Celebrating Resurrection

A world out of sorts - death, division, sickness …

The resurrection is the greatest event in human history. This is the Good News that drives Easter Outreach. It is the “why” behind everything we do. If we look at our world, we see that it is messed up and out of sorts. Just look at the news headlines. We see division, suffering, sickness, inequality, and death. Christians understand this problem as sin. Sin is an intruder, an enemy in God’s good world.

“God hates sin not just because it violates his law but, more substantively, because it violates shalom, because it breaks the peace, because it interferes with the way things are supposed to be” [Theologian Cornelius Plantinga Jr. “Not the Way It's Supposed to Be”].

Sin, therefore, is not the way the world is supposed to be. The Christian story gives us the word for what we see that is not right, for what we would all call wrong.

The Good News is Christians believe this is not how God kept the world. In the end, we have victory in Jesus. This news compels us to celebrate. In celebration, we share the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus. 

Victory

The Scriptures speak to this reality. In a letter to an early church community, the Apostle Paul talks about resurrection defeating sin and death.

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

 “Where, O death, is your victory?

 Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ [1 Corinthians 15: 54 -56].

This gives us hope. Even in the light of a fractured world, we see hope in the middle of darkness. This fuel in the tank is the extra motivation to keep going even if we think we are not getting anywhere. We can keep going because, in the end, we know God wins.

This is why the church goes out into the community and offers practical help with a bag of groceries or a hot meal. Christians can demonstrate how the world should be—not just how it is. These small acts can make all the difference in the world. But we don’t stop there. We go much deeper because we know people need much more than just food. They also have a deep spiritual longing.

Hunger satisfied

St. Augustine was one of the most influential theologians/thinkers of all time. He described our deep hunger this way:

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

The reality is that we were all created for so much more. We were created for union and communion with God. We all have deep longings. In celebration, the Church can address people’s physical and spiritual hunger.

This is why God’s people are celebrating the resurrection. It’s why Small Things believes in the importance of Easter Outreach. It’s the reason that our 40+ Easter Outreach partners this year are giving away hundreds of thousands of pounds of food in their communities.

We all believe so deeply in the effort to reach our neighbors.

To learn how you can celebrate the resurrection by donating and volunteering, click here.