The Dove: April-June 2021
“The Lord is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed!”
The season of seasons in the Church year is upon us with the annual celebration of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. For at the very core of the Christian life is the promise and reality that God raised Jesus from the dead that first Easter morning. We celebrate because it means our sins have been forgiven and that the way to God is now open to everyone. We celebrate because it means that the shadow of death has been lifted from all people. Because Christ was raised from the dead, we believe that He has broken the hold and fear and reality of death forever and that our physical deaths have become a doorway to more life and love and adventure in God’s closer presence.
As Christians, we pay careful attention in our worship to the passion and resurrection of our Lord, beginning with Maundy Thursday, the last supper and Jesus’ command for us to love as He has loved us. It is a solemn occasion and a beautiful moment of worship as we ‘remember’ Christ at the table with the first followers and with us, sharing in the meal that both builds community and brings the very presence of Christ into our lives.
“He has broken the hold and fear and reality of death forever and our physical deaths have become a doorway to more life and love and adventure in God’s closer presence. ”
As Christians, we pay careful attention in our worship to the passion and resurrection of our Lord, beginning with Maundy Thursday, the last supper and Jesus’ command for us to love as He has loved us. It is a solemn occasion and a beautiful moment of worship as we ‘remember’ Christ at the table with the first followers and with us, sharing in the meal that both builds community and brings the very presence of Christ into our lives.
Good Friday worship is spare, simple and reflective, as we stand and kneel before the cross of Christ, connecting to His suffering on our behalf and marveling at God’s infinite love for us. We stand and kneel before the cross as a people in need of God’s forgiveness. We stand and kneel before the cross as a reminder that Christ has suffered as we have and will in our lives, giving thanks for the promise that we are never alone. We stand and kneel before the cross as a people who are loved in spite of ourselves.
The Great Vigil of Easter is the oldest liturgy we know of and is filled with readings and songs about God’s wonderful habit of saving us. It begins with a “new fire” as the sign of Christ’s Light coming back into the world after His Death and swells to the Easter Acclamation and Celebration. The liturgy itself is contemplative and moving.
The Day of Resurrection, Easter, comes with boisterous celebration at Christ’s resurrection and we always have special music, even at the 8 a.m. worship service. For even though the first Easter was quiet as Jesus’ followers were figuring out just what God had done, from our perspective, nearly 2,000 years later, we understand more fully and celebrate. For the next 50 days we celebrate Christ’s resurrection (as we do each Sunday through the year) in the presence and love of the Risen Christ who is with us always.
So, let me encourage you to join in on these most holy of days and know in the deepest recesses of your heart and soul how much you are loved by God. May we all be blessed to grasp again or for the first time the promise of the Christian life and the power of Easter.