Living in the Hope of Easter

Living in the Hope of Easter
by
April 08, 2026

We had a wonderful Easter celebration at Woodmont! This Sunday, we will keep the spirit alive by baptizing our young people. We are in the business of building Christian lives. Easter is not just a day. It is a season, a mindset, and a way of life. We celebrate with these families as their children take this big step.

Preachers always feel the pressure to deliver a powerful and relevant Easter message. But how many different ways can you tell the story? Each gospel has a slightly different version of the story. There are always some in the pews who don’t buy the resurrection story. Their logical, rational, post-enlightenment mind just won’t allow them to go there. A first-century rabbi in Jerusalem was betrayed, arrested, crucified, died, and then rose on the third day? Really? How do you explain that? It’s a contentious debate, full of myths and theories, but here’s what I know: something supernatural happened on Easter. And even the best preachers cannot fully explain it. God raised Jesus from the dead. We call it faith for a reason.

The church simply would not have survived this long if the Easter message were false. But what is the Easter message, and why is it life-changing? Easter proves that Jesus was who he said he was because without the resurrection, Jesus would have gone down in history as a great teacher, a great healer, a great moral leader, but not as God’s Son. Easter reassures us that there is life after death. There is an alternative reality that awaits us after physical death that still remains a mystery. There have been many accounts of “near-death experiences,” those on the operating table who leave their body for a short while and begin this incredible transition into a different realm.

Perhaps just as importantly, Easter proves that there is also life before death, no matter what we may endure. Nothing that this world can bring – divorce, depression, mental illness, betrayal, addiction, affairs, unemployment, cancer, financial hardships, war, fear, worry, disappointment, infertility, the death of a child, suicide – none of these things have the final say. When asked if he had been born again. Frederick Buechner famously said, “Let me tell you something – I have been born again and again and again.” We can all relate to that.

Easter reminds us that hope always remains, and despite the many small deaths that we die in this world, we can go on living and find joy and meaning again. We have to believe that with all of our heart. God gives us the strength to persevere and make it through the worst of situations. But perhaps most importantly, Easter reminds us not to live our lives in fear. Fear takes the joy out of life. Fear is a powerful force and can overwhelm us. Fear and anxiety abound in our digital age of constant interruptions and noise.

One of my mentors, Fred Craddock, once said, “Afraid, afraid, afraid, afraid, afraid, afraid. That’s the refrain of what we are and what we do. But don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid to live and love and laugh. Don’t be afraid to give and serve and care. Don’t be afraid to speak and do. That’s the message of Easter. Don’t be afraid.” If we take nothing else from the Easter message, may we understand that living in a constant state of fear is not God’s desire for our lives. Not now. Not ever. Cultivate an Easter mindset. Look for new beginnings. Christ has risen indeed!

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