When we sing, Christ the Lord is Risen today, we join thousands of joyous voices and celebrating hearts across time and space who plainly agree that even death’s strong bands could not hold the beloved Son of God. In the days before Jesus, a terrible fear of death gripped those who considered death a powerful force to be contended with and conquered.
The common notion was that in a state of death, one was not with God. So, in order to be with God, the state of death needed to be overcome, negated, by a resurrection, not of the spirit, but of the body. Martin Luther wrote these words in his resurrection hymn (#319 in our hymnal): Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands, for our offenses given; it was a strange and dreadful strife when life and death contended; the victory remained with life; the reign of death ended. Stripped of power, no more it reigns an empty form alone remains; death’s sting is lost forever.
On Easter Sunday, all over the world people celebrate new birth and re-birth gifting chocolate bunnies carrying baskets filled with colorful eggs, which have come to symbolize the inviting pastel picture of spring. But how many of us truly embrace Resurrection Sunday? Like Santa hoards Christmas, the Bunny hoards the resurrection day and God takes a back seat.
Maybe it is because it is easy for most of us to fathom and embrace the birth of a new baby; we see it all the time but embracing the idea of a physical re-birth beyond death is a gigantic leap. I propose that we go back to the beginning and re-think the process. The baby, who we pray will emerge in nine months perfect and complete, evolves from the successful uniting of two cells that proliferate. Is not Jesus’ resurrection the successful re-uniting of his spirit with God’s? The same Spirit that breathed life into his infant being, breathes life once again and releases him up from death’s strong bands.
Jesus made it clear to us that it is not folly to choose him, for in so doing we choose life. When we humble ourselves to confess our faith in Jesus Christ, we become aware of a greater sense of purpose in this life. But let us never forget to embrace the bonus gift, that of eternal life in Christ. This is not foolishness, it is grace!
Your “Easter” offering this year will bring additional support to our worship team’s budget and our music program.
Make the leap and live,
Rev. Amanda
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