The Rector’s Easter Letter

Dear friends in Christ,

In his account of the Resurrection, John wants us to understand that something incredible has happened. It isn’t just that God has raised some random person from the dead. Instead, John tells us in ways that are both subtle and obvious that in the Resurrection of Jesus, God has overcome Sin and Death. John tells us that in the Resurrection of Jesus, God has remade the world. A new creation is bursting in on the old.

This may take us some time to understand and fully appreciate. But the disciples were no different. When Jesus first appeared to them, they were hiding in a locked room afraid for their lives. But Jesus appeared to them, offered them his peace, and breathed new life into their moribund bodies.  And they began to catch a glimpse of what was possible, what God had made possible. And then they took the world by storm.  As Barbara Brown Taylor puts it:

They stop hiding and start seeking. They stop making excuses and start moving mountains. They sell all of their stuff and put the proceeds in a common pot so that no one is in need. They lay their hands on the sick. They defy the authorities. They never tire of telling people what it was that gave them the courage to do such things, and they become known for their glad and generous hearts. In this way, their way of life became contagious.

This new creation gave the disciples and the early Church new tasks and opened new possibilities. 

For you and me, these same tasks and these new possibilities are open as well. In the Resurrection of Jesus, the world is remade and we are reborn. The new creation is taking shape in our lives, in our community, in the world. Now we too can stop hiding in fear and start seeking God’s Kingdom.  Now we too can stop making excuses and start moving mountains. We can start giving so that no one is in need—living out God’s abundance and working for justice where there is none. We can lay our hands on the sick—offering healing and reconciliation to those who are weary and sin-sick. We can defy the cynical emperors and kings of this world that know only power and not Truth. And we can tell the world who it is that gives us the courage to do such things.  Perhaps we too can become known for our glad and generous hearts and maybe, just maybe, our way of life will also become contagious.

The clergy and staff of St. John’s invite you to join us in observing this coming Holy Week. We begin on Palm Sunday by recalling Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  We remember his commandment of love on Maundy Thursday.  On Good Friday, we “behold the wood of the cross on which hung the world’s salvation.” At the Easter Vigil, we kindle new fire, hear the record of God’s saving deeds in history, welcome new members into the fellowship of the saints, and remember that we too have died and risen in Christ. And then we come together for the beauty and joy of Easter Sunday, celebrating the new creation that God has made, the new tasks we have been given, and the new possibilities that have been opened up for us, for our community, for the world.

Come, let us make the journey through Holy Week, and let us celebrate the great Easter miracle together. And let us continue living into that new creation, those new tasks, those new possibilities.  

In the name of Christ, I remain

Faithfully yours,
The Rev. Dr. Bradley Pace, Rector