Alleluia, Christ is risen!


The Lord is risen indeed, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!


Jesus is risen; death is defeated.


Jesus is risen; wrong does not have the final word.


Jesus is risen; things will never be the same again.


Jesus is risen; the powers of hell have not prevailed against the gentleness and humility of Love Incarnate.


Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!


In the Porter’s Gate’s song, “Wood and Nails” (yes, one of my favourite songs), one of the lyrics goes like this:


“These wooden tombs, we'll break them soon
And fashion them into flower beds.”


This was part of the inspiration for my white Easter stole. On the neck, there is a depiction of the ancient Byzantine icon of the Anastasis—the Resurrection, in which Christ pulls up Adam and Eve from their tombs, with the doors under his feet.


On the front of the stole are those same tombs from the icon, with flowers now springing up from them…tombs that have been fashioned, repurposed, into flower beds.


Where there was only death, defeat and decay, through Easter, we find new life, victory, and hope.


However, the beauty of being Easter people, people who are shaped by the mystery of resurrection, is that we do not only revel in the joy of God’s triumph through self-giving love. We are given the responsibility, the privilege, the delight of being part of the breaking down of all that deals death and its transformation into what brings life.


Today, we celebrate the new life Christ has brought, the reconciliation that he has wrought, the freedom that he has bought through the empty tomb.


Tomorrow, we roll up our sleeves in God’s Easter Garden and begin to take apart what is wrong – every tomb - and start building all that is good – flower beds.


May the flowers that grow there, the fruit that is born, be for the blessing of the world.


Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!


CG+