I was travelling home from Wagga Wagga on Easter Saturday three years ago. Due to the need to make a connecting flight I had at least two hours stop-over in Sydney. The airline I was travelling with supplied us with complimentary newspapers, which I began to pore over, and to my utter dismay came across an editorial relating to Easter.
At the time I considered the article a piece of ill-informed verbiage, posing as journalism.
I was "not happy Jan". What made me annoyed was that the article actually suggested that the message of Easter was "tired" and "jaded" and that unless the church got another message then time was almost up for the church.
Upon reflection I still do not think that the message is the problem. However I am convinced that the 'packaging' may well be. For as long as I can remember the churches have, traditionally, been very negative around this time of year, along with the other special season of Christmas. We have unashamedly launched campaigns to put Christ back into Christmas and we have railed barrages of negative comment at the commercial world concerning Santa and Easter Eggs and the like.
Now I happen to believe that the commercial world with its tinsel, hype and hoo-hah have indeed hijacked the deep and special meaning of both Christmas and Easter. But the Church has really done little, other than to either perpetuate a 'soft image' of a Jesus who would hardly say boo to the proverbial goose or one of harsh legalism that is anything but a compassionate Messiah. Added to either of these images are the attacks levelled at the commercial hijacking of Christian festivals with opposing negative verbiage that unfortunately, in effect, has as its final target the children of our community.
As successive generations have grown up through our society hearing their special icons like Santa and Easter Eggs being attacked by Christians, it is little wonder the kids grow into adults who are at best sceptical of the church and at worst quite hostile against it.
I wonder what would be our churches reaction if massive advertising programs, rallies and other offensive public demonstrations were launched against the person of Jesus.
The message of the Cross was one of forgiveness and reconciliation, yet so many who profess the name of Jesus find it hard to even say "sorry". One of the most powerful moments of Easter was the prayer of Jesus asking God to forgive the very people who jeered at him and who led him to the authorities for his death. This same Jesus continued to love with unconditional love those who betrayed and denied him.
It was this Jesus who brought to the world the message of hope, reconciliation and love, even for our enemies. Just imagine what the world would be like if every one of us made a conscious effort to genuinely love one another? Yet this is the message of Easter. This is the very message that the newspaper editorial suggested was tired and jaded. I believe it is fresh and vital in today's world and in our current climate. This message is not only fresh, it is actually revolutionary, and has the capacity to change the world.
In a world that is torn and shaken by conflict we must learn the importance of the message of Jesus, namely, that we give thanks to God when we reach out and hold our neighbour's hand in peace. When we not only mouth the words of Jesus concerning forgiveness and compassion but actually live them we make sense of the Cross and Resurrection, and Easter becomes a powerful demonstration of costly love that few could ignore.
My challenge this Easter is that those of us who claim Jesus as our Lord will learn again His way of love, forgiveness and reconciliation. And for those seeking peace in their world and lives, they will find it among the Easter People of the "Way of Jesus" – more commonly known as Christian. May the peace we can all know in Christ be yours this Easter and may the feet of God always walk with you.
Rev. Bob Rutherford
Lismore Regional Mission,
Uniting Church in Australia
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