Easter Sunday 2022 "Easter? That's Absurd."

Easter is filled with hope and excitement and love. That's how Holy Week started for the disciples. After three years of walking the streets with Jesus and spending so many hours listening to him teach and heal and proclaim that the Kingdom of God was near, and that it would be here, they watched him ride into Jerusalem on a donkey with the crowd shouting "hosanna!" But it only took a few days for everything to turn towards darkness, as the crowds swayed in favor of executing the man whom they had previously been celebrating. This man had spoken about breaking down empire, but also about replacing it with peace. Calling to eliminate abusive power structures brought Jesus to trial as he was betrayed by Judas, set before those in authority, and condemned to die for his call to love the least of these. Jesus was executed for his call for liberation of the oppressed, and his disciples grieved his death, their loss of a friend. In the same way, we weep when we see the brokenness still in the world. War, famine, cruelty, oppression, abuse of the marginalized and exclusion of those who are not able-bodied or white or male, the rich standing by while the poor and the sick and the hungry suffer. But now the world is different. Because a resurrection happened. An event so absurd that it is explained away every day, applying arguments against a miracle when the very miracle of life and an earth that supports that life are right in front of us. We are allowed to look at all of this and say, "that's absurd!" A resurrection? Absurd. Yet we believe in that miracle, in the reincarnation. If it really happened, if Christ really did literally rise from the dead after three days in the grave, then God really does care about the real, the tangible, and God really is putting things back together again. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. ReNew Community Worship Service Speaker: Aaron Vis Scripture: John 20:1-18 http://bible.com/events/48878804