Easter Ministry

The Light of the World came to us in the Christmas Season.   That was Good News. But that infant Light grew up. As a migrant on the run, as a home-town boy, as the son of a skilled laborer, Jesus was pretty incognito. Then the people of his time tried pretty hard to put out the Light altogether. But the Love that fuels the light knew what to do with sin and death. It becomes fuel for forgiveness and mercy.

Easter is a Sonburst that will never go out. Love has conquered sin and death. It’s done. Fragments, like the cut-up pieces of a snake, wiggle their way through history putting on a show of power. But don’t be fooled. It’s a lying seduction. Don’t be deceived when it shows up on the news. Shake your head when you hear about it in government or in business. No, the battle has been won. Now, what do we, who have that baptismal cross of oil gleaming on our foreheads, do about it? We settle in for the long haul doing Easter Ministry. We ‘put feet on the talk.’

Easter ministry is reconciliation. We reconcile. Watch the readings that come our way during the month of April this year. They are bathed in Easter light. That light allows for no division. That light unifies. It brings broken things together. It heals. The apostles were shattered and scattered. Easter brings them together. There is no shaming, no blaming. There is only forgiving and forgetting. There is truth-telling. Even winter itself yields to the green bursting from buds.

What do we need to reconcile? Do we need to speak with someone we’ve avoided? Can we disagree with someone and still respect them? Can we give them a sense that there is room for them in our heart even though we disagree with them? What is broken that we can mend? It’s time for Easter ministry. It’s time for healing, for mending, for binding up what is broken.

 We’re in pieces, Lord.

Broken hearts and broken relationships.

Broken cities and broken borders,

Counties that can’t be home anymore.

Women against men,

White against Black.

Asian bullying.

Shine on us

In all your risen beauty

Where every wound is healed.

Bind up our brokenness, Risen Lord,

Help us to shine.