Dear Christians,
The Easter witness is, of course, a promise that the powers of death do not have the last word… ever.
That’s good news – and the Christian answer – to our very human fear of death. It’s no failing to be afraid; it’s wired in. Our instinctual drive for self-preservation combined with a cognitive awareness we won’t live forever… together, they’re a recipe for a powerful reaction.
So, we’re afraid of
– losing loved ones;
— leaving our own lives unfinished;
– the pain of dying and
– not knowing what lies beyond.
But I know Christians who aren’t so afraid of death. They explain their equanimity and acceptance variously, saying things like, “God’ll stay with me through it all,” or “Even if it’s a tough transition, the best is yet to come.” A sermon I once heard insisted “we graduate from little more than a tent in this life to our permanent, heavenly home in the next.”
But pushback against the powers of death is not just relevant for our inevitable end. It’s also about how we can move faithfully through our lives.
Recently, we heard the President’s top deputy defend the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro by saying, “We live in a world, in the real world… that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world.”
What a tragic, narrow outlook? Christian faith offers a radically brighter, more hopeful view. It never denies the destructive power and effect of evil. But domination, cruelty and injustice are not the only drivers in our world. On the contrary, our faith insists – through Jesus’ life and teaching and — ultimately, in the Resurrection! – that compassion, morality, justice, service, mercy, and love are in fact the more powerful forces in the real world… because the powers of death never have the final word.
In these troubling days, when wrong is on the march causing unbelievable harm and damage, Easter’s proclamation becomes less symbolic, more immediate. It’s not so much an existential stance, but a practical strategy.
Love is stronger than hate, hope is stronger than fear, and light always stands up to the darkness. In a world still too often colored by violence, injustice and despair, the message of Easter is radical defiance — that the last word does not belong to death, but to the promise of new life.
In that spirit, I invite you to a full celebration of Holy Week and Easter – and to invite others who are likewise seeking support, direction, and hope in these hard times.
What a wonderful thing – that people can come together (even as they try to keep us apart!) to witness and proclaim there are better ways, here and now, against all that degrades and plagues our world. “Easter says you can put Truth in the grave, but it won’t stay there!” Thanks be to God.
Honored to serve alongside you all, and Happy Easter,
Michael
