Easter Sunday

Image: Sun rises over Darnley Bay, Paulatuk

Today we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we gather, together we make present the reality of that holy mystery, Jesus breaking forth from the tomb, on that Easter morning so many years ago.

When I was a pastor in the south I would begin my Easter reflections by making an analogy between the resurrection of Christ and another long winter come to an end as our hearts turn toward the promise of spring. That all seems a bit cliché when there is still 4 feet of ice on the lakes and rivers and the wind-chill is at -30 degrees.

How lucky for us that the gift of the new life of Easter is not weather related or seasonally dependent. The resurrection of Christ It is significant precisely because it is not constrained. It reveals to us that the love shown on the cross is more powerful than anything, even death. Easter is the declaration that God’s love, the love that made the world and sustains it, is more powerful than death. That’s a moment of liberation. It means death no longer enslaves us and we are called to live life to it fullness.

The glory of Easter morning is not a distant experience, it is a present one. It is one in which we are called to take part. Like Mary Magdalene encountering Jesus in the garden, we are called to be aware of the one in whose presence we stand and we are invited help others to do the same.

We do this by being a people of hope, by wearing a smile on our face and letting go of our fear and doubt about the future. We do this by offering a, “Hello” to the people we meet on the street whether we know them or not. We do this by offering some of our treasure to help good projects get off the ground. We do this by pausing on our walk to pick up a piece of garbage, a sign that we care for the creation which God has given to us. We do this by looking at the person sitting in the pew next to us and taking the chance to reach out a hand and introduce ourselves. We do this by bringing a child forward for Baptism, a sign that belief in the promises of God still abound. There are so many ways that we can help others, and help ourselves, to be aware of the risen Christ in our midst.

You are an ambassador for the risen Christ; like the woman returning from the tomb, like the disciples rushing home from their walk to Emmaus, we too are called to proclaim that Christ is alive. We know this because we have seen him with our own eyes.