Easter 2016

For our Easter reflections, Call To Action has asked a variety of people of the LBGTQ continuum to write about how they experience the Risen Christ in their lives. How do you experience the Risen Christ in yours?

THE RISEN CHRIST: REMEMBRANCE, HOPE, AND FULLNESS

In this Season of Easter, we are called to set our eyes on the Risen Christ and to reflect on the transformational journey Christ calls us to. By bringing the memory of our past and the hopes for our future to the Risen Christ, we can experience the fullness of life made possible through Jesus’ and our Resurrection:

The Risen Christ is Remembrance. As we reflect on the sacrifice of Christ and witness his Resurrection, we remember the many people before us that have hung on a cross due to rejection, fear, intolerance, and close-mindedness. The Risen Christ bears wounds on His hands, feet, and side just like many of us bear the wounds of injustice. Yet, the Risen Christ walks with us, invites us to touch His wounds so we can experience the fruit of His sacrifice, and calls us to give ourselves fully to Him with unconditional abandon. We are called to remember our wounds yet to rise up and be examples of the new life that is far more powerful than death.

The Risen Christ is Hope. As we fix our eyes on Jesus, we can rest in the hope of a resurrection. Our suffering is not the end. Injustice is not the end. Our brokenness is not the end. There is a new life that is made possible through Christ. His sacrifice and Resurrection invites us to experience our own transformation and resurrection.  In turn, we are to be beacons of hope to others through our words and actions.  We are called to bring about this new life to those that are afflicted so that they can, through our witness, rest in the hope of their own resurrection.

The Risen Christ is Fullness. When we rest in Jesus, we experience true happiness, which takes place as we participate in His Resurrection. In our dying and rising, we come to know the fullness of God’s love through Jesus. It is a happiness that no words can describe; a happiness that fulfills our very purpose as human beings; a happiness that reminds us that, as beings created in the Imago Dei, we share Jesus’ love and resurrection. Christ’s Resurrection restores our life, ends our suffering, and brings us to complete and everlasting fullness.