Still Easter!

Easter isn’t over! Rather, it is a reality that we remember every year (and potentially every day). So, I ask you these two key questions: 1. If Christ is risen from the dead, and we know he is, why are we still living like it hasn’t happened? And 2. What changes in our lives do we need to make in order to experience the Easter reality? I know those are hard hitting questions; yet, if we do not wrestle with them, then what are we doing?

​

Let me continue with where I started: Easter isn’t over!

​

In the liturgical year (Advent-Christ the King Sunday), Easter is a season, just like Christmas! The Easter morning started the new experience of God’s work in the world having destroyed, or as Paul puts it: “In fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. Because since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; because as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end/rest, when he hands over the kingdom of God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. Because he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:20-26). We heard Paul’s words read on Easter morning, and yet what they describe is not a singular event; rather, a new reality! Why? Because “in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (vs20a). And because Christ has been raised, death is no more; and therefore, all enemies are defeated already, and we live now (right here, right now) into that reality!

​

We live because Christ lives! Do you notice the present tense? Christ lives! So, to ask the question of the angel at the empty tomb, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5b). If Christ is risen from the dead, and we know he has, then why are we living like nothing has changed? Or as my second question from the beginning puts it clearly: What changes in our lives do we need to make in order to experience the Easter reality? God has already been changing the world around us. Don’t you think we need to change with it? To quote singer/songwriter Dave Matthews from his Live at Radio City concert/album of 2007, “You gotta try something new every once in a while.” What changes do we need to make in our individual lives to proclaim that Christ lives, and so do we? Could we become more involved in activism? Could we engage others in mentoring? Or perhaps being a caring presence for those who just need someone in times? Or could we invite neighbors over for a meal and games to help alleviate some of the stress they have in their daily lives? Could you challenge yourself to try something completely new? Learn guitar, a new language, painting, or poetry? The possibilities are almost endless, why? Because Christ has been raised from the dead!

​

But this is not just personal! We need to consider this as a community too! Because the community of disciples, pilgrims to Jerusalem at Pentecost, and the whole world experience the good news that changes everything: the tomb is empty! What can we as a community do differently to experience the Easter reality? There are things you all are doing already like our food pantry, the Angel Tree at Christmas, and sharing our lives with one another. Yet, what new thing could we do? As we heard last Sunday, our food pantry started out as just that: something new. So what about now? What new things can we do? Or probably the better question is: What new thing can we become because “in fact Christ has been raised from the dead”?!?

​

Which brings me to the first question:  If Christ is risen from the dead, and we know he is, why are we still living like it hasn’t happened? Christ is raised from the dead, the tomb is empty, and the last enemy (for us) to be destroyed is death. So why are we still living like it hasn’t happened. Do we need to look into the empty tomb ourselves to believe/have faith/lean into God’s work? Do we stop striving for justice and peace in the world in order to participate with God’s bringing about the kingdom here? Do we remain silent when we hear cries, groans, and wails of a weary world? OR, do we do what is right because that is what our Lord and Savior did? Christ took care of others (mostly the poor, the sick, and the outcast); shouldn’t we? Christ taught us what a way of treating others/all as bearing the image of God was like; so, shouldn’t we? And Christ proclaimed to the criminal next to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise,” to a man who admitted that he thought this was the end; yet hoped that there might be another opportunity at a better life. Perhaps we need to consider what this would be like for others and even ourselves!

​

It’s still Easter! We don’t need to have egg hunts every day like it’s an Easter version of the movie Groundhog’s Day. Yet, God invites each of us, all of us, and even more who are not here to live into the Easter reality! Let us remember that “in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead,” and try some of the new life we have in the risen Christ!