Bishop Ward greets us with the ancient words – Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed!
Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed!
With these ancient magnificent words, we offer one another Easter greeting. Today is the most glorious of all days. Today is the best of all days. Today, Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. The stone has been rolled away; he is not there. Mary Magdalene runs to find the disciples.When she tells Peter, Peter runs, as does the disciple Jesus loved. They look into the tomb and are mystified to find it empty.
We, in the Wesleyan tradition, offer to the world the most familiar Easter hymn. Charles Wesley wrote the words – “Christ the Lord is risen today! Alleluia! Earth and heaven in chorus say ‘Alleluia!’ Love’s redeeming work is done. Alleluia! Soar we now where Christ has led. Alleluia!”
Heaven’s doors are open to us. Eternal life in time and abundant life now is ours through the gifts of Easter light, life and resurrection.
At All Saints United Methodist Church in Durham this morning, there will be beautiful origami blossoms – flowers. These flowers have been folded by Ruth Harper Stevens who is an origami artist as well as a clergy member of our annual conference. On Ash Wednesday, which seems so long ago, children, youth and adults in this church wrote their Lenten prayers and confessions. They opened their hearts to God at the beginning of the Lenten journey, asking for God’s help, God’s healing, for God’s hope for their lives.
Ruth carefully folded each of these prayers into a flower, and this morning, those prayers have been filled with resurrection light and life.
Today, Easter is God’s greatest gift. “Christ, the Lord,is risen today. Heaven and earth in chorus say ‘Alleluia, alleluia!'” Therefore, we might soar where Christ has led. This is the gift of Easter – Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. May your hearts be full of joy this Easter day and always.