What in the world does Easter mean for twenty-first century people, if anything? With the fighting over health care giving our civilized nation a black eye , the dismal job front, and Tiger Woods planning his own resurrection, does the Easter claim of Jesus’ resurrection mean much at all? Apparently not to 58 percent of the Americans surveyed by the Barna Group. When asked the meaning of Easter to them personally, far less than half connected Easter to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The rest thought Easter was a spiritual holiday, or a day for church going. Three out of ten belonged to the Easter bunny crowd, not even identifying Easter as religious.

So what about Easter? What does resurrection mean for us? Christians believe the resurrection signals that something significant happened in the real world. That something was Christ’s victory over the cause of all the brokenness, evil, death, and injustice that has plagued our planet.

The resurrection says the real world in which we live really matters. Haiti’s earthquake, cancer, child abuse and discrimination all matter to God. Not only do these evils matter, but God has done something about them through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In the resurrection is the down payment and first glimpse of what is to come when Christians pray: “Thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.” God has defeated evil and is now doing for the whole world what he did that first Easter for Jesus Christ. Easter is the promise that God will not tolerate the bad, and it is the reminder that we as God’s people will not tolerate evil, either, and will work and live Christianly so we see God’s kingdom achieved.

Resurrection is the clear statement that this world matters, and that God’s good news makes a difference in the world in which we live now , not just in a spiritual home called heaven. One of the first statements of faith made by believers was the triumphant shout of affirmation: “Jesus is Lord!” Every time we proclaim that we are announcing that it is Jesus Christ, not the corrupt forces that make this world so hellish, who is Lord. God is in control, Jesus Christ is risen, this world is being redeemed, and that’s way better than easter bunnies. Tell that to the 58 percent of your neighbors who are looking for some good news today.

Blessings

Jon Dale Hevelone, Pastor