Easter Sunday, April 4

by John Wilkinson

Jesus’ life and ministry happens, and it matters. Holy Week happens, and matters. It absolutely matters – the last supper, the painful and tragic crucifixion. Resurrection happens, and of course it matters. It is the source from which our story flows. But it matters only so much as it gains traction, has a context, is shared from person to person, then from community to community, then from generation to generation, then from century to century, then back to its basics – acts of kindness and love and compassion, simple acts of praise, the formation of communities that gather and disperse to build and renovate and restore. The power and truth of resurrection is never resurrection itself, but all that flows from it, all that follows. Lives transformed. Worlds changed. Differences made.

Here is the gospel truth. From water the world was created and called good. Through water God led our forbears into freedom. In water Jesus was baptized, and so are we. By water God quenches our thirst and plants the tree of life.

And because Jesus meets us at the lakeshore and feeds us and empowers us, here is the gospel truth as well. We are all reconstruction projects. We are all renovation projects. We are all restoration projects. All reclamation projects. All reformation projects. We are all resurrection projects.

To conclude A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean wrote, “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time.” That sounds like resurrection to me, and all that flows from it. Do not weep, Mary. (John 20) Cast your nets, disciples. (John 21) Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed.