Sober Joy
March 2024
Many years ago I was a pastor at an exceptionally busy church. We had three morning services each Sunday morning and there was always a very long lineup for the next service. One particular Easter day, a man waiting in the long line for the second service had a heart attack.
While those in the worship services were singing the Alleluia chorus, paramedics were working to save this man's life as his wife of over 40 years looked on. While the congregation listened to a sermon in the sanctuary on the hope of the Resurrection of Christ, a group of friends, family and parishioners quietly prayed outside for this man. After almost an hour of attempting to stabilize this gentleman's life, you could tell by the look of the medical team and the numerous doctors from our church they had not succeeded. The ambulance took him away to the hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
This was a painful experience to witness and it left the people who were waiting in the lineup for the next service, sobered and reflective. I will never forget the service which followed. Almost 1,000 people, aware of what had just occurred, sang verses from timeless hymns such as, "Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia," and joined in saying the words, “Christ has risen! He has risen indeed! Alleluia''.
The gospel of Matthew says that after the disciples encountered the proof of Jesus' resurrection, "They departed quickly from the empty tomb with fear and great joy." Such was the case on that Easter Sunday morning many years ago. We felt a mixture of the fear of death and the joy of Jesus' resurrection. Suddenly an annual celebration, a tradition usually including chocolate Easter eggs, family meals, and good feelings, was filled with the poignant realization of our own mortality.
Fewer people today follow the season of Lent with its emphasis on prayer, self-denial, and generosity to those in need. This period of spiritual soberness culminates with the celebration of Easter and so the mystery of dying and the specter of our own mortality is woven into the Easter season.
In the Easter service we recall the empty tomb, Jesus' appearance to his disciples, and their message to their friends: "Jesus is not here; for he has risen from the dead!" (Matt. 28:7). We are comforted by Apostle Paul's reminder to the early church, "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead....the last enemy to be destroyed is death." (1 Cor. 15:20, 26).
The hope of the resurrection, enshrined in the Easter service, is not some vague principle but the essence of our faith. It's not just a comforting idea in the midst of death, but a necessary reality for us to embrace in going forward with hope.
Blessings,
Tom Cooper