The Season of Easter

On this day we mark the celebration of Easter; and what a marvelous celebration it is. As followers of Christ, we have heard the story: how he proclaimed a new kingdom, one completely different from the kingdom of Rome; how Rome eventually killed him by crucifixion, a form of punishment reserved for those who posed a threat to the Roman Empire.

That crucifixion was the ultimate, defining NO to the message proclaimed by Jesus. But then God came back with the ultimate, defining YES. Neither the cross nor the tomb were enough to silence the gospel Christ proclaimed. That good news is proclaimed still! Christ lives! And the kingdom of God remains at hand for those who seek it.

That is what this day means. That is what it is about. On this day, we transition from the darkness of Lent to the glorious light of the Easter season. Having completed our journey to Jerusalem and the cross, we now embark on a new journey: the journey through Easter to Pentecost.

This is how we mark time in the church. Yes, we mark time in other ways as well: there’s the calendar year, which starts on January 1; there’s the school year, which begins in late August or early September. For some, there is a fiscal year, which can start in July, or October, or any month one chooses.

But for followers of Jesus, there is another year: the liturgical year. It begins in late November or early December with the first Sunday of Advent. It includes celebrations like Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost. It is a year which connects our lives to the life of Jesus.

During Lent, we have explored a number of ancient practices. Letting the liturgical year give shape to our lives is one more of those practices. As we observe the seasons and the celebrations – as we watch the colors in the sanctuary change – we find ourselves being drawn closer to the God who created us, and to the Christ we follow: the Christ who is alive, even today.

The season of Easter begins today, and continues until Pentecost, which is May 23. In this season we will see how the good news of Easter began with a small group of Jewish disciples; how it expanded beyond them to include gentiles in the regions surrounding Jerusalem; how it expanded to include Africans and Europeans, circumcised and uncircumcised, slave and free, powerful and weak; how it expanded to include those who had doubts, those who didn’t understand, those whose lives did not follow the strict codes of the religious elite; how it expanded to include even the earth itself, the earth that belongs to God, everything that is in it, and every creature that lives upon it.

It is a message of healing and wholeness. It is a message of liberation and transformation. It is a message of peace, love, and justice.

And it is for all the world.