For Easter Sunday 2022, Christians are hoping for a return to normal worship, and looking to the resurrection of Jesus as a source of hope in the face of post-pandemic economic turmoil and war in Ukraine.

After two years of death and uncertainty, many Americans are finding new life

People are so glad to be back. That isolation took away a sense of hope with covid 19. In 2020, Christians nationwide had to observe Easter outdoors or at home, since churches were closed due to COVID-19. In 2021, many returned to in-person worship, but with space restrictions and a new sense of caution. Many still practice social distancing and mask-wearing in worship services. In a tentatively post-pandemic world, worship has changed, just like work, recreation and dining out. Churches have had to adapt, as people got used to worshipping at home and accepting televangelism as the new normal.

Many people have gotten out of the habit of going to church. Against the backdrop of international turmoil, there has been a spiritual crisis. In the US, everybody is talking about the really negative impact of the shutdown on people, psychologically and socially,. Suicides, drug use and depression have gone up, especially among young people, because people have been so isolated.

People need a sense of community and purpose, and religious tradition and church help provide that. Coming back to church is an antidote to the way people have been living for the past couple of years,

“These are uncertain times, but then again uncertainty, with its joys and with its challenges, is a part of living,” said the Rev. Jennifer Sanders, pastor of Beloved Community Church. “For Christians, the certainty can be found at Easter in the resurrection of Jesus and that event’s enduring witness in our lives, as the face of the marginalized among us, as the source of life and hope, as the radical Incarnation of justice and compassion, as the steady comfort in our days, and as the holy mystery that allows us to see the sacred all around us, this and each day.”
Since the Russian attack on Ukraine on Feb. 24, the world has felt even more unstable, as Americans attentively watch for news of a war in Eastern Europe. There are still a lot of crises, the energy crisis, inflation that’s starting to get worse, and war in Ukraine. People are finding ways, based on hope, to do something positive. People of faith are very much involved in trying to help the folks in Ukraine. People of faith need to stick together.
It’s a combination of getting together to worship and coming up with responses to these circumstances. For Christians, God is the source of truth. It is believed that objective truth exists. Discussion are based on that. Instead of canceling each other, everyone is looking  for reconciliation

Easter is the turning point for reconciliation. That’s what Easter is about. “Jesus dies to forgive and he rises to reconcile. On Easter Sunday, he reconciles with his disciples. Judas took it in his own hands to kill himself. Had he not done that, he too, could have been reconciled.”Easter presents that choice.

“Do we give up hope like Judas, or do we choose to have hope and reconciliation like the others?”  “That is desperately missing in our society. The death and resurrection of Jesus is the source of forgiveness and reconciliation. You can come back and rebuild.”
Christians need to take Easter as an incentive to rededicate their lives to God.

“The death of Jesus shows we have to experience death to ourselves, to experience rebirth in the heart of ourselves,” Bishop Jim Lowe, pastor of Guiding Light Church said. “Only when we die to self can we become what we need to be. Every one of us must experience a spiritual death of who we are, and we will no longer regard each other as Black or white, rich or poor, privileged or underprivileged, we will see each other through the eyes of God.”

People can take even more joy from Easter sunday  this morning when they look back at how they and their congregations survived, The Rev. Fred Robinson said.

“We got through it,” he says. “Life isn’t over. We’re here.”

And when pastors preach this morning about Jesus’ disciples finding new life after experiencing grief, those who have lost so much during the past two years can say: “And so have we. So have we…”

 

 

04/17/2022 By Alize Utteryn