Easter is More Than
A One-Day Event
 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.
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