Easter or Resurrection Day

Q: The traditional churches call the day Christ arose Easter, but the new generation churches call it resurrection day. They claim that Easter is a pagan celebration and should not be associated with Christ. How do you respond?

I searched and searched, but I'm still not sure what a "new generation" church is compared to a "traditional" church. I am assuming that your questions comes from a specific experience with a "new generation" church. If you would contact me, I would love to know if there is a specific situation to which you are referring. I would imagine that the "new generation" church, with its insistence of being called "resurrection day" is trying to get to the root of the practice and weed out a bit of the historical adaptation. With that, I wonder what the "new generation" churches do with other adaptations of pagan celebrations?

I'm not sure of the differences in practice between "traditional" and "new generation" churches, but some of the elements of this question are interesting. The Venerable Bede, a late-seventh-century English historian and scholar from Anglo-Saxon England, says that the name Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre (pagan), associated with spring and fertility, that it is celebrated around the vernal equinox. In our christianization of a pagan calendar, we adopted the Germanic/Anglo name Eostre, and called the celebration of Jesus' resurrection Easter. There is a great article HERE that explores the topic of Eostre and Easter. Note of interest: A couple other adaptations of "pagan" holiday celebrations can be found in the festivals of Saturnalia (Christmas) and Samhain (All Hallows Eve / All Saints' Day).

I think it may be splitting hairs to insist it be called one thing over another. To the Christian, whether we call refer to it as "Easter" or "Resurrection Day" it is the same thing - the day we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead. Those who keep a celebration of the life of Christ in a calendar year (liturgical church traditions like the Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, & Lutherans) celebrate Easter or the Season of Resurrection as a season for 50 whole days!

Membership

Q: Why do some Episcopal churches ask you to write to your prior church to have your membership moved and others (like Trinity) do not?

I think there may be some confusion here. If you consider Trinity your home, and you are engaging the gathered community here at Trinity to help you with your spiritual needs, and you consider yourself a member of Trinity Church, then please, write your prior church and have the record of your baptism and confirmation moved to Trinity Church. You can use the form HERE.

Baptism makes you a member. If you are baptized (by water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) then you are a "member" of the Christian church, regardless of where (or how) you were baptized. Trinity, however, should have a record of that baptism.

Information on Baptism and Confirmation can be located on our website. (click links)

If you need help with any of these, please contact me or the church office. It would be an honor to add you to Trinity's membership roll.

Resurrection & Following Jesus

Q: Is it not more important to believe in the teaching of Jesus than that he is the son of God and rose from the dead?

If Jesus was not the son of God and if he did not rise from the dead, then why believe what he taught is any different or better than anything others taught? I hate to sound sarcastic here, but there were many great teachers in history. Gandhi, Mohammad, Gautama Buddha, Socrates, Plato, Confucius, etc... (the list goes on and on) they were all teachers of solid core foundational values. What is it that makes Jesus different?

Jesus is different because he offered a way to be in relationship in this world through his teaching. He offered a relational connection to God the creator that wasn't legalistic or prescriptive. By rising from the grave, he taught that life with our creator is eternal for those that are in that relationship. It gives the believer hope that there is something better for those that strive for righteousness and justice in the world.

So, for me they go hand in hand. If you believe in Jesus' teaching, and want them to make a difference in your relationship to God and all of creation then I would think that you would need to believe that Jesus was the Son of God (the incarnation of God = Jesus is God) and that he rose from the dead. Without a belief in the incarnation and the resurrection, I feel that Jesus is just another great teacher.

Calling the Disciples

Q: How long did it take for Jesus to assemble the disciples? Do we have any idea?

All we know about Jesus calling the disciples is what's found in scripture. (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:4-11; and John 1:29-2:2). Reading the accounts individually can be very confusing... reading them together helps us get the whole picture and start to piece together the whole story.

I would gauge the timing as in the first part of the three years Jesus was preaching and teaching. I don't feel that Jesus selected his closest followers randomly in a hurried and instantaneous manner, therefore it took a while to assemble the twelve. I have no idea how long. It might be an excellent study to outline the passages that I referenced above and see if you can put together the pieces.

Living Christ's Message

Q: Why don't more people - me included - live Christ's message on days other than Sunday?

Incredible question that needs to be continually asked by every one of the followers of Jesus! I have this incredible feeling that society thinks it doesn't need Christ's message at all, let alone on just on Sunday...  They think that they can somehow save themselves all by themselves. I would say, for lack of a better term or nicer way to put it, that those who live Christ's message ONLY on Sunday are being hypocritical the rest of the week (or not even living Christ's message at all). If we are going to be Christian, then we don't get to pick and choose which days we can be Christian.

If this question is about going or not going to Church, I feel, and will be quick to say, that going to church DOES NOT make you a Christian. (just like being in a garage doesn't make you a car!) Church, for the christian is more of a "training facility" or a "fuel stop" than it is a "place to be a Christian." (like the garage - it's a place to be worked on, fueled up, lifted up, and tuned! And like a garage, it's sometimes messy work! - ok, that's enough of the car analogy) That doesn't mean that we don't have to go to church, on the contrary. We go to church to learn and worship - it is that "fuel stop" that feeds us and that "training facility" that empowers us to get through the rest of life during the week. I helps us deal with the evils of the world, and gives us strength through relationships with other believers.

There is an incredible struggle these days between a society that teaches self sufficiency and salvation through "doing good" and Christ's actual message of truth, equity, justice, and relationship that can be lived out in the world that ultimately teaches a connection to God. The difference is relationship.

As Christians, we should be living our life day to day in relationship to God (through Jesus). It is the source and reason we are in love and charity with our neighbors. It is not the society influencing us, it is us who should be influencing society by the way we live. To me, that's what living Christ's message is about. We also need to remember that society won't always "like" or "accept" the way that we are living. (It even got Jesus nailed to a cross!) 

I feel that Jesus came that we might be learn how to be together in relationship in order to bring forth the Kingdom of God. Living a life (every day) through Jesus... his life, his teaching, and his actions...  all viewed through the lens of his death and resurrection. It's not easy, but for the believer, it becomes the connection to God that the world needs for the Kingdom of God to come. 

From the old camp song that is Based on John 13:35

(I believe the music and lyrics were originally written by Peter Schools)

1. We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.

Refrain
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

2. We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand,
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand,
And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land.

3. We will work with each other, we will work side by side,
We will work with each other, we will work side by side,
And we’ll guard each one’s dignity and save each one’s pride.

4. All praise to the Father, from whom all things come,
And all praise to Christ Jesus, his only Son,
And all praise to the Spirit, who makes us one.

Recognizing Jesus after the Resurrection

Q: In some of the resurrection stories, the disciples do not recognize Jesus. How could that be?

Q: Why didn't the disciples recognize Jesus after the resurrection?

The two questions that were submitted are almost the same. Therefore, I decided to address the two in the same post. Scripture doesn't tell us why it the disciples didn't recognize Jesus after the resurrection. Therefore, I will try to explain how I understand it. Hopefully, this will help you discern an understanding for yourself.

First, people did not expect the dead to rise again. Therefore, regardless of how much Jesus told them that "the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again" (Luke 18:33, 24:7, 24:46, Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:34) they didn't understand. They continued not to understand until they were reminded. Therefore, it's hard to recognize what we don't expect.

The way I understand resurrection is that it is "life after life after death." More Here (good article on the resurrection!) To me, this means that resurrection life is a different state of being. I would expect the appearance of the resurrected Christ to be different - and unexpected by his followers. However, regardless of how he looks (whether he looks like Jesus or not), the disciples know it is him. 

In the Gospel according to John, Mary encounters the risen Christ in the garden and thinks he is the gardener. (John 20:15) Obviously upset because she thinks that someone has stolen the body of Jesus, she must have been crying. Have you ever seen any thing clearly when you've been crying? Not expecting Jesus to have been raised from the dead, she didn't recognize Jesus until he called her by name.

Again, in the Gospel according to John, the disciples are 100 yards off the shore in a boat and the risen Christ calls out to them to cast their net on the other side. (John 21) It was day break and 100 yards would cause some confusion. We must also understand that the disciples didn't expect to see Jesus again. However, in an act of the miraculous catch of fish that was experienced before (Matt 4, Mark 1, Luke 5), they recognize that it is Jesus. Evidently the resurrected Jesus doesn't look the same, but they somehow know it's him.

I feel that we are continuously called to "look for" the risen Christ in this world. If we do, Jesus shows up in many unexpected places and at the most unexpected times. We should become sensitive to the fact that Jesus will not appear as we expect... We may see the risen Christ in the face of the stranger, the other, those extremely different from us, those who we may not like very much, those who are in need, etc... In the Rule of St. Benedict, it says, "All who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ." (Benedict's Rule Chapter 53) I think that this rule leaves room for the fact that the risen Christ may show himself in the lives of others. We should never expect the risen Christ to look like the Jesus we would expect.

Church and Priorities

Q: Why do people not put church as a priority in their life?

Different people have different reasons for not wanting to engage in church or public worship. However, I haven't heard a good one yet. It's sort of like the excuses that one gives for not having their homework - "We had a ___ game to go to (or a camping trip or sleep over or ... whatever) on Sunday" or "We just couldn't get it together" or my favorite "It's my only day to sleep in" or even better yet "the kids didn't think it was fun" or "I don't get anything out of it." 

Attendance at public worship (or lack thereof) says something about the person and what kind of relationship they are trying to nurture with God. We prioritize activities based on what we think is important. If an individual's relationship with God is unimportant, then it becomes 2nd, 3rd, or even last on the list. This is very sad because it's the people like this that wonder why God is so "absent" after they have done nothing to nurture or build a relationship with God. 

Relationship is a two-fold thing. It requires engagement and interaction by all parties. I often tell people that you only get out of church (or relationship) what you are willing to put into it. If you are not engaged or don't participate in what the church community works so hard to offer, then you don't reap the full benefits of church.

I recently had a conversation with a woman who has come back to church after being away for many years. She attends nearly every Sunday and is engaged in activities. I want to share what she told me that will probably help those who are struggling with priorities. She said, "I never realized the depth of real love and understanding that comes from belonging to a church. I understand more about how we worship more than I did when I came only 2 or 3 times a year. I never realized or understood that going through Lent would make Easter mean that much more to me - and it did! The more I learn, the more I want to learn."

For me, that sums it up. That is why I am personally engaged. That's why I make it a priority. When I am in worship or in community at Church, as messy and stressful as it can be sometimes, I always feel a depth of love and peace. It is a place of activity and learning... it is a place of engagement and relationship... It's not perfect, it's a messy safe place to work things out.

Jesus says love God and love your neighbor. To me, my relationship with God is the first thing on my list. That is what I work on when I go to church and worship. It sets the tone of how I work on my relationship with my neighbor. If the relationship with God is missing, then the rest of the system will be, and usually is, out of sorts.

Note: It usually takes a few several hours to prepare just one hour of worship, it's not instant, nor does it happen spontaneously. It is a shame that many people don't think that their relationship with God is important enough to make it a priority and engage enough to completely enjoy the benefits.