Easter Wonderments

In the Christian tradition, Sunday worship is a continual living reminder that the Christian community is birthed and called to be an Easter people. Every Sunday . . . . and every day in between Sundays. In our gathering, regardless of the day, we are remembering the astonishing Good News of an empty tomb, we are celebrating here on earth what we anticipate in heaven as we sit at Table and partake of Holy Communion, and we are blending our voices with those of angelic choirs as we praise God's Holy Name. As disciples of the Risen Christ, ours is the ministry of living between Sundays what we proclaim as the Truth on Sundays: Christ is Risen! In Him there is hope for the hopeless, peace for the embattled, justice for the oppressed, mercy for the struggling, food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, clothes for the naked, shelter for the homeless, care for the sick, and companions for those imprisoned. In Christ, the Christian community serves as it is served, tends as it is tended to, is gracious as grace is given, and shares as God's abundance is shared. All this because of Easter.

So, for the baptized believers in Jesus Christ, Easter isn't one day, it is every day, with each Sunday serving as our touchstone of identity and revelation in gathered community. Sunday is the 'Alleluia! And, Amen!' of God's people as, together, they affirm before God and each other that, in the empty tomb, there is no reason to fear, only every reason to live - and live faithfully, for God is doing a marvelous thing before our eyes, still. God is our reason to gather, not our obligation. God is our opportunity to love, not our requirement. God is our basis of service, not our law. God is our chance to be evangels of Good News, not our requisite.

As Easter opens the door for transformational living, in Christ God swings wide the creative imagination of the Spirit, knocking down the guards of this worlds old rulers and springing forth wonder in folded grave clothes. God is choosing to act in this manner. God is choosing to speak with such eloquence. God is choosing - to reveal to you and me . . . and we are invited to see and respond. So, tell me . . .

Do we short-change the power of Easter when we give it our attention only once a year? Do we forfeit the Gospel in claiming every other Sunday as our own personal possession? Do we ever fully receive the Gift of an empty tomb when nearly every Sunday other than Easter we are found running away from it? Are we found jumping out of the waters of the Jordan, betraying our own baptism, for the time on Sunday morning that we need to catch up on our coffee and papers? At what point does the wonder of Easter transect the ordinariness of daily life and make it new for you?

These are some of the wonderments this small town pastor has when Easter Sunday morning is most likely the only Sunday morning folks come running to worship, even if sometimes pulled by an insistent parent or grandparent. How magnificent will the 'show' have to be at the door of the tomb, how deeply will their finger have go in His wounds, how captivating must the news be, before the Good News hits home and, like Mary, we all are found on our knees, holding onto His feet, saying, "Rabbouni!" What will it take for Easter to live beyond the tomb of the annual event in most people's lives?

I am reminded of the story of the rich man and Lazarus in the Gospel according to Luke. There, in the 16th chapter, is recorded Abraham's response to the rich man's request from Hades that Lazarus be sent to his brothers that they might repent from their ways upon seeing someone from the dead. Abraham says, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." And, maybe, that is the answer to all my wonderments. Still, it does not prevent me from Easter living where I am.

So, I choose to live Easter: to celebrate Easter with my baptismal family on Sundays and to embody Easter in my discipleship in the days between Sundays. I pray for you Easter, as well. Not just for the sake of a day, but for the Good News to exist in the soul of your being. Some say you don't have to go to church every Sunday to be a Christian . . . and the way some every Sunday Christians behave, it is hard to argue . . . yet, I am a Christian because of Christ, not because of them. I choose to celebrate Easter every Sunday and to live it every day because of Him, not because of them. I choose to allow God's Good News to shape my living in Christ, not the choices others make along the way.

Easter living is not the way of the self-righteous, but the holy, humble way of the ones still striving to walk in His steps the way of this world. May His Easter Wonderment claim you always.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don