After He is Risen

It’s three days after Easter Sunday and the rush of Holy Week. Three days after the women went to the tomb to preserve Jesus’ body and He wasn’t there. Three days after they chose not to tell anyone until Mary Magdalene saw Jesus with her own eyes and relayed the Good news to the disciples who wouldn’t believe her.

I know I’m exhausted from the additional planning, incorporating special extras and the pressure to make this second Easter in the pandemic more hopeful and joyful than last year’s which was just me in the empty tomb and our music director trying to fill an enormous, stark sanctuary with exuberance. I’m having two Sundays off and, rather than relaxing into it I’m thinking about arrangements for while I’m away and once I’m back and Covid protocols, and I’m a bit at loose ends. It’s hard to get off the treadmill after such an intense time. Hopefully I’ll soon ease into the break.

A blog I read yesterday invited me and other Church educators to just breathe and to put down all we’ve been carrying to make Lent and Easter happen in spite of the restrictions and expectations. It was an invitation to remember that no matter how well things went and how different from normal, that the Spirit worked through whatever we did and that it was time to pause and let it go and be gracious with ourselves. God was made known even if it needed to be in spite of us and our circumstances.

As I’m in this befuddled state of sliding from 100 km an hour into post-Easter plateau I imagine I’m in a similar state to the disciples and women at the tomb. Holy Week was emotionally charged, driven, taxing, and filled with questions and expectations, doubts and concerns. Now, coming out of that intensity, they are faced with the news that Jesus rose from the dead. And He is calling them back to Galilee and away from the events in Jerusalem, back to their regular daily lives and tasks from the mountaintop and frenzy of Passover.

They are challenged to accept the truth that everything has now changed and that what they were likely expecting didn’t happen. They needed to accept that God’s plans weren’t their own, that they didn’t have control, and that Jesus’ resurrection changed everything. As we reflect on the story and our current story of spiking variant cases of Covid-19 juxtaposed with vaccine roll-out and governments wanting to enforce renewed lockdowns, we wonder what it will all mean too. What plans does God have for the church as most of us continue to worship virtually? What does it mean that cases are going up? What has really changed?

For me in this time of break from preaching, I need to really consider this question. We are hoping to re-open for worship in late May but are at the mercy of local health guidelines. We don’t know exactly what it will look like but it won’t be same old church, which won’t be the same as virtual church has been for the last year. What does not only this push to renew the church and adjust to a new normal, but the resurrection power of Christ mean for us in this moment?

While we tried to be festive and celebratory Sunday morning, perhaps if we’re more honest we’re more like the disciples and the women at the tomb - dazed, perplexed, hiding, afraid to share the news in such a fractured and challenging time. Perhaps like them we need Jesus taking several runs at getting the message out to us, of the reassurance that there was a plan and that yes, things would change, but that God was still in control.

If we are struggling with what to do with Jesus’ resurrection in the realities that we face and what it means for us, we are in good company. Perhaps we can find comfort in the truth that nothing will stop Jesus from coming through for us, being in and around us, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. We’re back from the highlight of Holy Week into “regular” life with all its uncertainty, trying to trust that we will sense God’s direction in where we go from here as we seek to be faithful to our Creator and our risen Lord.

Don’t be dismayed, the Lord your God is with you. Breathe. The future stretches out ahead of us and is in God’s hands. Breathe. We’ve made it this far by God’s grace and grace will lead us home. Breathe. Jesus knows your cares and weariness and comes to reassure you. Breathe. In life and in death Christ has prepared the way for us. Breathe.

May the peace of Christ be with you.