Christ… in rising from the dead you are revealed
as no passive sufferer or victim,
but rather the leader
who pioneers humanity
in the successful expedition
into the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom that has no boundary or wall;
the Kingdom where every passport is stamped with your blood;
The Kingdom where every right is defined by Your righteousness;
The Kingdom where every citizen who believes and is baptized
now belongs to you–in body and in soul,
in life and in death–
for in rising there is now
nothing in heaven or earth
that can separate us
from life in you!
For in rising, Christ became the ruler who entered your own land,
Only to return from the far country and announce to all who were lost–
the Good News–that they are found!
The Good News that it is finished!
Death is finally dead!
The Good News that joy comes in the morning
because darkness cannot hold back
the Light from true Light!
For when the Son is risen,
His glory illuminates a new path;
and for all who dare follow it,
who trod its narrow contours,
discover themselves awake to the dawn of a new day,
that promises to lead us deep into a reality
where all things are made new in you–always in you!
“In you, Christ, hope awakens the faith
that stirs and quickens the soul,
And gives us the breath that keeps our love alive!”
In you Christ, we come awake,
finally, we are awake–
with eyes opened,
to see the severe beauty
in the gravity of grace!
In you Christ, we see the sufferings
of this present moment,
but, in you, we are awake
also to the glory that is revealed,
as your resurrected life breaks into our life;
where the reign of a slain King,
rises to inaugurate the new hope
for all of his Kingdom!
In you, Christ, hope awakens the faith
that stirs and quickens the soul,
And gives us the breath that keeps our love alive!
It is love–your love–that awakens us to discover
The truth that we were never forsaken;
that though you were silent,
you were never absent!
For in rising from the dead
you showed us how divine love,
reaches into the grave we dig for ourselves and pulls us out,
so that we may once again enter with you into new life,
in ways both dramatic and ordinary,
in ways foreign and familiar,
in ways that awaken reason to imagine
how new life with you sets us free
to experience who we were always
created to be:
Your beloved daughters and sons,
who are at last, awake,
to be one with you again!
An Easter prayer given at Pillar Church in Holland, Michigan on April 1, 2018.