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by Stephen Sterner,
Interim Minister and President
March/April 2005
One of the print ads for the God is Still Speaking initiative reads: "If you think getting up Sunday morning is hard, try rising from the dead." Though there are a variety of thoughts about this ad, it does make a bold statement about our Easter faith.
Most theologians remind us that without Easter there is no Christmas. Without Easter there is no church. It is Easter that brings not only the promise of life to each of us, it is Easter that brought sustained life for the early church. It was the experience of encountering the risen Christ that empowered the eleven, the women, and a small group of followers to become the Spirit-birthed church.
We do not understand the mystery of Easter day. No Gospel describes the resurrection. All we see in the Biblical story and the history of the early church is the power unleashed by the experience of encountering Jesus on Easter day and beyond. That early church was not unified by clear theology or creedal affirmation. The letters of Paul and the record in Acts attest to that. It was simply and wonderfully empowered.
I am struck by how little, or perhaps how fleetingly, that empowerment exists in our church experience today. Easter is a one day experience. Then it is back to tax preparation, or baseball games, or vacation planning. The joy of Easter fades much like the fading sounds of the Easter trumpet fanfare. But it is the experience of the risen Christ that continues in our lives today that is the source of our identity, our call for justice, and our certainty that God is indeed still speaking. It is the experience many of our congregations have had as they have been reawakened to the call to be inviting, welcoming, hospitable communities.
May the ministry of our lives, our congregations, and our Conference be empowered by the experience of the Risen Christ in our midst.