I recall one Easter Sunday when a guest asked to “raise a toast” before lunch. Imagining that the toast would be either to the hosts or to “the risen Jesus” I was astonished when it was Winston Peters who was receiving the toast!
Peters had just succeeded in introducing the Gold Card and the proposer of the toast had just become a beneficiary! Today, thousands of New Zealanders receive that gift as senior citizens.
However, our focus here is on another gift — Jesus’ resurrection. The celebration of Jesus’ having being raised from death is not simply a “holy day” bringing respite from daily concerns. It honours a momentous experience within the Christian story when life conquered death. It is the feast of hope.
From grief to amazement
In the Easter Vigil gospel (Mk 16:1-7) we meet three bereft women — Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. They visit Jesus’ burial site to anoint his body. Their world suddenly changes when a young man addresses them: “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he has risen, he is not here.” The women are then urged to tell this news to the disciples, including Peter, and to go to Galilee where they will see Jesus. In this gospel, one feels little of the enormity of the women’s experience as they move suddenly from grief into amazement. No wonder that artists such as Chinese He Qi have expressed the mixed emotions of these women — perhaps fearful of hoping for too much!
John’s gospel on Easter morning (20:1-9) also includes Mary of Magdala. On discovering Jesus’ empty tomb Mary informs Simon Peter and friend that Jesus’ body has disappeared and must have been removed. The two disciples rush to the tomb. We then learn that the unnamed male disciple who enters the tomb after Peter and encounters only cloths, “saw and he believed.” Both Easter gospels attempt to express an unimaginable experience.
The Easter story describes a movement from sadness and confusion to joy and faith. The listener is enveloped in bewilderment and delight. Jesus’ resurrection is fundamental to Christian faith and while celebrated solemnly at Easter it is honoured weekly at Sunday Eucharist. Easter lays the foundation for Christian hope since, despite everything, life triumphs.
Towards the fullness of life
“Hope” is sometimes depicted as wishful but unrealistic yearning. Yet, hope as the fruit of Easter is neither “wishful” nor “unreal”. Resurrection hope, according to theologian Edward Schillebeeckx is “the most powerful religious symbol of what is truly possible as the future, the future which has already ‘de facto’ commenced in Jesus Christ.” Schillebeeckx suggests that resurrection belief invites individuals and communities to be reconcilers with one another and with creation. Since it is through Jesus that God re-directed the world towards fullness of life, it is in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection that Christians look for foundations of hope.
In his life, Jesus sought both the company of friends and solitude with God. Jesus rejoiced among tax collectors yet felt the fear of God’s abandonment. In approaching death, with faith in God, Jesus entrusted himself to the One he called “Abba”/Dad. Ultimately, thanks to the experiences of these first women and men, Christians believe that Jesus was raised to new life and lives now through his Spirit working among those who try to create a better future for planet earth and all its life-forms.
easter people everyday
Being “Easter people” is a challenge met by communities and individuals — annually and daily. Christians believe that Jesus has been raised from death and therefore that he accompanies all who bring life to others. Christians also know that despite everything, death opens into eternal life. Easter people are grounded in hope. So what might this gift of hope look like?
Here in Aotearoa NZ, we are graced with thousands of people who offer life and hope to others. For TV viewers, there are Sunday evening “Good Sorts” who willingly place their gifts of tutoring, carpentry or sports coaching . . . at the service of others. For newspaper readers, there are regular accounts about generous locals such as the recently deceased Wanaka helicopter pilot lauded not for “doing great acts but rather for small individual acts of kindness.” For web enthusiasts, organisations such as avaaz.org invite the global community to engage in petitions, including the present-day freeing of economic slaves, offering moral support to displaced communities and standing against the desecration of Earth. Through each response, the human community offers a gift of hope into this world.
Eastering at Eucharist
When Christians gather on Sundays in local Eucharistic communities, we remind ourselves of the reason for our hope. Globally, thousands of communities gather on the first day of the week to remember Jesus of Nazareth who lived and died for all and who was raised to new life as God’s ongoing gift for all. Jesus is the Living One!
In gathering at Eucharist, Christians gradually come to grasp that God, revealed in Jesus, is not a stranger, our wicket keeper, or our judge. God is love!
In listening to our Hebrew and Christian stories, we remember Jesus who reached out to all, drew in outsiders and challenged self-appointed “superior” persons. We learn about God’s vision or reign which includes the children, the broken-hearted, the ostracised, the repentant and all seekers of the good. We are challenged personally to respond to God’s vision when each Sunday we hear biblical stories expressing Jesus’ desire to bring life to all humans and to all creation.
In coming to the Eucharistic table we are fed, enlivened and amazed at the gift we have been given to nourish us on our weekly journey.
Each Eucharistic celebration has potential to remind us of all that has brought life during the week, as well as the “deathly” moments and the reconciling encounters or moments of joy. Eucharist invites us more deeply into the journey of Jesus. We sometimes come with disappointments and experiences “too hard to bear” trusting that Jesus will accompany us into the promise of resurrection. At least, this is our hope!
Easter people of hope
Above all, Sunday Eucharist has the potential to remind us that as disciples of Jesus we are indispensable participants in Jesus’ mission of bringing hope to all. The resurrection is about people being sent out with joy and courage for the sake of God’s mission. As inheritors of the resurrection, Christians witness to the greatest gift of all time, namely, death is not the end. God has conquered death.
Despite the above, many of us live with deep paradox. While Eucharist recalls Jesus’ death and resurrection for “the world”, many family and friends feel unable to participate. In such circumstances each community experiences deep absence while trusting in the hope of resurrection.
So, might there be a point to the Easter “toast” with which this reflection began? The Aotearoa Gold Card and many other gifts have been given to some people for a limited time. Most are grateful. Yet, all Gold Cards pale before an eternity of joy. It is the gift and practice of hope which enable Christians to live as people open to God’s future. And, it is Easter which keeps such hope alive!
Published in Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 192, April 2015: 6-7.