Introduction

This article is the April 2010 installment of my monthly message in the parish newsletter for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb.

Law and Promise

One of the marks of our relationships—when they are at their best—is for us to say to one another, “I promise,” and to mean it. And when a relationship weathers the years, as many marriages do, it becomes clear how powerful and loving and self-sacrificial a promise can become, especially when that promise is the one we intend to keep “until death do us part.”

But that’s just it. No matter how much we love one another, no matter the depth of our commitment and the intensity of our striving to honor our word, in the end, we find our promises reach their limits. We die, and that is the end of the promise.

This means that a little bit of what our tradition calls law tinges and compromises our promise. We may make a promise with the best of intentions, but the death that lies in our future prevents us from keeping that promise unconditionally.

Death and Life

But there is One who now can make and keep his promise. Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and Savior, no longer has death in his future. For him, death lies in his past. When the Father raised him from the dead by the power of their Spirit on that first Easter morning, then the Triune God became the One who can make and keep all of his promises. Leo the Great once said in a sermon, “Christ did away with the everlasting character of death so as to make death a thing of time, not eternity.” This reminds us that while death may thwart us now, God himself, and not death, has the last word about us and all creation.

This is why the Church lifts its voice as one in the ancient cry of the Day of Resurrection, inviting us to join together with our brothers and sisters of every time and place, saying, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”

In one of his letters, St. Peter proclaims to us and to the whole Church:

Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead … . (1 Peter 1:3, NRSV)

Remembrance and Celebration

We gather on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday to hear the whole story of Christ’s Passion and Triumph.

On Maundy Thursday, we hear how Jesus Christ gave us the gift of his Holy Meal and the command to love one another as we make a corporate confession of our sins, receive forgiveness, remember his act of submission, and celebrate his the Holy Communion.

Then on Good Friday we return to hear the account of our Lord’s Passion, his suffering and sacrifice on the cross to conquer death. We meditate upon his ultimate gift, his love, and the promise of victory that God makes to us.

Holy Saturday evening brings us to the Vigil of Easter, when we will gather in the fading light of day to give God thanks for Jesus Christ, the light who cannot be overcome by darkness and death. We will hear several biblical stories that foreshadow the triumph of Easter and then we will ring in Easter as we celebrate God’s victory over death, shared with us in Holy Communion.

On Easter we will offer two celebrations of the resurrection, giving God praise and glory for his death-defeating love shown to us and to the whole world through Jesus Christ. This is a time to be glad, to sing our praises, and to be jubilant because of the Good News.

Blessing

As we enter this holy time in our life together, we can pray in confidence for the Father to bless us in our worship, so that we may celebrate the rising of his Son with the faith that comes to us through their Holy Spirit.