Pastor's Pen - April 2007

Dear Friends in Christ,

Easter has long been called the eighth day of creation. The resurrection of Jesus marked the beginning of a new age in the relationship between God and God’s creation. That which had been lost to sin was now reclaimed in the death and resurrection of the Savior. As the Roman centurion in the gospel according to Mark declared, "Truly this was God’s Son".

Over the centuries this radical claim has been lost or at the very least diminished by our familiarity with the celebration of Easter. Much of the message has been over shadowed by the world’s fascination with little bunnies and Easter egg rolls on the White House lawn. Popular culture has replaced the powerful message of Easter with the mundane of a new Easter outfit to be worn as a sign of the beginning of spring at least in the northern hemisphere.

The challenge for modern Christians is to again and again reclaim the good news of Easter in a way that catches the attention of the world without being apologetic for or watering down its message. We have a word of grace to share with a world that is caught up in pride and sin and self-accomplishment. We have a word that can set people free from things that they often do not even recognize as holding them in bondage. We have a message that gives life in fulness and abundance in a world that still seeks death. But it is a message that is lacking if it is not a message that includes the cross as much as the witness of the empty tomb.

The Easter message is not just for a day or a season but is for everyday in the lives of God’s people. Each day celebrates God’s love and grace. Each day celebrates God’s investment in the salvation of this world. Each day is a reminder that what we have we have received from God because of God’s overwhelming love and not because of our worth or merit. Each Sunday becomes a little Easter marking that "eighth day" and the love of God revealed in the one who gave himself for the sake of the whole world.

Rejoice, rejoice this Easter day and every day because the extravagant love of God has been revealed and poured out upon you in The risen Savior, Jesus the Christ.