Ecology and the Theology of the Cross: A continuation of a study on the Theology of the Cross

Jürgen Moltmann, author of the book “The Crucified God,” begins his book by explaining “the cross is not and cannot be love.” Moreover, he further notes that “only the crucified Christ can bring the freedom which changes the world because it no longer afraid of death.”1 The cross was a method of torture, humiliation, and murder and it is here that Jesus’ revealed his glory to the world. In the first paper, a summary was given about the two theologies by mainly focusing on the work of Gerhard Forde. The relevancy of a theology of the cross can still be debated. We live in a post modern-world where scientific fact is valued more than religion or philosophy. It is for this reason that a more in depth comparison study is needed between contemporary theologies and a theology of the cross. The Theology of the Cross is still relevant in the church today especially when view through Ecological theology.

First we must begin by looking at the historical context of Eco-theology. The cross is at the center of any credible Christian Theology. It has come to define the faith of Christians, but not always in the same way. For any theologian, whether they be an Ecologist or a Liberationist theologian, “the cross either offends rationality or becomes a tool to perpetuate an anemic will and a slave-like disposition.”2 The interpretation of the cross is a complicated debate in the church today. Each group holds a different interpretation of the cross and the crucifixion. For some, the cross is a gruesome sign of torture and is avoided at all cost, while others see the boldness “of a god that dies the death of a condemned criminal” as something to be desired.3 Living 2000 years post the cross event, it is difficult to determine what the intended meaning of the cross was for Christianity. The church is still left with questions as to why Jesus had to suffer and because of these questions, multiple interpretations of cross abound rather than unity surround the Cross event.

The study of ecology first began in the 1950s, and was intended to explore what humanity’s affect has been on the environment.4 In recent years, Ecology has become an important issue in the church once again. Kwok Pui-lan, author of the article “Ecology and Christology,” expands on ecology as not only encompassing “nature (natural ecology) but culture and society (human ecology, social ecology, and so on).”5 According to Victor Westhelle, author of the book “The Scandalous God, the early church viewed ecology and creation as something to be cherished, not to be exploited and abused as it is today.

Ecology, when viewed through a theological lens, finds its origins in the Doctrine of Incarnation. According to Westhelle, this doctrine and the ideas found within are uniquely a Christian construct. It is here that God’s embodiment “is not a lofty display of God’s majesty, but a descent into the most deprive level of the human condition, down to the abject death itself.”6 God did not separate God’s self from creation but became a part of creation. Martha Kirkpatrick, author of the article “For God so loved the world: an incarnational ecology,” argues that the covenant made with Noah was not just to humanity, but was made with all of creation. It was this covenant that express “the constancy of God’s love for all life, human and non-human alike.”7 God is constantly recreating the world “by deconstructing it until nothing remains but a stump, so that it may be redeemed.”8 Simply put, God went to the bottom of creation, into humanity, so that all of creation might be encompassed.

God has included all of creation into the covenant but how does that covenant translate into life at the end of time? Is the world condemned or will the world be resurrected just as we will be resurrected? There are scripture references, however, that could be interpreted where creation is condemned. In Luke 23:42, Jesus tells the condemned convict hanging on the cross next to him that he will join Christ in paradise. Westhelle argues that this promise essentially condemns the world. Reformation theology tries to combat the notion that all creation is condemned. Martin Luther’s supposed claim that he would plant an apple tree even if he knew the world would end tomorrow shows the idea that creation will not stop when the world stops but will continue.9 There is a Latin dictum that says, “Justice be done even if the world is doomed” but does that mean creation will be resurrected just as we are resurrected?10

The importance of creation can be seen throughout Luther’s sermons, commentaries, letters, and lectures. Luther taught “the view we have of nature is the blindness we have to creation” and “only faith can see creation.11 But to acknowledge creation as good also means acknowledging that parts of creation has evil interlaced in it. To deny this claim would mean denying the cross.

Suffering and evil are a result of the human condition and are therefore a part of creation. Westhelle uses the metaphor of a neatly wrapped present to explain this. While the wrapping is beautiful, the true gift is not the paper, but rather what is inside that holds the promise. We have to trust and hope that the gifts given are good but sometimes the gifts we receive are not what we were expecting. Evil can exist even in the best wrapped gifts but we still need to open the box and explore so that we can show the respect the gift rightfully deserves. Creation is the same way. To limit God to just the beauty of the wrapping paper would limit the power of God and the ability to have God revealed on the cross. God is not just hidden in the beauty and goodness of nature but also in the ugliness and evil of nature as well.12

Now that we have a basic understanding of an eco-theology, we now can begin to investigate how this contemporary theology fits into a theology of the cross. Both a theologian of the cross and an ecologist will argue that God is even present in the evil and ugliness of creation. It is because of this understanding of God in this way that our entire view of God has to change. This is where a distinction of a theology of the cross and a theology of glory can be made. A theologian of glory would call all of creation good because it is created by God and ignore the evil and ugliness left in creation. A theologian of the cross calls a thing what it is--evil and ugly. Westhelle makes the point that “God should not be praised for the greatness of creation in spite of evil; God should be praised in the midst of evil where God’s continuing creation works out the annihilation force of evil.”13 When God created (and still creates) God’s creation, God created “out of nothing, out of sin and evil, the terrifying abyss of utter emptiness (creatio ex nihio).”14 To deny that God cannot take something as evil and turn it into something astonishing is to deny the cross event. It is here that God took the cross, a representation of evil and ugliness in the world, and revealed what the coming Kingdom of God would envision.

For both a theologian of the cross and an ecologist, evil is a part of the world because of the human condition of sin. All of creation suffers because of humanity’s sin. Westhelle argues that we cannot “ignore the visible or to flee from it in search of the pure Word.” To do this would “take the cross out of this world.”15 To deny evil and suffering as a result to the human condition denies the cross.

Westhelle argues that ecologists believes all of humanity shares in the responsibility of the world’s problems. It is here that our failures and faults come to the surface and our suffering “makes the visible transparent when the suffering seen is proclaimed by the Word to be the suffering for which humans share responsibility, either by action that perpetrates it or by omission in failing to respond to it.”16 Ecologists argue that we all share in this common responsibility to care for the creation that suffers because of our own sin. Jesus never tells us that we can simply sit on the side lines but that we all need to invest ourselves into the community and world around us. The cross gave us the revelation of God’s kingdom, but it also showed us that Jesus was crucified because he taught us to care for one’s neighbor and community. It is through the cross that we are given the ability to strive for more and to care for what God has deemed good. We are no longer limited but liberated by the cross and are therefore freed to do what Jesus taught us to do.

Puilan offers three ways to show God is with all of creation: “In acts of compassion and solidarity, in movements of people who are bearers of hope, and in rituals that celebrate life and evoke the power of the divine.”17 First, we must remember that Jesus’ life was spent among the poor, the needy, and the oppressed. Jesus went against the status quo and proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was for all. For many Christians today, humanity is at the top and the rest of creation is below humanity. In both of these theologies, however, humanity is at the bottom and by Christ going to the bottom, all of creation benefits from the cross. Second, Jesus disclosed himself as a renewer of society and was therefore condemned to death for it. The authorities condemned and tried to destroy everything Jesus stood for. But by the cross, all that Jesus taught and did was brought to the surface. If it was not for the cross, Jesus would have been in vain. Finally, it is in the rituals that we not only remember but we see the incarnation of Jesus. Christians have been doing rituals for centuries. They remind us of not only who we are, but also shows us a glimpse of God’s love. In communion and baptism, our earthly elements are taken and made holy. God takes the ugliness of our earthly elements: societal outcasts, the cross, and our rituals and creates something beautiful. Our rituals may define us but it is the cross that gives meaning to the rituals.18

It is through a “theology of the cross [that] the suffering in and of the world is recognized as the locus of God’s creative work.”19 In Jesus’ death, we see who God is meant to be, how God takes evil and ugliness and turns it into something good and beautiful, and it is in creation that we see God’s imagination continue.

A theologian of the cross and an ecologist view the cross very similarly. The church has always been for creation and it is only recent years that this mindset has been lost. Ecology’s first goal was to study how humanity has affect creation and the cross reminds us that we all have a responsibility in creation. The cause of evil is our human condition. God will continue to create good out of evil, but we are left with the responsibility to care for it. God is in creation, both good and evil, just as the cross is found in both joy and suffering.

------------------------------

• 1 Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), I.
• 2 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006), 2.
• 3 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 2.
• 4 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 27.
• 5 Pui-lan, Kwok. "Ecology and Christology." Feminist Theology: The Journal of the Britain & Ireland School of Feminist Theology no. 15 (May 1997): 113.
• 6 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 27.
• 7 Kirkpatrick, Martha, "For God so loved the world": an incarnational ecology." Anglican Theological Review 91, no. 2 (March 1, 2009): 199.
• 8 Kirkpatrick, Martha, "For God so loved the world": an incarnational ecology," 200.
• 9 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 94.
• 10 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 94.
• 11 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 97.
• 12 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 101.
• 13 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 101.
• 14 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 101.
• 15 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 103.
• 16 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 103.
• 17 Pui-lan, Kwok, "Ecology and Christology," 124.
• 18 Pui-lan, Kwok, "Ecology and Christology," 123-124.
• 19 Victor Westhelle, The Scandalous God, 103.

Second Sunday after Pentecost

This was a sermon I preached in class. Enjoy

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

As we complete our Easter and Pentecost season, we enter into a point of the church year where we grow as a community. Easter was a time when we heard the stories that make us who we are (creation, Noah and the Ark, the great Exodus to just name a few) and now we will hear stories that define our Christian faith. We grow as a community not only in numbers but in faith as we learn the life that God wants us to live. Today, we begin this cycle with the raising of a widow’s son.

And I know what some of you may be thinking. How does this story of the raising of a widow’s son help us grow as a community? Well you will just have to listen for a bit. First, we need to look at the Old Testament for some background information. This particular story in Luke parallels two other stories found in 1st and 2nd Kings. They involve the prophets Elijah and Elisha. In the first story, Elijah is summoned to a widow’s house because her son has died. She is bitter at God and Elijah at the death of her son. Elijah cries out to the Lord, "O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?"
Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's life come into him again" (1Ki 17:20-21 NRS). Notice who does the actions. We will come back to that in a bit.

The second raising was done by the prophet Elisha. If you remember your biblical history, Elisha was the “apprentice” to the prophet Elijah. Elisha met a Shunammite woman back in 1st Kings. She showed hospitality to the prophet. However, her son falls ills and eventually succumbs to his illness. I can only imagine the pain Elisha felt at the loss of the young child. He enters the house and prays over the body to the Lord. The child received life back into his body and Elisha called for his mother said, “Take your son.”

Flash forward some 800 years. Jesus is traveling from village to village proclaiming that Kingdom of God is near. He comes upon the tiny, little village of Nain. I am talking small and insignificant. It is in the area that hold no real religious significance to people. Who would have ever thought something significant would happen in this place? In this village, he is met face to face with a grieving widow who just lost her only son. The crowd following Jesus meets the crowd following the widow. Jesus looks at the boy’s mother and says, “Do not weep.” Now let’s talk about this for a minute. “Do not weep.” The woman just lost her only son, her husband is dead, and now she has nobody to support her. And Jesus says, “Do not weep.” It would be cynical for any of us say “do not weep.” You have lost your son, your sole source of income, your social status is now gone and now this stranger walks in says, “Do not weep.” Ah but there is more to these three simple words. Luke does something here and I am sure everyone read over it without even thinking about it. Luke calls Jesus, “Lord.” Not only that, this is the first time Jesus is call Lord in the Gospel. Now for us, Lord means so many things. Lord could be a dignitary’s term and also used to identify someone who owns land. But it is so much deeper than that. κύριος, Lord, is how God is referred to in the Old Testament. In both of the stories in 1st and 2nd Kings, Elijah and Elisha pray to κύριος. Now Jesus is κύριος.

Jesus touches the structure carrying the body and says, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" "Young man, I say to you, rise!" Notice, Jesus does not pray to the κύριος but rather commands the man to sit up, to rise up, to get up, to live.The dead man sits up and fear seizes the crowd for they saw the glory of God that day. They saw the κύριος, Jesus, raise a man from the dead by his own power.

Imagine the look in everyone’s eyes. Imagine the awe, shock, and amazement they all felt. Imagine the feeling the mother felt when Jesus handed back her son from the grave. The young man is not the only one healed in this story but the widow has also been healed. In fact, I would even make the argument that she is the central character in the story and not her son. Woh Woh Woh preacher. What are you talking about? Jesus raised her son from the grave not her. Right but she also received a death sentence once her son died. She was poor, an outcast, uncleaned and Jesus restores her righteousness. Literally, Luke points the entire story to the widow. As one commentary shows, “the dead man (remember males were dominate) was his mother’s only son.” That statement shows ownership of the man by a woman. Woman were not allow to own anything. Further, “the focus of attention is on her: she was a widow, the crowd was with HER, Jesus saw HER, had compassion on her HER, spoke to HER, and finally, gave the dead man brought back to life to HER. She who is husbandless and sonless and in mourning, she who epitomizes the “poor” to whom Jesus has come to bring good news, is the real recipient of Jesus’s compassionate ministry.”

So now 2000 years later, we are left with this story in a time when we, as a community, is supposed to be strengthen physically, mentally, and spiritually. We are left to continue preaching this story of resurrection to a world where these stories seem strange and, at times, even outdated. But there is so much more we can learn from this story. It was here, through this healing, that Luke now begins to refer to Jesus as κύριος. It is through the raising of the young man (the widow’s son), in a village known to very few people, Jesus restores the boy’s life, his mother’s life and even the town. More importantly, Jesus always goes to the last, lost, least, outcast, and weeping and restores them--restores the weeping mother. A man, of great knowledge and importance, who attracts crowds through his words and his miracles, stoops down to the last, lost, least, outcast, and weeping. That is the mission Jesus is calling us to follow. That is at the center of Jesus ministry. Jesus does not start at the top but works his way through the bottom of society, through people who never expected the power of God (the kingdom of God) to come upon them, to come upon people like you and me. That is who Jesus wants us to minister too. That is mission we are all called to be in. Jesus went to the bottom and so shall we. It is here, at the bottom, that Jesus finds us. It is here that God will bless the works of our hands because we are following the example of the κύριος, of our Lord and savior, Jesus the Christ who now lives and reigns with the Father and Holy Spirit amidst the weeping widows of our world. Amen.

Second Sunday after Easter

I preached this sermon at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in WV. I tried to combat Decision Theology. I welcome your comments.

In the name Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14”

Alleluia. Christ is Risen. He has risen indeed. Alleluia. Christ is Risen. He has risen indeed. Alleluia.

That does not get old. Christ has certainly risen and we continue to proclaim that message--My Lord and my God has risen. And today we continue in this Easter season with the very famous story of a man named Thomas whose awe-inspiring faith inspires us each and every day.

Now I love the look on some of your faces. “I thought this was called Doubting Thomas.” Thomas’s faith is awe-inspiring? Actually his concept of faith is at the heart and center of our Lutheran Confessions:
“I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with the Spirit’s gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as the Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith...”

A number of years ago, I was working as a Patient Transporter at St Joe’s right outside Baltimore. One day, I was taking a patient and her family down to have a heart cauterization. This particular patient was in her mid-forties and had a number of different family members there with her. One of them was a nurse and asked if she could walk with the patient down operating room. I didn’t see a problem with that so I dropped the family off at the waiting room and we keep walking down the hallway to the operating room. Now I am the first to admit that the walk to the lab is a very interesting walk. Patients usually would make a confession to me or ask me to say a prayer. This particular patient was very different. As we are walking, the patient’s friend says, “No matter the outcome, Jannie is not afraid because she is saved. Have you found Jesus? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?” The conversation stopped as I wheeled the patient into the operating room and I do not remember how I answered. I was more dumbfounded that both the patient and her friend tried to convert me while being wheeled in to an operating room for a heart operation.

But those two questions have remained with me for several months (years even). Some days I could say yes but other days I could not. I mean, I really try hard to believe, to do everything that a Christian is “suppose” to do. But I fail and when people ask me that question I feel ashamed answering Yes.

It is amazing that this very simple, closed-ended question, who intent is to strengthen an individual’s faith, can ruin the faith of so many. This has become a issue in the Christian church and we need break down these two question for a minute and compare them the text so that we all have a better idea of what the true Christian message is here.

“Have you found Jesus?” Last week, my GPS broke on my way to preach in DC. It was not the best place to break and for a time, I was a bit lost trying to find the nursing home. And I happened to giggle a little when I thought about Jesus getting lost. Have you found Jesus? OMG he is missing?!?! Alert the hounds. The King of the Universe, the Prince of Peace, Lord of Lords is MISSING! No that is not the case. In fact, our Gospel text disproves this idea that we need to find Jesus:
-When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus CAME and STOOD among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
-A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus CAME and STOOD among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
Jesus entered into the house. Jesus entered into the locked house. Jesus entered into their locked and fearing hearts and said, “Peace be with you.” The disciples were the one who were lost. They saw Jesus crucified, tortured, laid in the tomb and now the women of their group come running back saying, “They have seen the Lord.” Jesus found Mary in the garden, Jesus called her name and she recognized them. Jesus entered into the Lock room and found his chosen followers--his friend.

“Personal savior.” Now that is an interesting idea. Jesus is my personal Savior. I feel kind of privileged now. “Just keep on bullying me, I am going to sick my friend Jesus on you and he is going to mess you up. He is going take his sword and his shield and just go ballistic on you.” But is that case? Is that the Christian message? Jesus used violence to beat down Satan and death? How quickly some forget the scripture, “At noon, they Crucified Jesus with one criminal on his left and one on his right.” Talk about going ballistic. Jesus won the battle by becoming a victim, by dying on the cross. We are not privileged but rather we are promised that Jesus has conquered death and the grave.

Jesus’ death was not a private act but very public. Jesus ministry was not just for the individuals he touched or the individuals he taught but rather for the entire community, for the entire church both the past, present, and future. Yes, Jesus speaks to us but we are still a part of the church, we are still a part of the community. Notice, it was a week later that Jesus appeared to Thomas. Jesus didn’t find Thomas in a market the next day but he waited till the group was all together. If Jesus was just his personal Savior, why didn’t Jesus just find Thomas alone at night? That is why there isn’t just a personal savior because Jesus never just appeared to one individual but to the entire community just as he appears to us today. There is no personal savior but a Crucified Savior for all--There is a God who so loved the world (THE ENTIRE WORLD).

John Hoffymer wrote an amazing article about the theology of the cross. In this article, he shows Jesus as not just Crucified but a victim of torture and it is through this torture that we Jesus revealed. He writes:
Jesus is raised from the dead with the marks of his torture very much present. When the resurrected Jesus appears to the gathered disciples for the first time in John, he shows them his wounded hands and side. In seeing Jesus with his wounds, the disciples are able to rejoice in “seeing the Lord” (Jn 20:20).
Those marks on his hands, those visible signs of torture and pain--of the Cross--reveal Jesus to us. It is in those signs of torture and victimization that Jesus’ power and grace is revealed. It was here, when Jesus came into the midst of the community, Thomas sees the wounds (not even need to touch them) and proclaims, MY LORD AND MY GOD! Thomas is the first to proclaim Jesus as θεος. The first to proclaim Jesus as God because of the wounds bore on the cross.

So when someone asks you “Have you found Jesus?” I want you to boldly proclaim, “No I have not but he has found me.” When someone asks, “Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior?” I want you to say, “No but he has accepted me as broken and sinful--not deserving his love but receiving it all the more.” When someone asks if you have ever seen Jesus I want you to boldly and triumphantly say, “YES, by the wounds on his hands and in side, in the pain and suffering of the world, in the joy and amazement of a young child--There is Jesus. Jesus is always in our midst.” Amen.

Easter Day Sermon

I preached at the National Lutheran Home on Easter. Below is my sermon. I will tell you that I did add to my sermon as I was preaching. You just had to be there.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Let us pray, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14”

Alleluia. Christ is Risen. He has risen indeed. Alleluia. Christ is Risen. He has risen indeed. Alleluia.

A Sunday School teacher asked her class on the Sunday before Easter if they knew what happened on Easter and why it was so important. One little girl spoke up saying: "Easter is when the whole family gets together, and you eat turkey and sing about the pilgrims and all that." "No, that's not it," said the teacher.

"I know what Easter is," a second student responded. "Easter is when you get a tree and decorate it and give gifts to everybody and sing lots of songs." "Nope, that's not it either," replied the teacher.

Finally a third student spoke up, "Easter is when Jesus was killed, and put in a tomb and left for three days." "Ah, thank goodness somebody knows" the teacher thought to herself.

But then the student went on: "Then everybody gathers at the tomb and waits to see if Jesus comes out, and if he sees his shadow he has to go back inside and we have six more weeks of winter."

After 46 days of wondering and waiting, we see the culmination of despair disappear by those three simple words disappear: Christ is Risen. Death did not win, Satan lost, and Jesus’ stands as a revelation of God’s coming Kingdom (and that is a crazy revelation) but why did this all have to take place?

I mean, think about it. Why did Jesus have to die? What does it mean that Jesus is the revelation of God’s coming Kingdom? Jesus--crucified, tortured, kill and risen--is the revelation of God’s coming kingdom? Could there have been a better way to do it?

When we think of God, we think of power, prestige, king of all kings, lord of all lords, knower of everything, maker of heaven and earth. But these past few days have not shown our traditional view of God. We have not see Jesus perched high his throne with a spear in one hand, a shield in the next, defeating Pilate and Herod, and becoming the ruler of the whole world. But that is not the case, Jesus was not that glorious hero but rather broken, scorned and killed. Pilate and Herod gained their power by defeating their enemies, Jesus received his power by wearing a crown of thorns and stretching out his arms to die.

But that isn’t the end of the story. Good Friday is good because not only what happened that day but what comes next. The disciples have just spent three long years walking with Jesus and heard Jesus say God’s kingdom is coming. But their kingdom and their king died or so they thought. There is a theme throughout the entire New Testament: God takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary. God took a Cross and crown Jesus King on it; God took the grave and burst the bonds of death; God takes you and me and promises not to abandon us to the grave. "If we don't know WHAT is beyond the grave we do know WHO is beyond the grave.”

Today, this day, in the very words of this Holy and Blessed Gospel, we heard Death will never, never win because of this Resurrection. In Jesus’ resurrection, we find life, salvation, and a crucified, tortured, and risen Christ. But yet for so many of us, myself included, we still want to know how it all seemed to happen.

We live in an age when we want to explain everything but this cannot be explain with science but only with our faith. We do not know how or why all of this had to take place but do know that in the end, Christ is not dead in a tomb. Every other prophet lies dead in their graves but Jesus lives and we are all witnesses to this very fact. Jesus was not forsaken, denied, finished but rather is the beginning and risen--here with us.

Lent is time went we wondered and looked for what this all means. We wondered if our love was a hopeless march or if our alleluias were cold and broken. But today, today my brothers and sisters, our songs do not read, “Christ died” but “Christ our Lord is risen today!” We are not in despair, we are not forsaken, we are not abandoned at the foot of the cross but we live because Christ lives in us. We have been clothed in Christ through our baptism and we shall be reunited in a resurrection that we celebrate today. As that beautiful Easter Carol says:
“Christ is risen! Hence forth never death or hell shall us enthrall. We are Christ’s in him forever we have triumphed over all. All the doubting and dejection of our trembling hearts have ceased’ hail the day of resurrection! Let us rise and keep the feast. Christ is risen! Alleluia! Risen our victorious head! Sing his praises! Alleluia! Christ is risen from the dead!
That is our victory march--Today, Christ lives. Today Jesus is no longer ordinary but extraordinary. Today, HE LIVES! Amen.