Easter in Haiti

 Today is the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, the greatest day in the Christian calendar. I have been thinking about what this all means for a while, trying to extract some greater meaning, but I was coming up dry. I knew it was important in some way but I couldn’t get beyond what I had been told as a kid. It felt just like another Sunday. I have had a pretty relaxing weekend so far, and today and yesterday I enjoyed the wonderful Van Cleve tradition of listening to the Handel Messiah. Every Easter my family listens to the Handel Messiah after we come home for church. We used to listen to it only at Christmas until we realized that it was more about Easter than Christmas. I was listening to the Hallelujah Chorus, and as the chorus kept repeating “and he shall reign forever and ever”, I suddenly became a little choked up. I was so happy knowing deep within that “he shall reign forever and ever”.

The prophecies about Jesus indicated that a king would come to rule the Jewish people. The Jewish scholars who read the prophecies and the leaders who preached about the coming king all believed that a great military ruler would come and enact a great political regime. The world would be ruled by a great sovereign power that would restore order to all the ends of the earth. As the prophecies foretold, a great king did come, but he was the exact opposite of what the people expected. Jesus was not a powerful general with a great militia at his disposal; he was a rabbi and teacher. Jesus preached to thousands of people and began one of the most powerful movements in human history, but he never picked up a sword, he never enacted some brilliant political regime, he merely healed the sick, fed the hungry, and formed relationships with anyone who would listen to him. Jesus took those who had fallen from grace within society or been cast out, and loved them. By these actions he revealed his kingdom to be one not of temporal power or military might but a great kingdom of love and redemption open to all of humanity.

I know there are many debates over whether Jesus really rose, if we was really God, and so on, but if Jesus is to rule forever, this is the greatest news we could ever know. Regardless of the smaller details, the message of the crucifixion and the resurrection is that grace and love will rule forever. That which rules the world is not some magic formula we are to adhere to, it is not some political structure, the world is ruled through love. At the end of the day we are ruled not by force but by true, unadulterated love. Jesus’s rule will not be a strict rule that dictates our every action, nor will it be regime that limits freedom and person choice. If Jesus is to be king, his kingdom will be one built on service to others, a kingdom where we can find redemption no matter how far we fall from grace, a kingdom of love in its greatest of forms. When God came as a servant, he was trying to convey a message. He was telling us that he does not want us to conform to some strict rule, but to enter into a relationship with him. He came to earth to be close to us and to loves us.

The Christian story is one that seems distant and unbelievable to many people today. God came to earth? A kingdom built on love and humility? This all sounds like either some hippie pipe dream or something only found in fairy tales that we have out grown. Even as I write this I am struggle with the details a little bit as well. But from what I have seen over the past year, the beauty that can come from service and humility, the message of the Easter cannot be a more important and joyful message. The Christian mission as it is seen in La Croix is one of love in one of its greatest forms. The mission is built of people serving each other, people from all over the community sacrificing their own egos and pride in order to improve someone else’s life. All of this work, all of the service to others is done in service to the greater good, in service to God. This work is not done to glorify a human or appease some personal desire. This work is done because God calls us to do more than just survive, God calls us to love.

I know the story of the resurrection may seem implausible, but the message is timeless. Our true strength lies not in strict laws or forceful power, our true strength lies in our humility and love for others. Jesus gave all of himself for all of us. There is no exception to that love. As we follow in those foot sets, as we give of ourselves, the more fulfilled we will become.