IN FOCUS: Continue to celebrate in Easter’s light

Steve Vernon

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Easter Island dots the South Pacific about 2,000 miles west of Chile. It received its name because it was discovered by the Dutch explorers aboard Roggeveen on Easter Sunday, 1722. The island is remarkable because of the unusual stone monuments found there, which still puzzle anthropologists. It is a tiny spot on the map of the world that really doesn’t make much of an impact.

Steve Vernon

Howard Hageman once wrote that Easter Island is a parable of Easter for too many Christians. It is a strange place worthy of an occasional visit but without a relationship to the real world around it. He refers to the tragic fact that so many Christians visit Easter only once a year and visit in a way that is detached from their daily lives in the world.

Did you ever wonder what would have happened if Easter had not come? The Apostle Paul considered that question in his first letter to the Corinthians. He speculated if Christ has not been raised from the dead, then all preaching is in vain, those who preach and witness are liars, the dead will not be raised, our faith is worthless, we still are in our sins, and we are “to be pitied more than all men” (1 Corinthians 15:12-19).

In our world today, we probably also would note there would be no need to hunt eggs or for some to make their annual pilgrimage to church. We still would be men and women pitied more than all others.

Paul transitions in his letter when he uses one of the most important conjunctions in the Greek or English language. In 1 Corinthians 15:20, he uses the word “but”—“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who are asleep.”

So what does it mean today? Our world is desperately seeking hope. “I hope we pay the national debt.” “I hope my check comes today.” “I hope my job is stable.” “I hope the kids call today.” “I hope the diagnosis is wrong.”

The truth is that in our resurrected Lord, we possess the hope that is the guarantee of life. It is life with meaning every day. It is life that never ends in fellowship with the Creator of all that is. It is hope that knows that regardless of our circumstances or our situations, God always is in the business of bringing hope as he works good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

Paul concludes 1 Corinthians 15 by discussing resurrection and hope when he writes, “But thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Easter is the day we celebrate the victory of our resurrected Lord. That hope remains ours every day. This week, in the bright light of Easter 2011, we continue to celebrate our risen Lord and to renew our commitment to be the messengers of the hope our Lord has called us to be.


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Steve Vernon is associate executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.

 

 


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