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ing praises unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks unto him for a remembrance of his holiness. For his wrath endureth but the twinkling of an eye and in his pleasure is life. Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
-Psalm 30:4-5
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Happy Easter! As many of you know, Easter doesn’t end with Easter Sunday, but instead begins on this day. Along with Christmas and Pentecost, Easter is one of the “Big Three” in Christianity, and rightly so. We are an Easter people, and when we worship, we affirm that Christ was raised from the dead. He broke the heavy bonds of death with an act of immeasurable love. So it is only natural that we celebrate Easter longer than just an hour on one Sunday.
In fact, Eastertide includes 7 Sundays. During Eastertide, it is traditional to offer the Paschal greeting of “Alleluia! Christ is risen!” in some form, and we will start our service this coming Sunday with a similar Call to Worship. This is to proclaim the unbelievable power of our Cosmic Christ and to remind us that Easter is not a day but a season of joy and praise to our Holy Sovereign.
It seems fitting to me, then, that Psalm 30 is assigned to this upcoming Sunday in the lectionary. I encourage you to read the entire psalm, but this verse is especially meaningful to me:
Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Taking metaphorically, we can hold on to this hope in every hardship in our lives, but it also reflects the traditional practice of Lenten penitence (which is a “heavy” time) followed by the joy of Eastertide. Friends, we are living not in the night, but in the morning. No heaviness can weigh us down forever, nor should we let it. Often, we are hurt by others and our pain feels heavy. But sometimes, we hold on to grudges, anger, and vengeance, and refuse to let the joy shine through. Are you holding on to something negative that you need to let go? In Christ, we can find the true source of joy but only if we live into this joy and hope. Let us remember this Easter season to focus our minds on the Source and reflect pure joy and love into this world so quick to hate and retaliate.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
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