Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Day 20 : Covid-19 Lockdown in Taupo : "Keep the Party Going?"

As I was getting ready for Easter I was looking through some old ideas and notes I had been keeping over the years, and I came across something I thought was pretty cool!

It was from a published excerpt of a sermon originally from N.T. Wright.
Who is he you might be asking?
He is an English New Testament scholar, Pauline theologian and Anglican bishop.
Sounds pretty impressive...

But more importantly I wanted to pass on some his thoughts, because they have stirred my thoughts, and I am wondering if they will do the same for you?

"…one of the main things I want to say this morning 
is that we as Christians must learn how to celebrate 
Easter properly..."

"...my friends, we are Easter people! 
We stand on resurrection ground. 
Easter is not only our greatest party (much greater by the way than Christmas—whatever you do on Christmas you ought to do ten times as much at Easter); Easter is the only reason we are here at all! 
St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “If Christ is not raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” Without Easter, Jesus of Nazareth would be a curious historical footnote. 
Without Easter, the world would still be divided into waiting Jews and puzzled pagans."

"No, we should make Easter a forty-day celebration. 
If Lent is that long, Easter should be at least that long, 
all the way to Ascension. 
We should meet regularly for Easter parties. 
We should drink champagne at breakfast. 
We should renew baptismal vows with splashing water 
all over the place. 
And we should sing and dance and blow trumpets and put out banners in the streets. 
And we should invite the homeless people to parties and 
we should go around town doing random acts of 
generosity and celebration. 
We should be doing things which would make our sober and serious neighbours say, 
“What is the meaning of this outrageous party?” "

I don't know about you but I have found this very thought provoking.
It has left me wanting to explore his ideas further.
Especially as Easter weekend has passed, the chocolate is gone, and we look to what's next?

Something to think about?

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