A church member recently said to me that 2,003 years later it feels "more like a Good Friday world than an Easter World" ["…a Good Friday world than an Easter world."] The Holy Land is anything but. Israel and the territories are mixture of armed camps, pilgrims seeking faith, and few hell-bent on murder. The Moslem Middle East is laced with tyrants and terrorists. North Korea's fingers rests on its doomsday button. Many of our allies and all of our enemies harbor a palpable fear of US intentions and motives. Too many politicians act like Pilate, washing their hands of responsibility for crises, as others weave crowns of thorns for those with whom they disagree.

In spite of the dense clouds over the world, the light of Easter still breaks through illuminating the divine "Yes!' We all know much anxiety and fear, and yet God's "Yes!" proclaims against all odds that love, not fear, is the empty tomb and love lives beyond every crucifixion. For all that the Roman executioners meant to destroy, their cross utterly failed. The eminent theologian William Sloane Coffin captured an eternal truth when he wrote, "Easter has less to do with one person's escape from the grave than with the victory of seemingly powerless love over loveless power" ["…powerless love over loveless power."]

Shockingly, the divine Presence was alive that first Easter and, surprise, lives in us today. Easter is faith's promise that we can have new life no matter what the death instinct at work in the world or in us. Divine Presence is Easter's new love in our hearts, new goodness in our actions, new wisdom for our lives, new courage in the face of wickedness, and fresh holy quiet to keep us from succumbing to the darkness [love, goodness, wisdom, courage and holy quiet.]

Easter: the resurrected Presence is the story and the glory of God in every human person who is fully alive! ["…Christ, the story and the glory of God in every human person who is fully alive!]

Easter is not like a subtle finger of fog whisping silently over the Headlands. No! Easter is in your face and it wants to know: are you the story and the glory of God -- you, fully alive ------------- are you?

Easter is demanding: on which side of the tomb do you spend your days. Easter wants to know how you practice your faith. We cannot claim to be Easter people and yet remain distant from the divine Presence. If our spiritual practice is limited to worship a few Sundays a month, an occasional prayer or Bible verse, the practice doesn't fully nourish, and it isn't fully alive. Easter wants to know how we conduct ourselves: are we fully alive to ethical work, stewardship of creation, compassion for the poor and needy, and lifestyles that realize God's justice and peace for others as well as ourselves?

Here's the trick to getting the Easter story: in one gospel or another, the angel and Jesus insist, "Do not be afraid!" "Do not be afraid!" -- the cantis firmus of Easter; the melody coursing through the entire Jesus story. Now, fear is on everyone's mind; it hangs us up, disables the spirit, diminishes joy, limits love, and keeps us from being fully alive. Fear: I will die, I will fail, I will be unloved, I am unlovable, I will be hurt, I am wrong, I am not good enough, and the fear-list goes on and on.

But remember, they both insisted, "Do not be afraid." The resurrection is about being liberated from fear; the empty tomb is empty of fear! And get this, death is the metaphor for all of the fears that prevent us from being fully alive and wholly present to the divine Presence. If death on the cross is the metaphor for all that we fear, the resurrection is the banishment of fear so we can be fully alive!

Now there is a problem: long about the time we get the point of Easter, the post-Easter routines -- you know, Monday morning, tomorrow -- pull us back to the old ways of mistrust, fear, and death. You need to carry Easter into your everyday, everyday. After all, Jesus told you -- not ‘us' and not "them" but you -- that he's here so that you may have life and have it more abundantly! So,

Get a life!
Get a spiritual practice!
Live each day consciously in the divine Presence!

Quiet yourself to hear the still small voice, and then live as if the resurrection is the True Truth. Then there will be life where fear had been and you are free to be alive in the divine Presence, to take risks for God, live creatively, care passionately, serve selflessly, and experience abiding inner peace.

So, don't mess around with Easter, don't take it lightly, and don't get it mixed up with the fun, delightful cultural pageants of bunnies, bonnets, and blossoms. Roll back the stone from your heart, from your relationships, from your work -- Christ is risen! You can live again!

Friends, Easter is the first day of the rest of your fully alive life! Easter is the experience of the resurrected Presence who is the story and glory of God in every human person who is fully alive -- you! Yes, you!