What happens when Easter praises have been sung, bells to welcome spring have been rung, and the bonnets and pastel clothes have been hung… until the next celebration? The answer is quite simple, especially profound, and eternally significant, viz. We will live as Easter People every day from now on! St. Augustine’s challenge is truly a great word to the church: “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter People! Hallelujah is our song!” Our calling is to daily live into all the Resurrection of Jesus brings to us. This includes these truths:
1. Jesus lives to walk with us into all the decisions, interactions, troubles, and celebrations that life brings our way. Jesus has gone before us and understands the dynamics and the struggles of what human life is like. For this reason, Paul can write to the Corinthian church, “No test has seized you except what is common to human life. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Cor. 10:13).
2. Jesus lives to empower us to know new life in our relationships and for the purpose of our days. Paul writes to the Philippian church saying, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection” (Phil. 3:10). He writes this as he is talking about our daily journey as Christ Followers “straining forward” as if athletes at the finish of a race. Straining to attain that which God wants from our lives, viz. to open ourselves to HIS power working through us as we surrender the idea that OUR power can see us through the day. For our relationships, and for the reason we do what we do each day, we are to trust in his power.
3. Jesus lives as the conqueror of death and thus walks with us in our dying and welcomes us to his side to stand beside him in his resurrection glory when we come face to face with death’s arrival. Paul’s declaration to the Roman church reminds us, “We were therefore buried with Christ through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Rom. 6:4).
What happens when Easter praises are sung? We keep singing them every time we gather as the Body of Christ and encourage one another to sing them in our hearts daily sharing the good news of our Risen Lord with the people we meet. “Hallelujah” is our song, and we gather for worship each Sunday to sing it! The First Day of the Week, as the scripture records it (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1, John 20:1), is the day that Jesus was found to be alive – raised from the dead by the power of the Father! It was a day of celebration! So much so that the early church continued to worship together on the First Day of the Week (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2). This is the reason we continue to gather for worship each Sunday because every Sunday now proclaims the reality, hope and promise of Resurrection for now and for all eternity!
We will look forward to seeing you as we gather this next Lord’s Day and celebrate the power of the Resurrection!
In the Love of Jesus,
Tony Tench