easter people
Most of us are aware that the 40 day period prior to Easter is called Lent. But once Easter has arrived we enter a new season. In the Christian calendar the “Season of Easter” extends for seven weeks (50 days counting Easter day) until Pentecost Sunday. During this “Season of Easter” we are called to be particularly mindful of Jesus’ resurrection and to live as “Easter people.”
N. T. Wright is a world renowned biblical scholar and lecturer from England. He recently was in our area and spoke several times in Harrisonburg. I attended several of those lectures and bought a couple of his books. He has written more than forty books, many of them Bible commentaries. In one book, Surprised By Hope, Wright makes this statement:
“So how can we learn to live as wide-awake people, Easter people? In particular if Lent is a time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up. If Calvary means putting to death things in your life that need killing off so you can flourish as a Christian and as a truly human being, then Easter should mean planting, watering, and training up things in your life (personal and corporate) that ought to be blossoming, filling the garden with color and perfume and in due course bearing fruit. Jesus’ resurrection is the beginning of God’s new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven.”
We should be aware that as followers of Jesus we are indeed called to be “Easter people,” living in the power of the resurrection. Even as we try to do so we realize that we still live in a “Good Friday” world, a world of hopelessness, violence, suffering and death. Yet, whenever we experience something that is life-changing, energizing, transforming, or joyful, we catch a glimpse of what it means to be an “Easter person.” The resurrection of Jesus from the tomb was the greatest paradox in history. What seemed to be a terrible tragedy was transformed into the greatest miracle of all time.
As “Easter people” we know that goodness can overcome evil. We understand that even in the darkest moments in our lives, there is the promise of new life, new hope, new energy, new possibilities. We know that God can transform everything into something good. “In all things God works for good for those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) May that promise motivate us to live as “Easter People”, even in our “Good Friday” world.
Pastor Wayne
N. T. Wright is a world renowned biblical scholar and lecturer from England. He recently was in our area and spoke several times in Harrisonburg. I attended several of those lectures and bought a couple of his books. He has written more than forty books, many of them Bible commentaries. In one book, Surprised By Hope, Wright makes this statement:
“So how can we learn to live as wide-awake people, Easter people? In particular if Lent is a time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up. If Calvary means putting to death things in your life that need killing off so you can flourish as a Christian and as a truly human being, then Easter should mean planting, watering, and training up things in your life (personal and corporate) that ought to be blossoming, filling the garden with color and perfume and in due course bearing fruit. Jesus’ resurrection is the beginning of God’s new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven.”
We should be aware that as followers of Jesus we are indeed called to be “Easter people,” living in the power of the resurrection. Even as we try to do so we realize that we still live in a “Good Friday” world, a world of hopelessness, violence, suffering and death. Yet, whenever we experience something that is life-changing, energizing, transforming, or joyful, we catch a glimpse of what it means to be an “Easter person.” The resurrection of Jesus from the tomb was the greatest paradox in history. What seemed to be a terrible tragedy was transformed into the greatest miracle of all time.
As “Easter people” we know that goodness can overcome evil. We understand that even in the darkest moments in our lives, there is the promise of new life, new hope, new energy, new possibilities. We know that God can transform everything into something good. “In all things God works for good for those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) May that promise motivate us to live as “Easter People”, even in our “Good Friday” world.
Pastor Wayne