ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN!THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA! This triumphant cry is circling the globe on this glorious Easter Day and proclaims an event and celebrates a person that changed everything for good. More than that, Easter changed your life and mine because we are an EASTER PEOPLE! We are a people of FAITH . Not a faith in some obscure philosophy, or some vague hope, but a living faith in a living person, JESUS OF NAZARETH whom we now know to be the CHRIST. But how can we be sure? Our faith rests secure on the evidence of the resurrection and the testimony of . . . * women who went to the tomb on that first Easter morning* more than 500 people saw him after the resurrection - it was no make-believe* Peter and the other apostles whose lives were forever changed* the Church throughout the ages* and people today who have experienced resurrection power in their own lives as they have come to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ. We are a people who have known FORGIVENESS. When Jesus cried out, "Father, forgive them," he was not just declaring forgiveness for those at the foot of the cross on that first Good Friday; he was setting in motion forgiveness for all those who would turn to him. That includes the thief next to him, the apostle Peter, and you and me. No longer do we need to live in the darkness of our sins, separated from God, but we can have fellowship with him. The wall of separation has been broken down - we have been forgiven. And that forgiveness is contagious. Not only have we been forgiven but we have been given the strength to forgive others also. We are a people set FREE - set free to laugh! Set free to love! Set free to see miracles! Set free to serve! We are also . . . Set free from FEAR of FAILURE. Let's face it: the cross looked like the greatest failure of all - but Easter shows it to be the greatest victory. And we have the promise that the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will also empower us and turn our defeats into his victories. Set free from FEAR of DEATH. No longer do we look at death as being the end of everything. No longer are we in bondage to the hopelessness that surrounds death without Christ. Instead, as EASTER people we can look at death and see it swallowed up by Jesus' victory: the sting is gone! But perhaps the greatest wonder of all is that we are a people set free to accept or reject God's love. This Easter Day I am sure that there are many people sitting in churches who have heard the Easter story but have never responded to it - never said yes to the gift of FAITH, the offer of FORGIVENESS, or the adventure of being set FREE. This would be a very good day to respond and become an EASTER PERSON! AMEN!Your Brother in Christ,+Martyn The Rt. Rev'd Martyn MinnsMissionary Bishop of CANA
