Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Easter dawns and we know that we have been changed by the Resurrection of Jesus. How, then, are Christians to live in the light of this momentous event? How does it change our lives?
Perhaps that has not always been clear in our relatively comfortable times and places.
But, as people around the world and across all time, who have lived under difficult times and authorities could tell us, the importance of the Resurrection of Jesus becomes very clear indeed.
As we are experiencing right now, it is exhausting to live by the newspaper page. No sooner is one account written than it is overtaken by the next. If you are on social media, you’ll have noticed the generalized anxiety that pervades our ‘feeds.’ Our safety and sovereignty are being threatened; our relative economic comfort is being eroded. And we are experiencing —right now—some political instability ourselves; even as I write, electing new leaders in the midst of unactualized and unpredictable threat.
The Gospel; and especially the Resurrection, is not separate from all that. In fact, it is a crucial response to all that.
I have been reading The Reverend Dr. Jesse Zink’s new book: Faithful, Creative, Hopeful: 15 Theses for Christians in a Crisis-shaped World. Jesse was kind enough to send a few of us an advance copy, and I appreciated it so much that I’ve given it to many in return! He very helpfully draws many things together in a way that is both sobering and hopeful. I recommend it to you.
He suggests that as Christians, we are called to see with apocalyptic clarity—that is, with a view formed by faith and by millennia of Christian wisdom. It will help us to live wisely and fully in these times. That worldview says something like this: the powers and principalities of this world wield considerable control over our lived realities—but of course, our faith tells us that this is not the whole story. Systems such as neoliberal capitalism try to turn us from communities into economic units. Paradigms such as rampant individualism further break down our sense of interconnectedness. Not surprisingly, we are wearied by the struggle over time, and this has weakened our bonds as a church.
Enter the Resurrection and behold the world with Kingdom eyes—and see what oppressed peoples have always seen: that Christ’s apparent defeat on Good Friday, was itself defeated on Easter Sunday; that the powers and principalities of this world have lost their ability to control us now that Christ has risen from the dead; that there is hope; that there is a reason to resist; that loving your neighbour; caring for each other, coming together in our churches to feed the hungry; tend the sick and to advocate passionately for the widow and the orphan and the refugee are what we do as communities of resistance against the powers and principalities of this world to show that there is a different way to live—a kingdom way to live.
But our parishes are also places of rest. They are places where we can renew and retool to perform those works of mercy. In this way, we are also communities of peace. This is just as important as our work embodying the Gospel, for each makes sense of the other. Rest and enjoyment in each other’s company is such a blessing—just being together, gathering strength together, telling the Gospel story that privileges love over fear, and saying words of love to each other and to our world.
I said back in November in my Charge to Synod that we should keep our eyes focused on Christ in all that we do. Well, sometimes the Lord gives you a word that you don’t fully understand at the time. I knew it was important to speak it because I’d been given it—but God has been filling up that word with more and more meaning in the months since.
So I say it again: I believe we are being called to keep our eyes firmly focused on Christ and him crucified and risen—for in this is our salvation: here and now and in eternity.
May we embody this call to be Christian communities of resistance and peace in the light of the blessed Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A happy and blessed Easter to you all.
Bishop of Niagara
Living in the Light of the Resurrection: Embracing Hope and Resistance
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Easter dawns and we know that we have been changed by the Resurrection of Jesus. How, then, are Christians to live in the light of this momentous event? How does it change our lives?
Perhaps that has not always been clear in our relatively comfortable times and places.
But, as people around the world and across all time, who have lived under difficult times and authorities could tell us, the importance of the Resurrection of Jesus becomes very clear indeed.
As we are experiencing right now, it is exhausting to live by the newspaper page. No sooner is one account written than it is overtaken by the next. If you are on social media, you’ll have noticed the generalized anxiety that pervades our ‘feeds.’ Our safety and sovereignty are being threatened; our relative economic comfort is being eroded. And we are experiencing —right now—some political instability ourselves; even as I write, electing new leaders in the midst of unactualized and unpredictable threat.
The Gospel; and especially the Resurrection, is not separate from all that. In fact, it is a crucial response to all that.
I have been reading The Reverend Dr. Jesse Zink’s new book: Faithful, Creative, Hopeful: 15 Theses for Christians in a Crisis-shaped World. Jesse was kind enough to send a few of us an advance copy, and I appreciated it so much that I’ve given it to many in return! He very helpfully draws many things together in a way that is both sobering and hopeful. I recommend it to you.
He suggests that as Christians, we are called to see with apocalyptic clarity—that is, with a view formed by faith and by millennia of Christian wisdom. It will help us to live wisely and fully in these times. That worldview says something like this: the powers and principalities of this world wield considerable control over our lived realities—but of course, our faith tells us that this is not the whole story. Systems such as neoliberal capitalism try to turn us from communities into economic units. Paradigms such as rampant individualism further break down our sense of interconnectedness. Not surprisingly, we are wearied by the struggle over time, and this has weakened our bonds as a church.
Enter the Resurrection and behold the world with Kingdom eyes—and see what oppressed peoples have always seen: that Christ’s apparent defeat on Good Friday, was itself defeated on Easter Sunday; that the powers and principalities of this world have lost their ability to control us now that Christ has risen from the dead; that there is hope; that there is a reason to resist; that loving your neighbour; caring for each other, coming together in our churches to feed the hungry; tend the sick and to advocate passionately for the widow and the orphan and the refugee are what we do as communities of resistance against the powers and principalities of this world to show that there is a different way to live—a kingdom way to live.
But our parishes are also places of rest. They are places where we can renew and retool to perform those works of mercy. In this way, we are also communities of peace. This is just as important as our work embodying the Gospel, for each makes sense of the other. Rest and enjoyment in each other’s company is such a blessing—just being together, gathering strength together, telling the Gospel story that privileges love over fear, and saying words of love to each other and to our world.
I said back in November in my Charge to Synod that we should keep our eyes focused on Christ in all that we do. Well, sometimes the Lord gives you a word that you don’t fully understand at the time. I knew it was important to speak it because I’d been given it—but God has been filling up that word with more and more meaning in the months since.
So I say it again: I believe we are being called to keep our eyes firmly focused on Christ and him crucified and risen—for in this is our salvation: here and now and in eternity.
May we embody this call to be Christian communities of resistance and peace in the light of the blessed Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A happy and blessed Easter to you all.
Bishop of Niagara
The Right Reverend Susan Bell serves as the 12th Bishop of Niagara. A strategic, mission-centred, spiritual leader, Bishop Bell strives to listen and watch for where God is at work in the church and the world and then to come alongside that work to further the Way of Love.
Keep on reading
Farewell to the Palm Project: A Reflection on the History
Missional Stewardship: Our Primary Business
Environmental Stewardship: My Time at The Diocese of Niagara
Formation or Discipleship: Do We Have to Choose?
Embracing Evangelism: A Reflection on Bishop Susan’s Book for Lent
The Complexity of Easter: The Intersection of Faith and History