Every year it is difficult to switch from the drama of the story of Holy Week to the glory of Easter. After following the way of the cross to the death of Jesus outside the city, alone and abandoned at the place of the skull, these images remain with us as we come to church on Easter Day. After all we have been through, we come to weep, or to bring our box of spices to the tomb. We come to commemorate what has happened, rather than to take in the new reality.
This week's news
Perhaps we might begin with the 75th anniversary of Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath. See The Telegraph’s 10 surprising facts.
The title proclaims resurrection ‘Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord…’ Today we sing ‘Glory, glory, Alleluia!’ Route 66 is the road to redemption and life after the death of farming in the dust bowl of America. The book came out on an ominous Friday.
Writing the book almost broke the author mentally, but turned out to be a triumph. The book was burnt and banned, yet won the author the Novel Prize for literature. The story tells of an Exodus journey through the wilderness to a promised land.
The Telegraph also points to a blog about the opening sequence of the horror movie Silence of the Lambs. The film’s title may evoke Zurbaran’s painting ‘Agnus Dei’ . Here will be a story of the triumph of the apparently weak and innocent against appalling evil.
In the new reality, no-one is outside God’s care. ‘God shows no partiality’(Acts 10.34). So those who have been forgotten by society have now been brought into focus by the creation of food banks by many churches, which allows us to quantify the level of hunger in Britain and put this on the nation’s agenda.
One of the most unlikely Easter stories (but then, Easter is an unlikely story) is of Richard Dawkins bringing people to Christ.
Easter is a great time to celebrate Handel’s great gift to the poor of London, Messiah. See the BBC TV programme on Saturday.
Giles Fraser had a piece in The Mail (for Palm Sunday) pointing out that there is more to Christianity than being nice.
A recent Thought for the Day by John Bell (not yet available on the BBC website) highlighted both good and bad images of the cross. Christians have a legacy of using the cross as a symbol of oppression and religious warfare, rather than of preaching peace (Acts 10.42). This remains a lesson we have to relearn from the resurrection in every generation. And it was salutary to learn from another Thought for the Day this week from Lord Singh that, in the celebration of Baisakhi, his community was marking a commitment to human rights first made in 1699. ‘Living true to such teachings means putting ethical imperatives before political or social expediency. It requires real commitment to human rights, including gender equality and the recognition of the oneness of our human family, with a total rejection of all notions of caste or race.’
It is salutary as we hear the Easter Day reading from the Acts of the Apostles to recall how much this primary Easter message has been overlooked by Christians.
Of course, it is difficult to find true ‘Easter’ stories part way through Holy Week. They will surely arrive as a surprise at the last minute.
Reflection
The Easter story remains a surprise, and its broad implications continue to stretch our understanding.
The recognition that the risen Christ is ‘Lord of all’ means that all are equally valued. ‘I will pour out my spirit on all humanity’ (Acts 2.17). No-one is excluded, and those marginalised by society or discriminated against should be our first concern. We can be mindful, in the multicultural society in which we live out and practise our faith, that this is a principle we share with our sisters and brothers of the Sikh faith.
The Easter message is one to take out, not one to keep for ourselves.
The message of Easter mirrors the song of the angels ‘Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth’. Messages about a ‘wrath of God’ which often confuse the story of the cross are not found in the Easter readings: ‘preaching peace by Jesus Christ’ (Acts 10.36); ‘His steadfast love endures for ever’ (Psalm 118.2); ‘Peace be with you’(John 20.19); ‘Do not be afraid’ (Matthew 28.5).
Prayer
The response to the words ‘Open our eyes, Lord’, is ‘To see as you see.’
Lord, you opened Peter’s eyes in a vision, saying, ‘I should not call anyone profane or unclean’,
Open our eyes, Lord: to see as you see.
We pray for all who share in the political life of our nation and in the work of government, that they may work for justice and equality for all.
Open our eyes, Lord: to see as you see.
We pray for an end to racism and all forms of discrimination, and the politics of envy, mistrust and division.
Open our eyes, Lord: to see as you see.
We pray for the forgotten and the needy in our society, and all who feel on the margins…
Open our eyes, Lord: to see as you see.
We pray for those who suffer, in body and in mind, for those who are lonely and for all in distress…
Open our eyes, Lord: to see as you see.
May we remember the departed with hope, and with trust in your risen Son…
Open our eyes, Lord: to see as you see.
Amen.
Questions
- What implications are there for today in the story of Peter’s vision and the visit to Cornelius’ house?
- Peter struggled with the idea of going to Cornelius’ house, and Jesus struggled in his attitude to outsiders (as in Mathew 15.21-28, the Samaritan woman). Where do we still struggle, personally, in society, and our political life?
Action
Local elections are coming. Tell your election candidates of your concern for a just and equal society.
Young People
The most commonly encountered form of discrimination amongst young people is bullying. What can be done to end it?
Tom Ambrose is retired and lives in Cambridge.
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