Easter People

In the early years of Christianity people expected an imminent second coming. They kept hoping that Jesus was about to return and all their problems would be solved. It has been slightly more than two thousand years since the first Easter and most of us don’t expect the Lord's return to happen in our own lifetimes.

The fall of Apartheid and our reactions to it can remind us of that early Christian community. In the first rush of joy we were swept up by the belief that a better life for all was imminent, and we were filled with hope and optimism. Now 20 years later - though our situation is certainly far preferable to life under the old regime - much of that initial euphoria has dissipated and we are living with the reality of being ordinary fallible people led by ordinary fallible leaders.

Just as in politics where the bright future promised by Apartheid’s fall is yet to come to full fruition, so in our faith we need to face reality. While we might strive to 'be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect', we remain human and so we fall and we rise, again and again.

Yet this frail humanity is not a reason to despair. We are reminded each year at this time of the invitation to live in the joyful hope of the risen Lord. As the Easter people we believe that through the power of Jesus' resurrection we are called to participate in building God’s kingdom here on earth.

This is a practical call, a call to see what is going on around us. It demands, for example, that we reflect on and discern whether what the media broadcasts is in tune with our gospel values. Finally, it is a call to action: we must do whatever is in our power to help the Holy Spirit to bring about change in our world through the love of Christ; to witness in the here and now to the power-filled hope of the resurrection.

We are Easter People and our vocation is to live out the resurrection. Hence our faith is a faith of conversion, of change and of challenge. The Easter mystery always invites us who believe in it to reassess and reorder our lives and to work to raise up and transform this our fallen and broken world.

The song and symbol of the Easter Exultet dramatically reminds us that the resurrection broke through the darkness of death into light and brought us out of slavery into liberty. The risen Lord asks us to live in that freedom and to radiate its light.