April 20, 2014:
Ponderings Of A Pilgrim Pastor
“Easter Monday Faith”
Today, churches all over the world will be crowded with worshipers celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. The familiar refrain — “The Lord is risen! The Lord is risen, indeed!” — will echo through every sanctuary. There will be beautiful flowers, great music and fervent preaching. Easter is the high point of the Christian year as it should be. Without faith in the Risen Christ Christianity is a faith without ultimate hope. Easter signals God’s intention that all things are being made new.
What does that mean tomorrow? Do we put away our Easter faith with our Easter decorations until another year? In other words, is Easter just a poignant reminder that death, not life, has the last word?
If this life of ours is all there is and death puts an end to everything that is precious and meaningful to us, the question becomes: How should we live until we die? Why not eat, drink and be as merry as possible, singing on our way to the cemetery? Why not grab for wealth and power and then lord it over the 99% of the rest of humanity who has far less? Why not lie, steal, cheat, dishonor, even murder if we can get away with it since no one will care what we did when we die?
St. Augustine affirmed that without God, all things are possible, but he certainly did not mean that doing all those possible things would bring us true meaning and happiness. Shakespeare was closer to the truth when he has Macbeth declare that “life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” That is the ultimate and certain result of believing that Easter is a foolish and futile hope.
Thank God, that is not the last word in your life or mine. The resurrection of Christ means that our lives have significance both here and hereafter. We live because He lives. The world and our lives are made new. We have all received a gift of incredible value. Let’s unwrap the Easter hope and live by it not just today, but tomorrow and always!
Love,
Pastor Dave