503-654-1705 office@stpaulsumc.us

The End That Wasn’t

You will see him, that’s the message of Easter. You will see him, the living one, the alive one, him. And in that seeing, you’ll be able to breathe deeply again. Happy Easter.

Easter is a shout of jubilation that shakes the foundation of our presuppositions about what makes a good life. So, pull out the stops; shout from the rooftops. Let all the voices be heard. This is not a story only to be heard, but a story to be lived, to be performed.

But hearing the story is important too. Read it, proclaim it, sing it, perform it. Let it ring in our ears with awesome joy. We are stricken this day, not with fear, but the opposite of fear: with confidence, with certainty of faith. We claim the central truth of our faith, that Jesus the Christ is not dead but was raised and is alive. Our job this day is simply to embrace that promise and to live that joy. We stand in awe of the grace of God who would not leave us alone in our brokenness and sin, but provides the means for our redemption and the community who offers acceptance and healing.

While today is a day of rejoicing and celebration, it is also a call to move out. We are, above all things, followers – that’s what it means to be disciples of Jesus Christ. We follow where he leads us; we go where he sends us. We move out into the world to live our proclamation in acts of service and in hospitality. To live in awe of grace is not to be stunned into inaction, but to live each day alive with possibility and hope, with love and with peace and longing for the kin-dom of God that brings justice and community and wholeness. Happy Easter!