This is an Easter we are going to remember for a couple of reasons. The
first might seem obvious with respect to the impact this pandemic has had on so many lives. There are people still suffering in hospitals, people still going to work, the pews of our churches are still empty, social distancing is still in effect...it appears like business as
usual. Where is Easter? Where is the risen Lord? These leads us to the
second reason why this Easter is going to be one to remember, albeit a less obvious one.
Is this Easter really so different from that first Easter over 2,000 years ago? For the most part, the world was “business as usual” aside from a few women who made their way to the tomb of our Lord on that Easter Sunday morning. They were the very first ones to discover that it was empty and that Jesus had risen. As word spread over the days and weeks to follow something amazing began to happen. When people received the good news they too were lifted up. The good news of the resurrection of our Lord was like yeast mixed into the dough. Ever so slowly, heart by heart, humanity was beginning to rise and become the Body of Christ, the Bread of Life.
Jesus rose from the dead into a world that was still broken...just like today. But now the world has the hope of healing and cause for joy. We can now bring the fractured things in our world and in our lives into the light of the good news that after every Good Friday experience there is an Easter…a Resurrection. How do we find Easter? Where do we find the Risen Christ? In the
present. Too often we look to the past and
bury ourselves in the tomb of shame, guilt, and regret. That doesn’t sound or feel like Easter or our Risen Lord. Too often we look ahead to the future and
bury ourselves in the tomb of anxiety, fear, and worry. That doesn’t sound or feel like Easter or our Risen Lord. Those are
tomb moments. Easter means that He has risen...now in this moment...the stone has been rolled away from the tomb! It is empty of death and despair. Instead, we find life...new life...Easter life. Jesus said: “I AM.” He is always I AM. He was I AM. He will always be I AM. The past can be for-given. The future will be-given. However, life is only found in the present. More specifically, the Life of the world, Jesus Christ our Risen Lord is only found in the
now...in
this moment. Let us recognize Him as present to us as breath for our body and yeast for our bread. In this way, not only this Easter Sunday, but every day will be an Easter to remember. Happy Easter!
Know that you are being kept in prayer during this Easter Season.