Easter is a Way of Life

Forty (or so) days ago, I wrote in this space about Ash Wednesday-for Christians, the beginning of a long Lenten journey culminating in the holy days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. This Lent has, in fact, felt very "Lenten"-Waltham has suffered from violence and pain in the shooting death of Tyler Zanco and the revelation of the connection between the Boston Marathon bombers and the homicides that happened in our city in 2011. We live in a world where profits win out over people and the vulnerable are often left with even less. We don't need Good Friday to remind us that there is sin in the world. We can do that ourselves-no calendar or extra church attendance necessary. 

What we can't do all on our own is get out of it. That's where the grace and transcendence of God comes in. As a Christian, I'm committed to the notion that there is a way out of all of this: that in the person of Jesus Christ God did something new in the world. Jesus forgave from the cross-betrayed and in pain, still he forgave. That's where Easter comes from. Somehow-some mystical way-the world changed on that day.

In forgiveness, in love, in restorative justice-that's where we are invited to be partners in God's healing of the world. The Christian faith doesn't have a monopoly on this-whether the Jewish idea of tikkun olam--repairing the world-- or the freedom that comes from the Buddhist commitment to end suffering through transcendence of the self, there are plenty of examples of people of all different faiths doing this work. As a Christian, though, this is the language I speak, so it's Easter I'm committed to.

Easter is wherever we offer love instead of hate. Easter is whenever we put someone else's good above our own. Easter is when someone finds housing after having been out on the street. Easter is when someone has the courage to leave their abuser and begin a new life. Easter is money raised to pay for a funeral, Easter is the One fund, a scholarship for a child on the other side of the world. Easter happens in the State House when legislators find a way to work together, when human persons win over the influence of money and the desire for power. Easter is when the murderer is forgiven, when hungry people are fed. Easter is marriage equality coming state by state 45 years after Stonewall. Easter is when we meet another person exactly where they are, not wanting to change them but being willing to be changed.

Easter isn't just a day-Easter is an action. Easter is a way of life. Easter isn't just about the curious spiritual experience of some wandering disciples. That day showed us that the power of God is stronger than the power of hatred. No matter how we are divided from one another, no matter what evil we suffer, it doesn't have the last word. Easter can be slow work, and we don't always see it. But person by person, day by day, the heart of God is with us. Amen, Alleluia.

From April 4: Love & The Resurrection

This is article was printed in the Waltham News Tribune on March 29, 2013.


When this piece is printed, it will be Good Friday-the day Christians observe the crucifixion of Jesus. The cross is the central symbol of Christianity; it seems to be everywhere. The cross is a reminder of Jesus' refusal to respond violently to those he could have fought, and a sign of his forgiveness of those who caused his suffering. The cross is a powerful image for Christians. At the same time, the crucifixion is not the central event of the Christian faith. That's Easter, the resurrection of Jesus. Our faith is about life, not death. Life in the face of death, life that means that love will not be defeated.

We begin preparing for Easter on Ash Wednesday, the day that begins the season of Lent. At my church on that day, we hear words from the Prophet Joel: "Even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart. Gather all the people, the aged, the children, even the infants at the breast." Everybody is welcome. Everybody counts. We are created by God for love, and even when we fall short of God's desire for us we are still forgiven. The prophet Joel teaches that there is no one left outside, and it is never too late to come home.

The message of Easter is that simple: the love of the One who created us is bigger than our fear, bigger than our hatred, bigger than our violence. The love of God brings wholeness out of fragmentation, hope out of despair, and peace out of war. The women who followed Jesus went to the tomb to look for Jesus' body that day and the tomb was empty. "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" Their teacher was raised. Love will not be defeated.

Was a dead man resuscitated? Was his body stolen? What "really" happened? We don't know, and there are as many ways to believe as there are those who practice the faith. The most important thing is that we can be part of that love: love manifest in the way Jesus chose the margins over the center, the outcast over the respectable folks. God in Christ was, and is, alive. The love of God is alive to rich and poor, left and right, gay, straight, and transgender (as we hope the Supreme Court will affirm in response to the arguments of this week!); alive to the joyful and the sorrowing. And every time we choose love, we participate in that grand drama of life and love that is the resurrection. Every time our hearts are opened to another, every time someone stands up for peace and justice, every time we forgive, every time we share what we have with those who have less.

This Easter at my church, we'll celebrate baptisms and Eucharist, we'll sing joyful songs and shout Alleluia. God, I believe, will be present in water, wine, and bread. But God is also present today, and tomorrow, and in every dark corner of suffering and pain. God is present, in love that will not be defeated. Happy Easter!

April 8: An excerpt from Bishop Chrysostom's homily

The following is from a homily of Bishop John Chrysostom (d. 407), which is read at the Easter Vigil in some Orthodox Churches.


Let everyone who loves God rejoice in this festival of light!
Let the faithful servant gladly enter into the joy of is Lord!
Let those who have borne the burden of fasting come now to reap their reward!
Let those who have worked since the first hour receive now their just wage!
Let those who came after the third hour keep this festival with gratitude!
Let those who arrived only after the sixth hour approach with no fear: they will not be defrauded!
If someone has delayed until the ninth hour, let him come without hesitation.
And let not the workman of the eleventh hour be ashamed: the Lord is generous.
He welcomes the last no less than the first.
He welcomes into his peace the workman of the eleventh hour as kindly as the one who has worked since dawn.
The first he fills to overflowing: on the last he has compassion.
to the one he grants his favor: to the other pardon.
He does not only look at the work: he sees into the intention of the heart.

Enter then all of you into the joy of your Master.
First and last, receive your reward...
Abstinent and slothful celebrate this feast.
You have fasted, rejoice today.
The table is laid: come all of you without misgivings.
The fatted calf is served, let us all take our fill.
All of you, share in the banquet of faith: all of you draw on the wealth of his mercy....

Happy Easter!!!

Practicing Resurrection

I hope this finds you having a joyous and blessed Easter week. In the office, we’ve still been catching up after Holy Week, and I am pleasantly excited about all of the opportunities for outreach that have presented themselves recently. Thanks to the fellowship committee, an idea for providing diapers to local families in need is taking shape in the form of the “Diaper Depot” we hope to open the first week in June. It would operate once a month, in the shape of a food pantry but with diapers instead. Diapers are being collected already. We are also trying to purchase our “Easter cow” for a family in need with the Heifer Project. The Heifer Project operates in many countries to help people become economically self sufficient in providing agricultural education and livestock. See www.heifer.org for more information.

This Sunday at 11:15, I hope you’ll join me in watching an informational video on the B Safe (Bishop's Summer Academic and Fun Enrichment) Program held in Boston each summer and discuss if we would like to partner with them in providing this important resource for inner city children. The day camp program runs in July and August in Boston, and has components of athletics, art, and academic enrichment. Partner churches sign up for a week, and serve lunch each day (for about 75 kids) and read with the children during “DEAR” time (Drop Everything And Read). Christ Church would be able to join with another church, so we wouldn’t be doing it all on our own. You might remember when Liz Steinhauser spoke about this program at Bishop Bud’s visitation of last year. I hope you’ll come to the meeting and help Christ Church discern whether there is interest in working with the program. B Safe is a program of St Stephen’s Episcopal Church in the South End, but parishes all across the diocese help to make it possible.

What is exciting about all of these opportunities is that they give us a chance to really celebrate Easter—in the words of poet Wendell Berry, to “practice resurrection.” The resurrection isn’t just something that happened 2000 years ago; it happens now, and we are part of it. God rolled away the stone on Easter morning in the resurrection, and the life and love of Christ burst from the tomb. Today, God asks us to help roll away the stones that harm the wellbeing of people in our world. The heavy stone of dangerous streets, of random shootings and drug deals on the corner; the boulder of poverty, that prevents a baby from having a clean diaper and a full stomach; the rock of despair, where a family sees no way to support themselves. These outreach opportunities that have come before us are real ways that we can help roll away that stone here and now, to practice the resurrection, the gift that God gave us and that we can give others.

Alleluia, Christ is risen!