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How will you mark Easter? (With excerpts from BBC News)
For God…
"The Easter story is at the heart of Christianity,
commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But some argue
that its been secularised and commercialised."
So loved the world…
"A study by the New Economics Foundation (Nef)
and the Open University says 16 April is the day when the nation goes
into "ecological debt" this year. It warns if annual global consumption
levels matched the UK's, it would take 3.1 Earths to meet the demand."
That he gave his one and only Son…
"Diamonds may be a girl's best friend but combine
them with chocolate and, as a London chocolatier has discovered, you have
every woman's dream. Unfortunately for most, the Diamond Stella Egg, which
has gone on sale, comes with a hefty £50,000 price tag. Encrusted with
more than 100 0.5 carat diamonds, the 65cm (25in) tall creation was made
for La Maison du Chocolat. Thought to be the world's most expensive Easter
egg, it is being kept under guard at its Piccadilly store."
That whoever believes in him…
"Hundreds of pilgrims have arrived at a religious
shrine to celebrate Easter after trekking from all over Britain. About
300 people have made their annual trek to the Walsingham shrine in Norfolk
and are expected to take part in a weekend of services. Groups of walkers
have made their way to the shrines during the past week - many carrying
heavy crosses.
Walsingham first became a place of pilgrimage in 1061 when a local woman
had a vision of the Virgin Mary. A wooden "Holy House" built in medieval
times and destroyed at the Reformation has been replaced by a larger Anglican
shrine and a Roman Catholic chapel. The village now has Catholic, Anglican
and Orthodox shrines."
Shall not perish…
"A worker who was injured when scaffolding
collapsed at a building site has died in hospital."
"Novelist Dame Muriel Spark, who wrote the classic The Prime of Miss Jean
Brodie, has died in Tuscany where she had made her home."
But have eternal life.
"A record 2.3 million people will be heading
off to sunnier destinations over the Easter bank holiday weekend, with
Spain the most popular choice. Those staying in the UK have the promise
of some dry and bright weather over the weekend - a distinct improvement
on the wintry conditions of late."
(Mark 15:21-16:8)
It is generally agreed that Mark's gospel ends at verse 8 of chapter 16
and that verses 9-20 were a later addition made by someone who thought
the absence of resurrection stories made the gospel incomplete. The additional
verses seem to be a digest of post-resurrection stories lifted from the
other gospel accounts. There has been speculation about whether Mark ever
intended to "complete" his account and why he ends where he does. But
what better place could there be to end than with the clear declaration
"He has risen!"
This tremendous truth brings hope to a world otherwise condemned. In his
magisterial account of the Christian message Paul sums up the state of
mankind:
Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
All have turned away, They have altogether become worthless; There is
no one who does good, Not even one." (Romans 3:9-12)
How many times have you heard it said of someone, "He would make a good
Christian"? The truth is that no one would "make a good Christian" because:
All have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God…(Romans 3:23)
Some are tempted to think of this as a simple shortfall in an otherwise
reasonably good life. But the phrase "fall short" here doesn't mean a
simple shortfall as in, for instance, when you owe a sum of money and
can only pay in part. It is a term that means to completely miss the target
by falling short of it. We are not simply short of the full amount we
owe. We are totally bankrupt before God and incapable of measuring up
to God's standard because we are "in Adam":
Just as sin entered the world through
one man, and death through sin, because all sinned…consequently the result
of one man's trespass was condemnation for all men…(Romans 5:12,18)
For those who feel they must somehow earn a place in God's good books
there is a stark and serious message:
The wages of sin is death, but the gift
of God is eternal life. (Romans 6:23)
If you would earn something you should know that it is sin that pays wages,
and the wages is death. God offers not wages but a priceless gift - eternal
life. The whole point of wages is that they are what we deserve. The whole
point of a gift is that you don't pay for it. It costs the giver something
but the recipient nothing. There is a children's song that declares:
Grace is when God gives us the things we don't
deserve
Mercy is when God does not give us what we deserve
He does it because he loves us.
We must understand this because the Bible tells us we are powerless to
do anything about our condition, which is why Christ came:
You see, just at the right time, when
we were powerless, Christ died for the ungodly…God demonstrates his own
love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:6-8)
When Jesus hung on the Cross, we are told, he uttered the words "It is
finished!" (John 19:30). The Greek is Tetelesti, which means, "paid in
full". This is the gift we celebrate at Easter, that Christ was paying
"in full" the price for our sin, and that,
"God was reconciling
the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them."(2
Cor.5:19).
The proof of all this? "He has risen!" The message of Easter is the message
of a risen and reigning Lord through whom we may be reconciled to God.
How do we appropriate this gift?
If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus
is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved." For it is with your heart you believe and are justified,
and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture
says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile - the same Lord is
Lord of all, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved." (Romans 10:9-13)
In churches across the world this Easter the cry will go up, "He has risen!"
and the answer will echo back, "He has risen indeed!" In a world facing
death from disease, hunger, neglect, war and natural disaster what more
relevant message could there possibly be than this, "He has risen!" In
a world more alienated from its spiritual roots than ever what more appropriate
cry could go up than this, that "God was reconciling the world to himself
in Christ." May you know his grace and may this Easter be a blessed time
as you "Look and live" because "He has risen indeed!"