Now What?
Pause for a moment to reflect on what it felt like when you achieved a major milestone in your life. Maybe it was an educational goal, or a professional certification…maybe it was something more personal…how did you feel when you reached that point? Did you have a feeling of accomplishment? Maybe a deep sense of satisfaction? Did you feel empowered? Did you feel like you finally ‘made it’? Did you have other feelings? Perhaps you asked yourself the question, ‘now what do I do?’ It would not be unusual, after investing a considerable amount of energy and time in a goal, to wonder aloud about what would come next. In certain of these situations, it is hard to turn the page and move on to the next stage, the next step. This is why the concept of ‘the next faithful step’ is such a staple of my own discipleship and theology. There is always a ‘next faithful step’ for us to take. We’re always learning. We’re always growing. We are constantly in the state of becoming. As the old saying goes, “God isn’t through with us yet.”
Resurrection Is Only the Beginning
Beginning with October most churches are on a fast-moving treadmill. By this time, the plans for Advent and Christmas are underway in earnest. No sooner than we take a breath from Christmas, we are into plans for Lent and Easter. The sooner Easter is, the more frenetic is the pace. This multi-month journey reaches its peak energy with Palm Sunday and Holy Week. Then there is Easter! With two services, all the decorations, all the extra worship elements and music make it an exceptionally busy day. Even this year, though still in a COVID pandemic, there is no shortage of work to be done to prepare. Then another deep breath comes, this time a longer, slower breath. Pentecost is in the offing, but it doesn’t consume the same amount of energy. It seems like once Easter is over, the church takes a break. It is almost as if Easter is the end of a season. And yet, any experience or perception of Easter as an end misses the fuller point of the Gospel story. Resurrection is not an end. Resurrection is a new beginning. It is a rebirth of faith, love and possibility.
Then There Is This Year
This year it seems that Easter represents more of a beginning than normal. From Easter, we take our first concrete steps toward a new sense of who we are as a community. As April and May progress we will be able to welcome more people to in person worship in the Sanctuary. We will also continue to expand our digital ministry and online worship. These two sentences say it all. What they signal is a change in how we understand our community. It will transform our ability to be more inclusive (a core vision for the church). We will be able to include people in worship that may never set foot in the sanctuary. We will be able to include more people on our ministry teams and decision making through the ability to do hybrid meetings. Easter is, indeed, a new beginning for us. It will be a new world, a world that we will see differently. While there will be a certain amount of anxiety about the newness of it all, it is important to remember that the disciples would have had a similar experience. Jesus’ resurrection represented a wholesale change for them. However, there is a hope we can claim, even in 2021. Jesus reminded the disciples that as they went about exercising The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) he would continue to be with them. That promise is the anchor for each step we take into this new soon to be, post-pandemic world, Christ continue to be with us as we take these new, uncertain steps. Join us on Sunday as we celebrate the Risen Christ and claim the life we have been given.
