our hearts today. If all we experience in life is fear, doubt, depression, defeatism, and a preoccupation with self. Resurrection is meant to turn the tables, upend our lives, change our outlook, bring us to a new understanding of what matters. If Jesus Christ is risen, and we are focused only on all that is wrong with our lives and our world, he might as well have stayed in the tomb.

Resurrection, if it is real for us, means that we cannot stay in our tombs, worrying about what is wrong with us and our world. Resurrection is all about what is right, good, true, beautiful, and promising. If Resurrection is real, our final destination cannot, must not, be the gloom of the tomb. Our world has many problems, that is true. Our neighbors are struggling. Food and gas prices are too high. The direction our country is going, in in so many ways, is full of hate. Evil and cruelty can appear to be winning.

But Resurrection is an explosion of hope, an infinite burst of love, a promise that God is in charge. Easter says: Stop moping! Stop despairing! In the words of my favorite Psalm, Psalm 37:

                   Do not fret because of the wicked;

                   do not envy those who do evil:

                   for they wither quickly like grass

                   and fade like the green of the fields.

                   If you trust in the Lord and do good,

                   then you will live in the land and be

                             secure.

                   If you find your delight in the Lord,

                   he will grant your heart’s desire….

                   Be still before the Lord and wait in     

                             patience;

                   do not fret at the man who prospers;

                   a man who makes evil plots

                   to bring down the needy and the poor.

Do not fret. Jesus has left the tomb. It’s time to come out of ours. Empowered by resurrection faith, we can join together with the Lord and help make God’s dream for our world a reality. But we can only do it if we leave the tomb of doubt, dread and despair. We can do it, if we dare to trust.