In reading through the Easter stories in the gospels, I was struck by how much movement is associated with this special day: The women made their way to the cemetery in the early morning light and then ran back to the others with the news that Christ was alive! Two disciples hurried to examine the empty tomb and rushed back to share what they discovered. Two other disciples encountered Jesus while walking on the road to Emmaus and then retraced their steps back to Jerusalem with the news of their experience. And Simon Peter leapt from his boat and excitedly swam to shore when he spotted the risen Christ waiting for him near the water’s edge. Walking, running, swimming, racing out of breath to tell the good news of life conquering death: all these action verbs are at the heart of the Easter message.
And yet when we gather to remember Easter nowadays, we enter into church sanctuaries and respectfully, quietly, sit in our pew as the gospel is read to us…
Of course there are times of movement on Easter morning. In our church services, we greet one another with a hug and the invigorating greeting, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” We stand to sing our Easter hymns of praise; we move around throughout the day to come to church, to return home, to follow after kids on Easter egg hunts, to gather together at shared meals with family and friends. But all those examples are movements that happen simply because it is Easter, as opposed to “Easter movements.” Let me explain the difference.
Living a life of Christian faith involves a certain number of necessary movements. For example, we move from one place to another to attend church; we make our way to different classrooms for Adult Education classes; we bow our heads at meal times to offer a prayer; we take a walk outdoors and offer thanks to God for life, health, and the beauty of creation. Those are nice “movements,” but they are more functional than exceptional.
Christian faith also involves distinctive movements, special movements, and “Easter movements.” A distinctive movement may be one that turns us off our normal path and takes us down a new road in which we serve others or care for someone on life’s margins. A special movement could be one that follows a time of reconciliation that we didn’t expect or earn, or comes as a heart-warming consequence of hearing words of love and compassion spoken to us by others. Lastly, an Easter movement is best compared to the actions of the Easter cast of characters: It is the fresh awareness that death is neither this world’s dominant reality nor the final word in our relationships with God and one another (like the women at the tomb). It is the mind-changing revelation that our version of reality pales in comparison to God’s version of this created order (like the disciples on Easter day). It is that spirit that causes us to dance, to leap into the water (like Simon Peter of old), to step out by faith, feeling in that act more alive than ever before. Easter movements involve engagement, peacemaking with our heart and soul, justice expressed through little deeds and grand visions, and hope that cannot be dissuaded or deterred at all.
We gather in church on Easter to remember the story. But we get up, move and leave the church to be the Easter story. By God’s grace, may you be moved in distinctive, special, faithful ways this day and every day!