Pastor’s Easter Greetings March 31, 2024

“He is not here; for he has been raised,” the angel tells the women. Good for Jesus! But what about me and you? Have I been raised? Am I alive? And what about those I love? Are they alive? I sometimes wonder if we make such a big deal out of Easter Sunday that we are no longer able to see that everyday life holds the miracle of resurrection. I am not minimizing the meaning and power of Jesus’ resurrected life. Instead, I want it to be more expansive of all life, not just a one-time event that is celebrated once every year. So what if we tried something different? What if we did not say the usual Easter acclamation – “Alleluia. Christ is risen. Alleluia.” – and instead, “Good morning. Now go home and you’ll see Jesus?” What if that was my Easter message to you? “

“Good morning. Now go home and you’ll see Jesus.” – is not original with me. I got it from Jesus in the Resurrection Gospel. “Greetings!” Jesus says to the women. “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Jesus and his disciples are already in Jerusalem. They could have met there. What better place than the center of political and religious power? But Jesus didn’t. Instead he offered greetings and then sent his disciples back to Galilee and said that they would see him there. Galilee was their hometown. Jesus is sending them home. He is sending them back to what is known and familiar, to the rhythms of everyday life. That, he says, is where we’ll see him. Those are the places where his life intersects with and transforms our lives.

So on this Easter let me ask you this. Where do you expect to see Jesus? In your home? Among family and friends? In strangers, foreigners,? In suffering and death? In the joys and celebrations of life? In your marriage? In the challenges of parenting? Old age? In good conversation and laughter? Yes. The answer is yes. Those and a thousand other places are where resurrection is. If we cannot find and see Jesus in our ordinary everyday life we surely will not find him here today among the alleluias, lilies, hymns, icons, candles, white vestments, and beauty of the sanctuary. Those things are not intended to set this day apart from all other days. Instead, this day is intended to reveal the resurrection truth and reality of all other days. After all I have only one thing to say to you on this Easter. Maybe that should be our new Easter acclamation. “Good morning. Now go home.” and you say, “And we’ll see Jesus.” May you and your home have a most Blessed Easter.