Easter 2017

Easter - It is a Public Drama.

The crucifixion of Jesus was a public event which occurred at a particular time and place, an event which throws light on all times and places. The life-giving Easter event has universal significance, it is never a private personal happening hidden in a corner of a temple or church. Here we have a drama that shows us what good people are capable of doing yet an event that also brings hope and life.

The message of Easter was not only universal and life-giving, it also unites the enemies of God. The Roman Empire, the Jewish hierarchy and a rowdy mob who were enemies of each other formed an alliance to crucify Jesus.

For Christians, Easter is a universal life-changing reality, a story that must be told. We should not be surprised however if our Easter initiatives encounter some form of opposition.

Easter in the northern hemisphere is associated with Spring time, flowers and bright clothing. In Australia, it is Autumn, which at least for many is a time of greyness and falling leaves, which may speak to us of Holy week rather than the joy of resurrection.

We need to be cautious of the way we sometimes express the meaning of Easter through flowering bulbs, newborn chickens and bunnies, coming as they do from fertility rites which Christianity supplanted. Such symbols, if used must never take on a life of their own, but point always to the resurrection faith, the empty cross, the open tomb.

The silent beauty of sunset and sunrise in the open spaces of the outback, gum trees tinged with new growth after bushfires, these speak of new life and new hope to ‘Aussies.’

What to Do?

We need to be prayerful and wise in our planning if we enter the public arena.
We need to recruit helpers early and plan together.
Seek the consent and support of Civil and Church authorities.
Be culturally relevant and sensitive to the holiday mood.
Set realistic goals and projects.

Select a public Project.

Organise your “face-book” and Christian friends now to prepare and post a brief, ‘What Easter means for me’ message.
Work with other churches on celebrating the Stations of the Cross in a public venue.
Erect a simple wooden cross somewhere with suitable words on an attached placard.
Invite your friends to contribute financially towards buying space in a local paper for an Easter advert.
Invite neighbourhood families to a local park for an Easter egg hunt. Before the search for eggs begins briefly, in your own words, share the story of the resurrection.
During Easter, visit a nursing home with suitable cards and a blessing for each person.
Arrange for a street-busker with a instrument to play Christian songs and provide tracts/ texts that people may choose to take away.
Display children’s drawings or colouring sheets (already coloured in) of the open tomb in a shop window or public venue.
As people leave a Supermarket or other venue, gift them with a single flower with an attached text on the stem.
With the help of a local Real Estate Agent arrange a special Easter sign in front of your local church.

The central Message.

The passion and resurrection of Jesus are central events in human history. Jesus Christ is risen and he has conquered death and hell.

It means human beings and all creation can now be set free from their imprisonment to death, decay and destruction. The resurrection is the statement of Almighty God that all authority on earth and in heaven has been given to Jesus, risen Lord, reigning King.

By the cross Jesus “disarmed the powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them—.” By the events of that first Easter our Lord Jesus Christ abolished the slavery and ended the imprisonment of human beings and all creation to the principalities and powers which through sin, lay over our common existence as a menace and accusation. Since that first Easter we have truly been set free. No powers can separate us from God’s love in Christ. They have lost their mighty grip on people and the universe. It is Jesus who is in control now. It is to Him that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. So, Christians sing, “Jesus shall reign where’re the Sun does His successive journeys run, His Kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more.”

Easter tells us that human beings need no longer be enslaved or imprisoned by the worldly powers or institutions of this world. Now in Christ we are called to a higher destiny; we have higher orders to obey and are under a greater Protector. Jesus laid down his life absorbing the weight of human sin and dysfunction, the crippling super powers and corruption of this world until their darkness was fully expended in Him. Three days later he took his life up again. Human might and power can destroy life. Only Almighty Lord Jesus Christ can take it up again after earth. No longer is our destiny uncertain. We can therefore go out into the world with his authority and do His works of peace, compassion and justice.

In the words of Dr N Watson, “In Jesus Christ we see how God deals with sinners like ourselves, neither condoning our sinfulness nor yet being turned aside by it. Here is the truth of God’s ways with sinful people embodied in action, in a drama of history, being expressed in this way. It speaks to us with power, challenging our wills, stirring the deep springs of our feeling, breaking up the obstinate resistance of our pride, moving us to penitence and faith.”

The Traditional Holy Week and the Three Great Days.

For many centuries, Christians have observed the week leading up to Easter with special devotion. Beginning with the Sunday of the Passion and the Palm Sunday procession each day is kept in preparation for celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus. Originally this celebration was only one liturgy---beginning Saturday evening and concluding with the baptisms and Eucharist at dawn on the Sunday. Over the centuries, the various events of this drama were spread out over three days: the Last Supper and arrest on Thursday evening, the trial and crucifixion on Friday and the vigil and the resurrection on Saturday /Sunday.

Many of today’s ceremonies date back to the 4th and 5th centuries and because of the sacredness of these days little has changed in the celebrating of these soul-touching mysteries.

It is a time for symbol and action: of feet washing, and prayer vigil, of dramatic presentation of story and of spiritually and physically coming to the foot of the cross, of darkness and the light of the Paschal Candle dispelling that darkness, of being wet and savouring the aroma of chrism, and breaking the bread with renewed joy.

There is nowhere else for Christians to be during these three days, except to be with the Community celebrating the Christian Passover, coming from death to life in the spirit of the Risen Christ and finally joining with the whole Church, in heaven and on earth in the great ALLELUIA ! (Extracts from an article by Ronald Dowling.)

The Unfolding drama of Holy Week and Easter.

Holy Week: ---the week prior to Easter during which the church gratefully commemorates the passion and death of Christ. The changing liturgical colours can help stimulate our visual and aesthetic senses and emotions during this drama of darkness and light, valley and mountain, death and life.

Palm Sunday. (red) ---a time of acclamation, celebration and confusion as the crowd welcomes the one on the donkey.

Maundy Thursday. (violet)--- the crowd disperses, the pressures on Jesus increase, the shadows descend. The Last Supper.

Good Friday. (red and black) --- a time of shattered hopes, of destruction and grief. Crucifixion and death.

Holy Saturday: ---a time of darkness and heaviness.

Easter Period: Begins on Easter day—over 50 days and 7 Sunday’s. The festival of Christ’s resurrection. Ascension Day, 40 days after Easter, is celebrated to affirm that Jesus Christ is Lord of all times and places.

Easter Day (white)--- Christ is risen: He is risen indeed: incredulous shock, the dawning of hope out of defeat.

Ascension Day (white)---hope is realised. The appearances of Jesus point down the road to Pentecost, when the Spirit will empower the people

Rev E A. (Ted) Curnow.