Apr 25, 2022 5 min read Easter

Third Sunday of Easter

The resurrected Christ calls us out of our hate and into the Way of Love. Convert us, again and again, O God, to the Way called Love.

Photo by Pisit Heng / Unsplash

Happy Easter as we continue to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ.

Hallelujah! Praise our God!
Let us sing a new song, an Easter song, to our God.
For God is making all things new,
and we have come to praise God’s name.
Christ welcomes us to the feast,
and we have gathered as Christ’s own.
The Spirit unites us together as one,
and we praise our diversity in unity.
Hallelujah! Let us worship the resurrected Christ!

"Easter People, Raise Your Voices"

What difference does Easter make?

This week we continue a six-week Easter Season series from the Book of Acts. We are exploring various “Easter People” – people such as Paul, Tabitha, Peter and Lydia – and in our contemporary world.

Easter People live and move in light of the good news of Resurrection. How do the events of Easter affect our lives and actions today? What difference does Resurrection make? Join us as we seek to become witnesses to Resurrection, to be Easter People!

Brother Saul: Acts 9:1-8, 10-12, 17-18

Paul, the one known as Saul, was an Easter person. But, of course, it was a process, a becoming. In fact, for Paul it was a significant and dynamic shift in his identity as a Jew to move from persecuting Jewish followers of Jesus to spreading the news of Jesus's life, death, and resurreciton.

The familiar story of Saul's "conversion" experience on the road to Damascus provides opportunity to think about calling and conviction. There are similar accounts in Acts 22:4-16 and 26:9-18, not to mention Paul's own account in Galatians 1:13-17.

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus....Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Sauland said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized.

Paul's dramatic conversion has often set a precedent for contemporary Christians to measure their own spiritual lives against his radical model. "I once was lost but now I'm found." "I was a terrible person, then I met Jesus."

But our faith stories need not align with Paul's story, especially concerning the details and his seemingly rapid pivot from enemy to ambassador. We are offered additional models of faithful living and transformation in the Bible.

The more important and amazing aspect of Paul's journey within his religious tradition concerns the way that the resurrected Christ expands Paul's vision beyond his selfish desires and toward a more loving posture of care for others. Paul finds a way to move toward those more expansive spaces – spaces found within any religious tradition – that emphasize inclusion and love, transformation and grace.

The resurrected Christ calls us out of our hate and into the Way of Love.

Convert us, again and again, O God, to the Way called Love.

Make a splash. — Photo by Alex Perez / Unsplash

Remember Your Baptism

During this Easter season, we take a moment, a pause, to remember our baptism, to recall that moment -- perhaps many years past or only a few -- in which we were sealed as Christ’s own in the holy waters.

The sacrament of baptism is an outward and visible sign of the grace of God. Through baptism a person is joined with the universal church, the body of Christ. In baptism, God works in us the power of forgiveness, the renewal of the spirit, and the knowledge of the call to be God’s people always. (from UCC website)

Easter People are people of the water!

Water is a prominent symbol of cleansing and life in the Bible—the water of creation, the great flood, the liberation of Israel through the sea, the water of Mary’s womb, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, the woman at the well, and Jesus’ washing of the feet of the disciples. (from UCC website)

So, remember. Remember your baptism. Take a deep breath and allow God’s grace to wash over your body.

“For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ Jesus have clothed yourself with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26-28)