May

DEACON'S DIALOGUE, THE REV. PORTIA SWEET-

“In the merry, merry month of May…” so goes the old song. There are, traditionally, many merry occasions in the month of May: graduations, picnics, and beach outings to name a few. From another perspective, May is a time of closures: final exams, end of school years, Memorial Day. Endings and beginnings can both be a part of the same event which is sometimes confusing and stressful.

And so it must have been for the followers of Jesus in that first Eastertide. Jesus had been killed, but the tomb was empty; but not everyone saw that. There must have been many rumors floating throughout Galilee: “He is dead “, “No, some women found an empty tomb;” “His friends stole the body”; “No, some of his friends say they saw him walking down the road.” Can you imagine the creative details that probably flourished about this event? Think how it would have been if CNN or Fox News had been around to cover the story.

All these centuries later there are still millions of non-believers, doubters, and others who never heard the Story. Christians in the 21st century have the accounts of eyewitnesses to tell the truth of Easter. Like the early followers, we are commissioned to be storytellers, telling our own personal stories of how it matters that Christ is risen and is alive in our lives.

Through our baptism, we have died with him and become new, free, resurrected children of God. We have experienced a simultaneous ending and beginning. We have reason to be merry this May, and how can we not share the merriment? Who will you go and tell? 

Christ is Risen. Christ is Risen indeed.

Deacon Portia