Easter Messages from our Bishops
April 4, 2010
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Easter Message from Bishop Minns:
It is the greatest cry of triumph that the world has ever known! It needs to be shouted loud and often because the resurrection of Jesus changes everything for everyone.
It changes how we look at life. Most people live as if this life is all that there is. “You only live once, so why not go out in style?” is the way actor Jack Nicholson puts it in the recent movie, “The Bucket List.” The premise of the movie is that his goal, along with actor Morgan Freeman’s, is to discover the joy in their lives before it’s too late. Lots of people live with this as their unspoken assumption. All this changes once we hear the resurrection cry. This life is not all that there is; in truth, this life is just the beginning of life eternal and the next life is more exciting and satisfying than this life will ever be.
It changes how we look at death. According to Benjamin Franklin, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Both are bad news! Death is so often seen as the end of all that we love and is to be avoided at all cost; but sadly, in the end, it is something to which we must all submit. Not so fast, says the apostle Paul who writes, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Once we profess the truth of the resurrection then death is no longer to be feared. It loses its power over us. We know that death is not the end of everything but the beginning of a new life in the presence of the One who is the Lord of life.
It changes how we look at Jesus. “I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history,” wrote H.G. Wells. There have been lots of other people who have claimed to be the Messiah but none of them have ever been raised from the dead! The resurrection makes him unique. Jesus beat death! He is the only man ever to do so. But what is even more astonishing is that Jesus promises that all those who put their trust in Him will beat death also.
It changes how we look at ourselves. “Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through? God specializes in things thought impossible and does the things that others cannot do,” according to that old Gospel chorus. Once we hear the resurrection cry we know that nothing is impossible for God. When we look at the challenges in our own lives and in the world around us we do so with confidence. We know that Jesus overcame the very worst that the world could throw at him and in his Name we can do the same. That is the glorious promise of Easter Day. It is a promise to be proclaimed to the whole world because it changes everything.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
The Rt. Rev’d Martyn Minns
Missionary Bishop of CANA
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Easter Message from Archbishop Duncan:
“Go make the tomb secure . . .”
Pilate invites Jerusalem’s leaders to “secure” the tomb of Jesus [Mt. 27.62-66]. They “secure” the tomb with a stone, sealant and soldiers. As if these could contain our Lord . . . Their efforts prove inadequate. Their materials and means turn out to be no match for the One through whom all things were made.
In this first year of the life of the Anglican Church in North America we have so much for which to give thanks. First and foremost is the cross of Jesus Christ, by which all previous securities are undone, and life comes by death.
There are many tombs which others have tried to “secure” with us inside. There are also some tombs in which we have been tempted to “secure” ourselves. None of these tombs hold when Jesus is there.
They can take our buildings and our assets here at home. They can even take our lives, as in far-flung places like Nigeria and Sudan and Indonesia But Jesus is with all those who embrace Him above all else, who follow Him to – and through – whatever crosses are asked.
For us as faithful Anglican Christians the efforts by others to “secure” our tombs have failed miserably, just as they did with the One we call on as Lord and Savior. There has been suffering and loss, pain and grief, anxiety and fear – these things have been very real, and demanded our very best efforts, as well as the grace of the Holy Spirit in abundance. ”But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” [1 Cor. 15.57].
As I look across the Anglican Church in North America this Easter – seeing its life, its vitality, its healing, its unity, its compassion, its forgiveness, its renewal, its multiplication and growth, its international partners, its clear sense of mission, its appreciation of the transforming love of Jesus Christ – I think I am understanding the mystery and the truth of Easter better than I ever have before. I hope you and yours are too. With Jesus it is just not possible to “secure” any tomb. Easter joy and love to all.
The Most Rev’d Robert William Duncan, D.D.
Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America
Easter, A.D. 2010
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