EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 8, 2012--EVENING MEDITATION

The Party is Not Over

Scripture:  Isaiah 6:6-9

Growing up attending Easter services with my new dress and pretty shoes, it all seemed like a letdown when the service was over.  Everyone in my family seemed tired and cranky. Going home to take a nap, as my mom would always suggest, seemed like a really boring idea (though now as a pastor, a Sunday nap always sounds like a really good idea!)  As night would fall each Easter Sunday, the joys of new clothes, beautiful flowers and worship services were over; however, Easter was not.  Easter, in fact, had just begun!

Isaiah prophesied about a time in history when God would make a way for all peoples of the earth to come and feast-- to feast on a mountain of rich food and good wine, to feast on the goodness of the Lord with joyful proclamations.  Being people of Easter means that we have a new reality to claim for our lives, one in which we are ushering in the kingdom of God by whom we invite to our tables.

Consider the last time you hosted or attended a dinner party at someone's home. Who was there? Did everyone look the same? Dress the same? Attend similar schools? Hail from similar countries of origin?

Being people of Easter means now, we, as co-partners with God, have work to do. We are to be about cooking this feast for all nations. We are to be ambassadors for sharing the good news that all are one in Jesus Christ. So, I say, keep celebrating Easter, my friends. Don't put the fancy dresses and party hats away just yet. Invite your neighbors, invite new friends, invite a stranger, and feast this upcoming week on the goodness of the living Lord among you.

Prayer:  Living Lord, we worship you as Almighty God who has done great things among us. Don't let us forget your goodness, though. Don't let us forget to share. Don't let us get so self-consumed that we stop celebrating the good news that is all of ours this day: "You are risen indeed." AMEN.

EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 8, 2012--MORNING MEDITATION

Go and Proclaim

Scripture:  Mark 16:15-18

Jesus said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever doesn’t believe will be condemned. These signs will be associated with those who believe: they will throw out demons in my name. They will speak in new languages. They will pick up snakes with their bare hands. If they drink anything poisonous, it will not hurt them. They will place their hands on the sick and they will get well.” (Common English Bible, vv 15-18)

This time Jesus really does it! First he amazes us by rising from the grave and with joy we fall in behind our Risen Lord, raising high his banner, proclaiming the good news to every creature that crosses our path. We feel good – we know we can do this. 

But then Jesus tells us what his followers, those who believe that he is the Son of God, will look like. They will be the ones casting out those devilish demons, speaking in new languages, picking up those big slimy snakes with ungloved hands, drinking stuff their mothers always told them not, and placing hands on those bodies racked with disease and watching them heal before their very eyes.

Jesus wants to give us untamed resurrection power. These are the signs that the world is looking for from those who shout “Alleluia” this morning. On this side of the resurrection, snatching a colt or following that man with the jar of water looks pretty pedestrian. Those were mere training lessons. Jesus thinks we are ready to pick up the cross and follow. So ready or not – it’s time to go and proclaim the good news to all. Even on this Easter Morning.

Prayer:  Risen Lord and Savior don’t let us hide behind the Easter hymns and lilies, rather use this day, and use your people, to show the world the power of the resurrection available to all who believe. Alleluia. Amen.

 The Reverend Gloria McCanna