Easter

It’s been nearly two weeks since Easter, and we should be full of the joys of Spring, for through our understanding of Resurrection, the Jesus of History and been changed to the Christ of Faith … yet for some people… Spring has not arrived (quite literally here in England !! ) and the cold winds of depression and weariness can easily fill the void in our lives, where Holy Saturday seems to loom equally large.

As Easter people, we should be living in the light of the Resurrection … living with hope filling our lives, however today’s political and economic climate can be so overpowering, that it engulfs any hope we may have experienced on that Easter morning, and our Easter euphoria may only last a short time.

It seems to me that ‘Holding on’ to what is good in our lives is the key; not to be consumed by the negativity that the culture dictates , but to recognise that our journey HAS begun … and that Jesus said it would not be an easy road that we travel upon. On the road to Emmaus , the two companions were frustrated about the political unrest in Jerusalem, and distraught about the crucifixion and death of Jesus, nevertheless they recognised Jesus , not through conversation, but in action, an action of breaking bread.

The only way that other people can recognise the risen Christ … is through our action; so we need to encourage each other, support each other, be inclusive, recognise when someone needs a shoulder to cry on, be sensitive when difficulties arise, speak about injustice and know that through our actions, other people may see the Resurrected Christ, then Christ then will become alive, and real.

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,. Teresa of Avila

The more Easter sermons I share with congregations, the more I pay attention to and am amazed by the loud voice of the women on Easter Sunday !!! They play such a central role on this great day. They stand in such stark contrast to the disciples, all who had fled, and now declare that the women’s story is an idle tale or outright nonsense.

Good news is what we hope for, we long to hear it but it often requires a leap of faith, a willingness to believe what we have not seen with our own eyes.

As Martin Luther King once said Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Good news can transform us and everything we know, but……. sometimes we are not quite ready for it.

Resurrection is seen and experienced in the quality of the lives of those who live out their faith in the Risen Lord We see it most clearly in the transformation of Peter, who went from misunderstanding the Scriptures to interpreting them through the lens of the Resurrection. We see it in Paul who had set out to put Christians to death, only to become the champion of “dying and rising with Christ.”, but the resurrection is not just for people… it is also situations and relationships, where all seems lost , then a new spark or light rays shines through and shatter doubt , fear and injustice, and replace them with strength and hope.

Such lives are evidence that Jesus has risen from the dead and is alive in the world today. By this I mean we see with new insight , we see the world through Jesus eyes, not through our own , if we accept that at Easter something happened to transform, renew, and enthuse the disciples… well I want some of that, and I expect we all do . This is the resurrection. Making a brand new start today …through the eyes of the resurrected Jesus

God has woven resurrection into our daily lives so we can learn the shape of it and perhaps learn to trust the strength of it when our own time comes.

We are “Easter people”……. when we put on brand new lives, not merely brand new clothes.

Easter Day is the key to our faith and to our hope,

It is central to everything that Jesus taught, concerning himself and the Kingdom of God

It is central to everything that the church has proclaimed, since the day that Jesus ascended into heaven.

Alleluia .. Christ has risen !!

Prayer

Loving God

we thank you today

for that which we cannot understand

but which we can appreciate, and experience.

Pour out upon us, a renewed faith in your power

and the peace that comes with hope in you