Easter People

The sorrow and struggles of Lent are over and now we are in the season of Easter.  And I love it.

The blessing of my life is that I am leading a Bible study on the book of Acts which means every week we spend time looking at the work of the Holy Spirit.  And that excites me. It is essentially about "the rest of the story" - what happens to the group of disciples who walked with Jesus and were part of that movement that he started.  That movement that continues to this day. 

We are now into the 14th chapter of Acts and you can see all the ways the spirit works:

Guiding the disciples in and out of missions

Giving them the words to speak

Creating signs and wonders

Getting them out of prison

Bringing people together

What is a constant message is that while the spirit empowers and brings "success" - it also encounters various forms of resistance.  And so the disciples go through rejection, imprisonment, stoning and being pushed out of town.

So, what does this have to do with our lives in 2022. 

Yesterday I had a zoom meeting with clergy friends who have been part of my "peer group" for over 10 years.  We started as we were all serving churches as senior pastors.  Now 4 of 6 of us are retired and we are watching the churches that we loved and served get smaller and sometimes close.  We talk about where to worship and what is next for each of us.

I have been blessed for the past almost three years to be part of a vital, loving church - Gender Road Christian Church.  The pandemic has been problematical for all churches and we seem to be bouncing back but it is different.  Church attendance is a habit and for many people, zooming online is enough.  And so, we continue to try to share the good news and be the good news in a world that is pretty resistant. 

What I know to be true is that we have to be Easter people - aware of the miracle of the Risen Christ that is lived out in our lives on a daily basis.  This morning in "Pray as you go" we pondered the third resurrection appearance of Jesus - when he met the disciples at the beach and guided them to the best fishing and fixed them breakfast. In all of that we were invited to imagine what it was like for the disciples and all I could think was that they just loved being with him - sitting around the fire and drinking in the miracle of his presence before they went out to share the good news of the power and love and grace  of God.

And maybe that is the beginning task for all of us Easter people.  Lets just start with savoring the resurrection and all the resurrections of the life that we live.  The Holy Spirit is real and at work in our lives and in our world.  It is so easy to get caught up in the negative resistance to life and to goodness and to love.  But God brings both extraordinary miracles as well as ordinary messages every day of our lives.

Today I get to write in this blog, have lunch with an old friend and lead a wedding rehearsal.  Acts of creativity, love and new beginnings.  Signs of spirit at work.  Always.

So, here's to drinking in the good news, spending time with Jesus, reflecting on and savoring the work of the spirit.  Happy Easter!

An Easter Prayer

O Source of all living things, we praise you for the power of recurring recreation of life we see around us,

and for the timeless resurrection of Jesus our Christ.  

May these signs inspire us to manifest your presence in our relationships and actions,

that those cries of joy first heard on Easter morning may echo through the centuries to our time and place.

Amen

(Ruth Duck)