U2's Easter song | What to do after the protest |

Friends,

I've provided my Easter sermon prep, even though I'm not preaching this Easter. I'll admit I'm really enjoying this life of attending, rather than leading worship.

-Liz

Christus Victorious

Easter! The pastor's life is a strange one, always ahead of the season. We have not yet heard the holy week stories. Jesus is still preaching in the Temple and on the streets, there is not yet a plan for an arrest or a betrayal. And here we are writing the Easter sermon.

Some of this is normal--every Sunday is resurrection Sunday, even those during Lent. But some of it is disjointed, timelines are astray. I feel a little like Dr. Who. But here we are!

Easter! Resurrection! Victory. I am a fan of the "Christus Victorious" description of Easter. In that model the resurrection is proof that it is worth risking everything to do what is right. Even when the risk is death. God/Christ and life/love is victorious over human systems, over death, over hate and fear, over the-powers-that-be. For the early Christians this meant they too could, and did, risk everything to care for each other and for the poor.

Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker's research shows that Christianity did not use a crucifix nor focus on Jesus death for almost 1000 years. Early artwork with crosses showed the resurrected Jesus blocking the message of death. (Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire Beacon Press, 2008.) God won over death, showing that we can do the same. The purpose of Jesus' death is resurrection. Victory.

It is beautiful to read how joyful the new church was in the months and years immediately following Jesus' resurrection. The new followers believed that this was a sign of the start of the Kingdom of God. For the poor the evidence was clear--the community's gatherings provided daily meals and good company, discussion of scripture and community prayer. After a life of barely enough, now there is plenty.

What is hard to remember is that those communities stayed focused on the assurance of the Kingdom of God in the face of unrelenting empire, through persecutions and then the violent fall of Roman, and into the early medieval period. In the world, the powers-that-be-continued their destructive work, but in the body of Christ, God's Kingdom is near.

They kept this faith by refusing to allow the forces of empire, plagues, and violence to change their joy. They shared this good news with all who would listen. In the earliest forms of Christianity it was small groups, meeting in houses, sharing so that everyone had enough, that modeled the coming Kingdom.

That is our call this Easter. To figure out how to form community that is deep and connected, and provides all the food each person needs. To have joy and prayer and study in the face of empire. To live in confidence that Christ is victorious, and thus we can stand strong.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen. (This coming Sunday.)

What is your church doing, or thinking about doing these days? How are you being here in your particular place? Just reply to this email to let me know what's happening. ​
​

From Indivisible, "I protested, now what".

The song: Window in the Skies by U2. (4:12) Oh can't you see what love has done?

Please forward this email to others who might be interested. If you got this from someone else, use the button below to subscribe to the free Act! Be Church Now email newsletter.