2025 Week 18
Hello, Springers!
In the old church calendar, Easter is a season. Does that matter?
It does.
It is said by some that people never change. It is said by others that change is possible. I’ve been frustrated at times by both sentiments.
On the one hand, it seems true that people do not change. Some weaknesses in my character and personality are still very much with me, the way they were when I first recognized them. I haven’t changed. This is disheartening. (And that is the understatement of the year!)
On the other hand, what hope do we have if change is not possible? Throughout my life, I’ve been called to change for the better. The musical Wicked explores the idea of change in a number called For Good that says:
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good
The hope at the center of this musical is hope in the possibility of real change. Change for the better is a longing in every human heart. Yet we have this nagging sense that we are fundamentally the same as we have always been.
If change is possible, what is the power that makes it possible?
Recognizing Easter as a season helps us remember that every day, Christians live in the power of the resurrection of Christ. This is the ultimate power for change.
The Holy Spirit speaking through Paul wants the church to know and experience this power.
…and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:19-20)
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:11)
Easter is not a day. It’s a season. The power of the resurrection is not a dogma we celebrate and remind ourselves of once a year with chocolate eggs. It is available and at work in Christians every day. Below you can see a favorite meme of mine from the internet I use to remind myself of this truth.
So yes, in some ways we do not change because we are made in the image of God and we bear that image always. That image in us is marred by sin. But the power of the resurrection renews you day by day, so that the beauty of God’s image created in you now begins to shine forth.
Someone else has said that our greatest weaknesses are the flip side of our greatest strengths. So if you don’t feel that you change over time, if you feel that an old weakness is still with you, perhaps it is because the other side of it is one of your greatest strengths – something that the Holy Spirit dwelling in you will refine and bring forth like polished silver, no longer tarnished.
Remember that Easter is a season, that the power of the resurrection is at work in you, and that in Christ you are changing for the better. This is my prayer for you.
in Christ,
Pastor Tag