Easter Change

Easter is a natural time for change. I know we don’t usually like change, especially in our faith communities. We like stability and predictability. Although sometimes we do like and appreciate change. Take politics for instance. Have you noticed how many politicians run on the notion and promise of “change”? Maybe when we are open to change, it may be because we are expecting the change to be something like the way we think things use to be, or the way we think things ought to be.
 

Why do I begin on the subject of change? Well, because when we speak of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are professing a faith and a reality that changed everything. It changed how we relate to God and how God relates to us. Jesus’ Resurrection was a victory over oppressive political and religious power structures. Jesus’ Resurrection was such an act of love that it’s as if God fell in love with us all over again. That’s what I love about Easter. In God’s eyes, we get to start over again with a clean slate.
 

So how do we, the Church, respond to this love and newness of life? Well, first, with gratitude. Unbridled gratitude. But then this gratitude and response to God’s love for us must – must, extend from us and be passed on to others.
 

Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, calls for a “seismic shift” in the way Anglicans must carry out the work of extending God’s love to others (this is evangelism, by the way). As Anglicans and Episcopalians, we love our church. We love our history and we love our traditions. The Episcopal Church, as I have always considered it, is the “come and see” church (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Come and see.” John 1:46). When someone asks, “what is the Episcopal Church” or “what does your church believe”, the best answer, in my opinion, is “come and see”. Come to an Episcopal Church and hear the prayers and experience the rhythm of the liturgy and you will see what we believe in, what we stand for.
 

 

But before we begin to encourage one another to invite others to “come and see”, we have some work to do as God’s people. Archbishop Welby said a couple of things about the Church: “First”, he said, “the church exists to worship God in Jesus Christ. Second, the Church exists to make new disciples of Jesus Christ. Everything else is decoration. Some of it may be very necessary, useful, or wonderful decoration – but it’s decoration.”
 

We as Christians have our work cut out for us because the world needs so much to hear that there is a God that, through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, has fallen in love with them. We must let others know this very simple, yet profound and most important message. Welby acknowledges, “I am under no illusion as to the seismic shift that needs to take place in order for this to happen. But a seismic shift is what we need. For this country will not know of the revolutionary love of Christ by church structures or clergy, but by the witness of every single Christian.”
 

I believe his words that it will take a “seismic shift” in our Anglican churches to be a church of invitation and sharers of the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. It’s because as Anglicans and Episcopalians we’ve just never really been good at this sort of thing. But we must begin a change, or a transformation from this behavior. We love our church and its people. So why not share this Good News that the Episcopal Church proclaims in Jesus?
 

My immediate plan is to bring a team of vestry and lay leaders to a 2-day Summit at Camp Allen that will inspire us to engage in the work of Invitation and Welcome. Look around in your church on any given Sunday morning and notice the number of people present. The number seems to be declining. Of course, we will never be a mega-church or a Lakewood, and few if any of us would ever strive to be that. Yet, we all want our church to reach more people. Not for the sake of just having them here, but that we will play a vital and exciting role in bringing others to the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ.
 

Another Archbishop from A.D. 407, John Chrysostom said, “To become a disciple of Christ is to obey his law of love; and obedience to the law brings joy beyond measure and description. Love means to want the best for others, sharing with them the joy of love. So the Christian feels compelled to speak to others about the law of love, and the joy of obeying this law.”
 

We are not all going to become evangelists overnight, but we can begin to address the changes we need to make corporately and individually to engage in this work for the Church of Jesus Christ that we are called to steward.
 

So, I have an easy task for you: Invite someone to church for Easter Day. (I have actually done this myself already. I invited a neighbor.) Bring someone in time to have breakfast here on Easter morning, served from 9 to 10. And most importantly, give your guest the “come and see” treatment as we joyfully worship God in gratitude and awe of Jesus’ Resurrection.
 

I conclude with Welby’s final sentences, “Jesus involves us in His work of calling people to follow him. This is the work of evangelism. However weakly, however hesitantly, He calls us to extend our hands and our hearts, to use our words and lives, to echo His call to every person to follow Him. For it is the best decision anyone can ever make is to be a follower of Jesus Christ.”
 

Have a blessed Holy Season of Lent and a joyous Eastertide.