The Easter Cycle
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III, Cycle C
Easter, as a 50-day season, is the "essential season" of the church year, but it is more than that; it is really a 13 1/2-week cycle that is basic to an understanding of the gospel, biblical theology, and the worship of the Christian community. The Easter Cycle includes the seasons of Lent and of Easter, combining the death and resurrection of the Lord into a unitive event, which provides theological balance for believers. Without the cross event deeply embedded in Christian theology, a "theology of glory" - devoid of pain and suffering and bordering on extremely "easy answers" - emerges; without the resurrection, as Paul would say, we are the most miserable of all people, because we would have no hope, and the gospel would be a lie.
Lent reminds us, as we move toward Easter on our week-by-week pilgrimage, that Jesus really did suffer and die, and that the scriptural prophecies about him were fulfilled in his death. Jesus died, as we all die, but with a difference: He died a man, but the Son of God, at the same time. God joined the human experience of death at the cross of Jesus Christ, not simply to obtain a human perspective on death, but to deliver human beings from sin and death, and to effect a reconciliation between his children and himself which would offer them life in his everlasting kingdom. Lent takes us, step by step, from Ash Wednesday, with its reminder of death and the cross and our baptism into the death of Christ, in the imposition of ashes on our foreheads, all the way to Golgotha and a garden tomb that is empty forever. Lent is a time of facing up to sin and death while there is yet time.
Easter, the great 50 days, takes us where Lent leaves off, reminding us that Lent has no meaning apart from Easter. By itself, Lent ends in a terrible tragedy - Jesus' awful death and burial - nothing more. Lent cannot exit by itself! Beyond the cross is the tomb and the mysterious disappearance of the body of Christ, but no resurrection hope. Thus, the gospel, without Easter is the story of a lovely and misguided man, who died unnecessarily, at best, and a totally fraudulent tale, at the worst. Without Easter, 2,000 years of Christian history and the witness of the martyrs and the work of the faithful go down the drain! Without Easter, Jesus' story is hardly worth telling, because it ends in total tragedy and complete disaster.
Easter declares that Christ is risen, and that his resurrection has put the stamp of his cross on every aspect of human life. Easter means that life has meaning and purpose and that we don't have to find out by ourselves what life is all about, because God has revealed meaning and his love and mercy to us in Jesus Christ. Easter celebrates the death and the resurrection of Christ. The whole universe - God's eternal kingdom - is ours in and through the risen Lord. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! That's where Lent takes us - all the way to the cross and to the empty tomb - and that's what the gospel is all about.
Lent reminds us, as we move toward Easter on our week-by-week pilgrimage, that Jesus really did suffer and die, and that the scriptural prophecies about him were fulfilled in his death. Jesus died, as we all die, but with a difference: He died a man, but the Son of God, at the same time. God joined the human experience of death at the cross of Jesus Christ, not simply to obtain a human perspective on death, but to deliver human beings from sin and death, and to effect a reconciliation between his children and himself which would offer them life in his everlasting kingdom. Lent takes us, step by step, from Ash Wednesday, with its reminder of death and the cross and our baptism into the death of Christ, in the imposition of ashes on our foreheads, all the way to Golgotha and a garden tomb that is empty forever. Lent is a time of facing up to sin and death while there is yet time.
Easter, the great 50 days, takes us where Lent leaves off, reminding us that Lent has no meaning apart from Easter. By itself, Lent ends in a terrible tragedy - Jesus' awful death and burial - nothing more. Lent cannot exit by itself! Beyond the cross is the tomb and the mysterious disappearance of the body of Christ, but no resurrection hope. Thus, the gospel, without Easter is the story of a lovely and misguided man, who died unnecessarily, at best, and a totally fraudulent tale, at the worst. Without Easter, 2,000 years of Christian history and the witness of the martyrs and the work of the faithful go down the drain! Without Easter, Jesus' story is hardly worth telling, because it ends in total tragedy and complete disaster.
Easter declares that Christ is risen, and that his resurrection has put the stamp of his cross on every aspect of human life. Easter means that life has meaning and purpose and that we don't have to find out by ourselves what life is all about, because God has revealed meaning and his love and mercy to us in Jesus Christ. Easter celebrates the death and the resurrection of Christ. The whole universe - God's eternal kingdom - is ours in and through the risen Lord. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! That's where Lent takes us - all the way to the cross and to the empty tomb - and that's what the gospel is all about.
