Thought for Today
Matthew 28:5 But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
Mark 16:6 But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.
Luke 24:2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body.
John 20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 . . . "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
Yesterday, I wrote, “Christians are called to always live on both sides of Easter.” That phrase caught Greta’s attention and we have discussed it since. It is not unusual for her to ask, “What in the world did what you wrote actually mean?” As I thought about that phrase and we discussed that phrase, I was led to a question, “Is Easter simply one specific Sunday?”
“Christendom refers to Christian states, Christian-majority countries or countries in which Christianity is dominant or prevails.” (Wikipedia) Christendom is an amalgamation of various ethnicities, diverse languages and very different understandings and interpretations of just about every theological idea or concept. There are few specifics upon which every Christian within Christendom agree. We worship on different days, at different times, use different Orders of Worship, have different understandings of what the elements of our services mean. We do not even agree on our liturgical holidays or the date for our holidays. For most of us in the West, Easter was last Sunday, March 31st. For the various Orthodox churches, Easter will be May 5, 2024.
Within Christendom, the only thing upon which we all do agree is that Jesus of Nazareth was and is the Son of God, the Christ. My personal belief is that our shared faith in Jesus as the Christ means we agree on about 99.9% of our faith. The remaining 0.1% constitutes the minutia of being Christian . . . although that 0.1% has divided us into a wealth of different and sometimes fractious faith traditions.
Living on both sides of Easter means that Christians continuously live with the glory of the Empty Tomb. The Empty Tomb of Easter morning is, as I wrote yesterday, God’s “AMEN!” Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox . . . or anything else, Easter is not a single calendar day. Easter is a realization of God’s affirmation of Jesus as the Christ. Easter is being every moment in the full realization and truth of “Luke 10:27 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
In seminary, we often referred to those who only occasionally worship with a family of faith as CEOs (Christmas, Easter and Occasional). Being a Christian means more than being a CEO. Being a Christian also means more than earning a gold star for attending worship with one’s family of faith each and every Sunday.
Being a Christian means living in Easter continuously. I believe Paul was correct, we are saved by the grace of God through our faith in Jesus, the Christ. As a Reformed Protestant, I often think about the Reformation and its ‘solas:’ sola fide (Latin for ‘by faith alone’); sola gratia (Latin for ‘by grace alone’); and, sola Scriptura (Latin for ‘Scripture alone’). But, those are all part of that 0.1% minutia.
I am a Christian, you are a Christian because you believe Jesus was and is the Son of God, the Promised Redeemer, the Christ. That means you must live in Easter continuously, every minute of every day. Easter is not a day. Easter is the Christian Way of life. When Paul wrote of his life before the Road to Damascus, “Acts 22:4 I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison,” Paul meant that he was persecuting Christians. Paul was persecuting people living in Easter daily. Paul was persecuting people who understood and lived in the glory of the Empty Tomb all the time. That is what being a Christian is all about.
“Christians are called to always live on both sides of Easter.” Living on both sides of Easter means we are called to live in Easter. We just need to do so!
Stay safe, live in Easter, trust God,
Pastor Ray