John's Easter reflections

From Pastor John's Easter service

“ON THE ROAD AGAIN: DISCOVERING EASTER”

My third year of seminary, after I had switched emphasis, I was asked by the pastor of the church I was attending at the time to take the Easter Sunday service. First I was surprised due to the fact that most preachers refuse to give up major Sunday services, but he asked and I said yes. Then I began to worry.

Holy Covenant was a mixed bag of a church. Its primary population was gay and lesbian, and the majority theology was fundamentalist, with ‘gay is good’ added. Our senior pastor was a Pentecostal Unitarian, and our liturgy was a form of Eastern Orthodox with revivalist style of hymnody. I knew that I couldn’t really make the Easter acclamations in the way that the majority would expect or demand. So I began to search for a way to say the Easter story but to say it with integrity for myself.

The Orthodox acclamation is Christ is risen, to which the congregation responds with Chris is risen indeed. The gospel text for that Sunday was the one just read and I began to explore how to bring these together in a way that was comfortable for me and honouring the faith of the congregation present.

As I read through the gospel, I was struck by the fact that Jesus was recognised in the breaking of the bread. The simple act revealed a great truth. So out of that reflection I begin to speak of the various passages within the Christian and Jewish texts which state that in our actions God is revealed, or in this case, the risen Christ is seen in deed and action for good.

I spoke of how the prophets condemned the Israelites for their faithlessness because they thought they were good because they follow correct ritual and belief, when as Micah says, “What does the Lord your God require of you, but that you do Justice, love Mercy and walk humbly with your God.”

I then mentioned Jesus’ parable of the judgment of the sheep and goats and how they are seen as faithful or faithless due to their actions of care and compassion. I also spoke of James statement that faith was seen in our behaviours not in our confessions.

For me this is still the central point of the Easter story, and why the road to Emmaus is such a great text. The Christos, that is the Christ, is seen in a common simple meal shared together, whose actions of caring and compassion speak of a truer faith than the ability to recite by heart all the creeds and confessions of the church. It is in this understanding that one can joyfully and honestly enter into the season’s celebrations and thus say Christ is risen in deed.