Each year I squirm uncomfortably as I hear and see ads for Easter clothing sales, Easter candy sales, and Easter Egg kits, hunts, and rolls. Never mind the obvious consumerism. Part of my difficulty is my sense that so much of the power of the church's proclamation that God is a God of life seems to be lost when we forget that God is a God who confronts death. The gospel writers tell us about how Jesus' followers encountered the resurrection as they reeled from the pain and confusion of the crucifixion. Easter was a response to Golgotha - to domination and abandonment. Easter had poignant context.
I wonder how we might celebrate God's living presence among us this year as we contemplate the many ways in which we've wondered if God has been absent. Can our resurrection celebrations affirm God's life-giving presence and power in the midst of an often death-dealing world? Can we rejoice in God's call and be strengthened to challenge the very systems that crucify people even today? How will God's "no" to death engage us and call us to speak, act, and live lives of justice? Easter still has a poignant context.
I'm sure I'll color some Easter eggs this year. Who knows, I might even buy a chocolate bunny. I hope I'll take seriously the ways in which our Easter celebrations are protests against the systems and structures that rob the most vulnerable of the very things they need to live, and affirmations of the God who raises Jesus and calls us to follow. Joy that confronts sorrow is invigorating, empowering, enlightening...
