Happy Easter!
I thought I had better update this wee page on Easter Sunday and share a word or two of hope, promise and new life with you.
Our Moderator, Rev. J. Cantwell, offered these beautiful words:
Moderator’s Easter 2018 Message: Hallelujah, Christ Is Risen!
Hallelujah, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, hallelujah!
That is our Easter refrain - full of joy and conviction. But that sure wasn’t the response of Jesus’ disciples on that first Easter morning (it was like they were looking at seeds and not seeing the potential/the possibility/the power in them). The various gospel accounts show the disciples responding with awe, fear, incomprehension, doubt, terror, and amazement.
Our response is born of hindsight. Knowing what we now know about how it all turned out, we think of Easter morning and we declare, “Hallelujah!”
But when one is in the midst of resurrection, when it is happening to you or around you right now, it’s a very different experience: full of uncertainty, anxiety, dread, and disbelief.
Resurrection is, by its very nature, unexpected and unimaginable. We cannot see it coming; we are never prepared for it. It is the revelation of new life where just moments ago there was nothing but the possibility of despair and loss.
The hallelujahs we announce at Easter are our affirmation that despite whatever hopelessness threatens to overwhelm us, we trust in the power of God’s love to bring about resurrection within our lives. We don’t know when, we don’t know how, we don’t know what it will look like, and we will certainly be confused and confounded by it if it should happen.
But today, our hallelujahs declare that we believe resurrection is possible.
And so we do not lose hope, no matter how hopeless a situation appears.
This Easter season, as you sing, shout, whisper, and proclaim “Hallelujah!” may it strengthen your faith in the power and possibility of new life for you, your church, and our world.
May we truly be a resurrection people.
When Easter blesses us (and not as a mere date on the calendar), we come to know and live God's love that came to life in Christ, and rekindled a fire in us. A fire to bless. A fire to serve. A fire to illumine the way of real and true Love.
In closing, words from Marcus Borg for the "Eastering" of our spirits this Easter seasons:
You won’t find Jesus in the land of the dead. He is still with us.
The powers killed him – but they couldn’t stop him. They crucified him and buried him in a rich man’s tomb. But imperial execution and a tomb couldn’t hold him.
He’s still loose in the world. He’s still out there, still here, still recruiting people to share his passion for the Kingdom of God – a transformed world here and now. It’s not over.
Easter is about God’s “Yes” to what we see in Jesus. Crucifixion and the tomb didn’t stop him. Easter is about saying “Yes” to the passion of Jesus. He’s still here, still recruiting. Marcus Borg
In friendship and prayer
Christine
I thought I had better update this wee page on Easter Sunday and share a word or two of hope, promise and new life with you.
Our Moderator, Rev. J. Cantwell, offered these beautiful words:
Moderator’s Easter 2018 Message: Hallelujah, Christ Is Risen!
Hallelujah, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, hallelujah!
That is our Easter refrain - full of joy and conviction. But that sure wasn’t the response of Jesus’ disciples on that first Easter morning (it was like they were looking at seeds and not seeing the potential/the possibility/the power in them). The various gospel accounts show the disciples responding with awe, fear, incomprehension, doubt, terror, and amazement.
Our response is born of hindsight. Knowing what we now know about how it all turned out, we think of Easter morning and we declare, “Hallelujah!”
But when one is in the midst of resurrection, when it is happening to you or around you right now, it’s a very different experience: full of uncertainty, anxiety, dread, and disbelief.
Resurrection is, by its very nature, unexpected and unimaginable. We cannot see it coming; we are never prepared for it. It is the revelation of new life where just moments ago there was nothing but the possibility of despair and loss.
The hallelujahs we announce at Easter are our affirmation that despite whatever hopelessness threatens to overwhelm us, we trust in the power of God’s love to bring about resurrection within our lives. We don’t know when, we don’t know how, we don’t know what it will look like, and we will certainly be confused and confounded by it if it should happen.
But today, our hallelujahs declare that we believe resurrection is possible.
And so we do not lose hope, no matter how hopeless a situation appears.
This Easter season, as you sing, shout, whisper, and proclaim “Hallelujah!” may it strengthen your faith in the power and possibility of new life for you, your church, and our world.
May we truly be a resurrection people.
When Easter blesses us (and not as a mere date on the calendar), we come to know and live God's love that came to life in Christ, and rekindled a fire in us. A fire to bless. A fire to serve. A fire to illumine the way of real and true Love.
In closing, words from Marcus Borg for the "Eastering" of our spirits this Easter seasons:
You won’t find Jesus in the land of the dead. He is still with us.
The powers killed him – but they couldn’t stop him. They crucified him and buried him in a rich man’s tomb. But imperial execution and a tomb couldn’t hold him.
He’s still loose in the world. He’s still out there, still here, still recruiting people to share his passion for the Kingdom of God – a transformed world here and now. It’s not over.
Easter is about God’s “Yes” to what we see in Jesus. Crucifixion and the tomb didn’t stop him. Easter is about saying “Yes” to the passion of Jesus. He’s still here, still recruiting. Marcus Borg
In friendship and prayer
Christine
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