Here’s a good definition of the Christian faith: It is a call back to life.

Remember the story of Jesus’ friend Lazarus who died?  Jesus called him back to life after he had been lying in a tomb for full three days.  Of course, Jesus himself and the miracle of Easter morning is the ultimate “call back to life.”  His resurrection isn’t just about him, mind you, it is primarily about you and your life.

I won’t list off all of the challenges this world is facing right now and the amount of stress that causes all of us.  And I know that each one of you have personal issues that keep you up at night, too.  That is why Easter is so important.  It is a call back from those dark places that strive for dominance in our lives to places of abundance and new life.

Easter invites us to remember that we are here, in this life, by way of a gift from God.  Our calling in this life is not to be swallowed by the negative but to embrace and magnify the positive.  

Easter invites us to find renewed energy for living.  God has a deathless passion for each one of us and we dare not respond to such passion by sleep walking through this life.

The Easter story exists to wake us up!  Think of Mary Magdalene on that first Easter morning—sleepwalking as it were, like us, into the early darkness of another day.  She was shrouded in the ways of the shadows, and pain and crucifixion of the previous days.  Resurrection was not on her mind or heart when she found the tomb empty (“grave robbers,” she thought).  Even the supernatural appearance of angels did not jar her back to life.  Actually, not even the appearance of Jesus himself stirred her back to life (“the gardener,” she thought).  It wasn’t until Christ uttered her name that she herself was resurrected, that she was called back to life, that she woke up and found renewed energy for living.

Easter provides us the same opportunity that Mary had.  On Easter Sunday, Christ speaks your name with the prayer that you, too, will be awakened, resurrected, called back to life and discover renewed energy for living.  

If we embrace this transformation that Easter has to offer, we can more easily find the goodness of God that is offered to us each and every day and share it with others.  If we truly live as Easter people, the miracle of the resurrection will cease to be an annual holiday and become a joyous, daily norm. 

See you in church,

–Rev. Dominic