The Certainty of Easter
"And God raised the Lord and
will also raise us by his power."
~ 1 Corinthians 6:14

We’ve all heard the old saying, “only two things in life are certain: death and taxes!”  As the cartoon suggests, the Easter story of the empty tomb calls into question the certainty of death, or perhaps I should say, the certainty of the lasting effects of death.
 
The idea that we will all experience death — that we will all some day die — is still a certainty.  We simply can’t avoid it.  But if that’s all there is at the end of life, then a grave is hardly something to look forward to.  If death is all there is, then what meaning can there be to life?  More importantly, what, then, becomes of hope?
 
Jesus, too, must have wondered about that issue of hope as he hung on the cross.  In Matthew’s Gospel we see Jesus struggling with this as he speaks only once: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!?”  In the midst of extreme suffering with the certainty of death only minutes away, we hear from Jesus’ own lips the question we all ask: does our death mean that God has forsaken us such that our hope and our future are nonexistent?
 
Easter has much to say about this.  The empty tomb could mean a number of things, from the possibility that Jesus wasn’t really dead and was later revived by his followers to the idea that thieves could have stolen his body.  Of course these theories can’t explain the power Christians have to face death without the loss of hope.

There is one, and only one possibility, and that is that God raised Jesus from the dead.  As surprising and preposterous as that might sound to the logical mind, that’s precisely what Scripture witnesses to.  The empty tomb means that Jesus is alive; that the power of God’s love is greater than the power of sin and death; that because our lives have been united with the risen Christ in baptism we, too, shall some day be raised from the dead and live eternally with our Lord.
 
The Easter promise is that Jesus’ death and resurrection have destroyed one certainty and replaced it with another: the lasting effects of death are gone, and in their place is the new life, the everlasting life, we receive in the resurrection from the dead.  Sounds to me like our hope and our future are not destroyed, but rather affirmed as we once again gaze into the empty tomb and remember the promise: “And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power!”  Have a happy and hope-filled Easter!

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~ Holy Week Schedule ~

March 25th — Palm Sunday worship at 9am; Sunday School at 10:10am.
 
March 29th — Maundy Thursday worship at 7pm with Holy Communion and the Stripping of the Altar by our Confirmation class.
 
March 30th — Ecumenical Good Friday worship at 7pm (at St. John’s).  We welcome members of the community to join us.  We especially welcome the members of First Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church, and Zion Methodist Church who will be worshiping with us.
 
April 1st — Easter Sunday worship at 9am.  No Sunday School.  Easter Egg Hunt for our youngest members following worship.  Please meet in the Fellowship Hall after worship to learn where the various age-groups will be hunting.

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Help Yourself...

Our quilting ladies have been working on “Walker Bags” for residents of area nursing homes.  They are also making them available to members of our congregation.  You will find a basket full of these colorful and handy fabric bags in the Narthex.  Please feel free to take one for yourself or someone you know.

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