Easter People
We are Easter people. We are defined by the resurrection. What God has accomplished by raising Jesus Christ from the dead is the core of our identity. We have died with Christ and have been raised with him to new life. We are born again. We are made new.
Years ago, a colleague explained his philosophy for preaching: “If I preach a sermon and the congregation is not clear on why Jesus needed to die in order for that sermon to be true, I have not been faithful to the Gospel.” He insisted that every sermon, as a proclamation of the Christian faith, must be centered on the cross of Christ. I suspect that I have a more expansive understanding of what it means to proclaim the Gospel than he does, and I would insist on adding a reference to the empty tomb to any philosophy for preaching, but his point is instructive. As Christians, everything we do must be informed by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
During his lifetime, Jesus told his followers that they must take up their own cross and give up their own life in order to be his disciples. He showed them that even the most basic relationships that had always defined them—parents, siblings, children—would be supplanted by the relationship with God that he was establishing on their behalf. “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Jesus asked rhetorically when told that members of his family were waiting for him outside. “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Being a Christian means being a child of the resurrection. It means having our whole selves transformed by the reality that God raised Jesus from the dead. It does not mean going to church. It does not mean reading the Bible. It does not mean living by the Golden Rule. It does not mean helping people less fortunate than ourselves. None of those things makes us Christians. They are all hallmarks of the Christian life, but doing them—even trying our best to do them—is not what it means to be a Christian. We are Christians because we have given our whole selves over to the one who has defeated sin and death in the resurrection. By giving our lives to God, by following the risen Christ, by seeking the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we are shaped into people who do all of those things in Jesus’ name.
As Easter people, our belief in the resurrection is more than yielding our collective assent to a particular proposition. We not only believe with our minds that, despite all the logic and evidence that point to its impossibility, the tomb is empty. We believe with our hearts and wills and voices and budgets and careers and relationships and hopes and dreams that God has triumphed over evil in order to set us free from sin and death. Because of Christ, evil has no power over us. Because of Easter, we are made new. Our faith, therefore, is more than a mindset. It is a complete and total confidence that God’s love has won. Easter fills our very being until we are consumed by it—until all the dross is burnished away and what is left is our new selves, wholly and unequivocally belonging to God.
We are Easter people. With God’s help, we live our lives in the light and love of the resurrection. We are a church that cares more about helping those in need than caring for ourselves. We are intentional about welcoming all people to our table because we know the table is not ours but God’s. We give up our lives for the sake of sharing God’s love with the world. All of those things are true because we have died with Christ and have been reborn with Christ. As Christians, everything we are is a fruit of the resurrection. For us, Easter is not only a celebration of Jesus being raised to new life. It is our celebration of God raising us to new life as well.
Yours Faithfully,
Evan
Triduum Schedule & Reservation Links
MAUNDY THURSDAY
Maundy Thursday
April 1, 2021
7:00 p.m.
Eucharist & Stripping of Altar in Church
GOOD FRIDAY
Good Friday
April 2, 2021
12:00 p.m.
Good Friday Liturgy in Church
7:00 p.m.
Virtual Choral Performance - Stabat Mater
All Day
Church open all day for people to walk Stations of the Cross
No Reservation Needed
