To my friends and family at Emmanuel UCC, Happy Easter! Yes, we will continue to celebrate the risen Christ the rest of this liturgical year. We have come a long way. I say this because last year we celebrated Easter Sunday remotely. Now, April 4th saw our Easter celebration face-to-face as our togetherness is Jesus’ vision for His church. As we face this new year together, these 4 words echo in my mind, taken directly from scripture “Do not be afraid!”
These might be the most important words in the telling of the resurrection story from Matthew’s Gospel, and we hear them twice. First, the two Mary’s encounter an angel, an otherworldly presence, who announces to them that Jesus is risen. He begins by saying “Do not be afraid.” I mean really, who wouldn’t be terrified by the double whammy of an angelic creature and a dead man raised. And then we hear the words spoken by Jesus to those same two women, “Do not be afraid.”
These words are for us, too. Do not be afraid for even in times like these, times when the world as we know it is changing so rapidly, God is breathing new life where no life seems possible. The Spirit is stirring us to action as connections are being made in the most unlikely places. As Easter people, we are meant to challenge those who say the end is here, for out of death comes new life. We are meant to look at all the endings as a new beginning, a way to practice our faith, as a way to practice resurrection.
In the words of poet Wendell Berry,
So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection.
I am excited to face the coming years ahead as a worshipping body united in Christ.
Shalom,
