Easter and the Holy Spirit

For many of us, it is easier to pronounce "Christ is risen" when things are going well, or when we are experiencing the happiness of life. We think of the resurrection as a message of victory; therefore, we think of it as a reason for celebration. But this means that celebrating the Easter can be a bit awkward when life is not turning out very well. This is especially true right now that the world is facing a pandemic that has already claimed thousands of lives and continues to bring anxiety to the heart of everyone.

Today, as we think of Easter--which is about life--we are being confronted by the reality of death. As Christians, we face the paradox of believing in the God of life while surrounded by forces of death. We audaciously proclaim victory while struggling with a powerful enemy. Today, at Easter, we express the joy of the past while living in a painful present.

So, what is it about Easter that makes us so confident and bold in the here and now of April 2020? 

First, we must realize that most of the New Testament books were written during the time of persecution. The biblical writers were not writing in the context of wellness. Their situation was actually very bad. The Roman empire sought for their cruel and undeserved deaths. The threat to their life was even more imminent--near--than our struggle with the coronavirus today! They were living in a period where homing missiles were invented to obliterate Christians!

This means that the New Testament writers were writing the message of resurrection to a group of people whose love ones have been killed and were themselves in great danger of dying. This means that the message of Easter is precisely for a world of death, suffering, turmoil, fear, and anxiety.

This 2020, I would like to highlight one specific aspect of Easter that is most often neglected: THE LIFE-GIVING WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Easter is not just about Jesus Christ; it is also about the Holy Spirit who made the first Easter possible. Let us look at two verses: "The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you" (Rom 8:11, NLT), and "[Jesus] suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit" (1 Peter 3:18, NLT). The work of the Holy Spirit is to give life.

This is the message of Easter: The Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is active in the world today to give and sustain life! In the same way that God breathed life into Adam's nostrils (Gen 2:7) and in the same way that He breathed life into the vast army that stood at the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel's vision (Ezek 37:1-14), He is sustaining life on the planet right now! If the Holy Spirit is not in the world, we all would have already died: "If God were to take back his spirit and withdraw his breath, all life would cease, and humanity would turn again to dust" (Job 34:14-15, NLT). This means that although there are deaths in the midst of the pandemic, there are also many recoveries. Yes, there are deaths, but majority still keep their lives.

Samuel Rayan wrote: “The Spirit’s outpouring is there on all struggles against oppression, on all movements for justice, equality and freedom, on all strivings for a sane, human and gentle history” (Renew the Face of the Earth, 32). What does this mean? This means that if the Spirit is the life-giving Spirit, then he is actively working precisely where there is death, oppression, struggle, pain. Because the Spirit's work is to give and sustain life, He is active where and when forces of anti-life are active and evident!

This further means that the best way to celebrate Easter--when the Spirit raised Jesus from the dead--is not to gather around and sing celebration songs to remember a glorious past. The best way to celebrate Easter--as the people of God--is to participate in the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit in the world. So what we must be asking today are these: How can I participate in the Spirit's work of sustaining the life of babies who have no access to milk? How can I participate in the Spirit's work of sustaining the life of the poor who have no food? How can I participate in the Spirit's work of sustaining the life of the elderly who has no one to rely on? How can I participate in the Spirit's work of sustaining the life of the vulnerable, the oppressed, the abused?  In short, what are the implications of the fact that "the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you" (Rom 8:11, NLT)?

Today, we celebrate Easter. We celebrate the fact that the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead and whose work is to give and sustain life is actively working in the world today. Yes, the Holy Spirit is at work! This is our message of hope. But Easter, is not just an event that reminds us of hope. It is an event that demands us to participate, in our puny capacities as humans, in the life-giving work of the Spirit. This is our responsibility as worshippers of the risen Christ!

He is risen! Let us worship Him responsibly.