The heart of the gospel message, and the heart of the Easter proclamation is that God is fully and faithfully present to us. Beyond egg hunts and new clothes is the most startling and amazing truth.
On Easter Sunday, Christians shout: He is risen! He is risen indeed! Those word announce that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and the the world our our lives have been and can be transformed.
It is a message that cannot be silenced. It is a message that we must not take lightly. The resurrection of Jesus changes everything. This is not a message to shove down anyone’s throat, but it is a message to celebrate and embrace.
Easter shows us that God pursues us. The creating and redeeming God chases after us to make us whole and bring peace.
Easter shows us that God identifies with us. God knows us, knows we are made from dust…but we are loved dust! In Jesus, God has come to us. He knows our hopes, our needs, our joys and our failures, betrails and sufferings.
Easter reminds us of the life that he offers. Our world, our families, our cities, and each of us personally can know and live out of the shalom of God. Creation yearns for wholeness and so do we. That life is found in Easter hope.
Easter proclaims that this life is only possible because of God’s sacrificial love. We celebrate Easter Sunday only because it follows the agony of Jesus’ death on Friday. God has not abandoned us. God has come to us. We see that clearly in Jesus. His death and resurrection opens up new doors, and gives us hope.
So, shout it out–He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed. It is the proclamation of Easter hope. And then live out that Easter hope every step of the way.
Happy Easter.
Thoughts inspired by: To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World by James Davison Hunter. (a book worth reading!)
