Passing the Peace: Celebrating as People of the Resurrection

It is Christ’s life, death, and resurrection that makes it possible for us to experience the hope of reconciliation.

He is Risen, friends, He is Risen Indeed!

Many of us engaged in this call and response on Easter Sunday and felt the assurance and peace that this familiar refrain brings. For those of us who follow this risen Christ, Easter is about so much more than a day—it is an ongoing invitation to a powerful way of being present in the world. 

The cycle of death to life

As we enter this season of Eastertide, I am reminded of the significance of the process of metamorphosis in the spiritual journey. Metamorphosis is rooted in the cycle of death bringing forth life so that transformation can occur. Spring provides us with beautiful reminders of the power of a seed, rooted in the right soil and properly tended. A seed must crack open and die to its old form or structure, in order to bring forth new life. This reality—that we must surrender what is old and dying, so that something new in us might be resurrected—is evident all around us in Spring as we plant and prepare for the beauty and promise of summer blooms ahead.

Eastertide marks the 50 days Jesus spent on earth after His Resurrection before He ascended into Heaven. The Gospels reveal peoples’ impactful encounters with a Messiah who had just endured the desolation of the Cross in order to embody the consolation and celebration of victory over death and the grave. 

People of the Resurrection

It is this journey that we are invited into as Christ-followers—to live as people forever marked as People of the Resurrection. To live as people who embrace the truth that death does not have the final word because we serve a Savior who triumphed over death and the grave. To live as people who believe that “the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, now lives IN us.” (Romans 8:11) We embody this power of the Spirit at work in us when we move towards God’s active presence in the world marked by an everlasting hope.

In the early church, Lent was a period of time when those who were exploring the possibility of becoming Christ-followers learned about the faith and prepared for their baptism on Easter Sunday. This time or preparation was known as “catechesis” or “echoing the way of Jesus.” They counted the cost of following Jesus and prepared their lives for making this commitment. For those who then stepped into the waters of baptism, Eastertide was when these new followers of Christ devoted themselves to being formed into the mystagogy or “leading people into the mysteries” of knowing Christ.

Reconciliation as Imperative

At Arrabon, one of our core values is to see God’s invitation to live reconciled with God, ourselves, and others so that, together as a reconciling community, we can work to repair broken systems and set them right. We see this as more than invitation, but truly an imperative for those who profess to follow Jesus. It is Christ’s life, death, and resurrection that makes it possible for us to experience the hope of reconciliation and it is the indwelling of Holy Spirit that empowers us to be ambassadors of reconciliation. 

When the world around us screams messages of hopelessness and despair, we must be reminded that we are People of the Resurrection and so we proclaim hope with our very breath. St. Augustine said that the “Christian should be an Alleluia from head to foot.” Our presence in the world should be a living witness that proclaims and points to the power of Holy Spirit at work in the world through our very lives.  

The Spiritual Practice of Celebration

This Eastertide, receive the invitation to view life through the lens of a Sunday feast, celebrating the abundance of the kingdom of God. Explore Celebration as a spiritual practice by naming and celebrating our own places of resurrection—those places where we have borne witness to life coming from death. These places serve as markers for our spiritual pilgrimages, the encounters with the living Christ that strengthened our hope, deepened our resolve and increased our dependency on the power of Holy Spirit to live as the Sent People of the Resurrection. 

He is Risen, Friends. He is Risen Indeed!

Written by Beth Cossin. Originally published in Arrabon’s email newsletter “Passing the Peace.” Sign up for our newsletter below.

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