Easter Hope

Alleluia! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! The ancient greeting and exchange begins the most important celebration in the Christian calendar. Today we remember that not only did God become one of us in Jesus Christ—being born, living and dying—but, as we understand it, Christ is also risen from the dead. Christ’s resurrection assures us of God’s final triumph over sin and evil in our world; and of the life of God in which we are enfolded through Christ.

Easter was the time in the early Christian church when “catechumens” (people preparing for the Christian Life) were baptised into the body of Christ, the church. Through our participation in Christ, we are brought into the eternal life of God. This miracle of salvation/liberation is the source of our hope. Today we celebrate, as joyfully as we can, our new life in Christ.

This new life, our hope, is the good news we have to tell the world. So, what does it mean to you? How would you talk about the new life you have in Christ? Or the hope we have because of Christ’s life, death and resurrection? What does salvation/liberation mean for you in your context?

The theme which Revd Alastair Macrae, the President-Elect of The Uniting Church in Australia, has chosen for his term (2009-2012) is “Living Water, Thirsty Land”. Alastair will be installed in July. Living water is one of the images of new life that we find in the scriptures in the story of Jesus meeting the woman at the well (John 4). Alastair writes: “Our mission context is this dry, thirsty land which seems to be becoming more so. The thirst of the land is mirrored in the spiritual dryness of so many who live here” (Mission Prayer Handbook 2009, p. 5).

Of course, in our region, in the last few weeks, we’ve been faced with a lot of water. In this context, the warmth of the sun has perhaps symbolised our hope, even as we have enjoyed the life that the rain has brought to the vegetation. So, again, I invite you to consider the ways in which you can talk about the hope we have in Christ.