Easter: It’s a Community Thing

We Americans love to make everything about us. When it comes to Easter, we make it about personal survival of death. The idea of personal immortality has always had widespread appeal. We want to know we mattered, that we will continue in some way. Zillions of gallons of ink and more than a little blood have been spilled on the topic.

Easter, however, is a community thing. It is about the survival of a way of life, specifically the way of life revealed in Jesus. The way Jesus lived collided with the powers of his time. Jesus spoke truth to power. The Roman occupation colluded with crooked religious leaders and laid heavy burdens on the poor. That time two thousand years ago is more like today than we may want to admit. Predatory economies have common qualities, regardless of the age in which they exist. Making money, allowing the rich to get richer while the poor get poorer, minimizing social safety net programs and blaming the poor for being poor are consistent features of a predatory economy.

In the United States, as in Rome, there is collusion between socially, politically and religiously prominent people. Faithfulness is less of a concern than having and maintaining power. In our time the white evangelical voting block, the Republican Party and big business work together in promoting white hegemony and male dominance.

It’s little wonder we make Easter about whether or not we live forever.

If we are to faithfully celebrate Easter, something very different is asked of us. Easter is about embodying the values of the gospel. Community Easter means:

• Addressing the anti-immigrant sentiments dominant in our culture. Advocating for those seeking political asylum and common sense immigration policies are the values of Jesus.
• Using our power as consumers to support businesses that embody equality. Supporting Delta Airlines, Coca Cola and Major League Baseball in their protest of Georgia voting suppression laws is one concrete action. Boycotting businesses that do not support our values is another concrete action. Being an informed consumer is a concrete act of faithfulness.
• Learning about the racist history that is woven into the warp and woof of our culture. Becoming good ancestors to subsequent generations by righting historic wrongs and calling out racism when we see and hear it are small actions that begin to change things.
• Caring for the poor. Supporting food pantries year round, donating useable clothing and toys can make a difference in someone’s life if they are struggling to put food on the table.
• Advocating for disenfranchised populations. Assuring that homeless veterans, the LGBTQI population, the homeless and the stranger in our midst are treated fairly and justly.

In other words, all the things that got Jesus killed.

Community Easter means taking the risk to speak up and be unpopular. It means calling out behavior and language at the risk of losing friends or alienating family members. Community Easter means we will gladly take on the same risks Jesus assumed so he could be faithful to his mission. Our mission is the same. The only way the Gospel message survives is through us.

Here is my prayer for you in this season of new life and resurrection:

A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done, to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

Amen.