An Easter Message from Bishop Bethlehem Nopece
Posted On : March 19, 2008 5:19 PM | Posted By : Admin ACO Related Categories: South Africa
ACNS: 4381
My Dear People of God,
Easter, the crux of our faith
Greetings in the name of the risen Lord!
No Easter, no faith. The apostle Paul puts it this way: "And if Christ has not been raised from the dead, our preaching is useless and so is your faith ... If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." (1 Cor 15:12-20ff). What does Easter mean to us? I think it means three things, namely: relationships, trans-formation and hope.
Relationships
Our faith is faith in the living God. We enter into relationship with him when we accept him as Lord and Saviour. We journey with him through life, from our baptism. God who has revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ walks with us individually when we believe and take an act of faith to receive him. This relationship has both vertical and horizontal dimensions. Once we encounter a "living God"
who indwells our lives, we are required to mind the neighbour and their needs. Easter challenges us to acquire "eyes to see, hands to reach out, arms to embrace and feet to go/visit." Pray and take courage to reach out this Easter so that the risen Christ may be seen in you and those around you.
Transformation
When we are "in Christ" we experience transformation to become brand new people. The old nature of hiding in our cozy corners passes away.
We get the guts of venturing into challenges of transforming the world for the love of him who died our death (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 2:20).
Christians who are simple pew warmers are not fit for the service of the Lord. The early church grew both numerically and in the quality of faith because Christians were active in transforming communities.
The city of Port Elizabeth together with our beloved South Africa can never be transformed until the transformed people become active to engage in the building of God´s kingdom. The moral decay that surrounds us will continue to deteriorate for as long as our mouths are shut against the evils that exist in the government circles and communities of our land. Transformation must begin in your life now, in order to transform your home and community with your active engagement in bringing the joy of Easter to those who humbly believe.
Hope Easter is about hope. Hope can be realized in three ways, so that `better life will come to all´. Our preaching of Christ will be more effective when development is brought in. In our diocese we are in partnership with Hope Africa with the purpose of bringing quality of life to the disadvantaged of our communities by starting self-help projects. Quality of life is about putting food on the table three times a day - and things would be better still with "teas" in between. People should have clothes, shelter over their heads, jobs, schooling for the young, access to health services and safety. This is the will of the risen Christ.
Please visit the needy and the lonely. Do you know how this brings a smile to those in need? The risen Christ lives in you. Change the status quo by "being-bright-in-your-corner." Then people will be filled with the love of the risen Christ and carry a smile on their faces.
Hope is of the glorification of our mortal bodies. Sometimes we may think that this will happen in the `by-and-by´. It starts now. When we experience aches in our bodies, Christ remains the ultimate healer. One of our friends wrote to me in an SMS when I had heart ailments, "take courage bishop, claim your health from God, he is the ultimate healer." Immediately I took courage amidst so many who prayed for my health. God glorifies himself in our mortal bodies, now and not tomorrow. I am thankful to you for those prayers. All I need to do is to take care of the mortal body. Yet this glory takes us further to eternal life. A glorified body is the one that has been used to bring about good works of the kingdom of God. Laziness, fear, excuses, hibernating etc may prevent us from realizing this glory.
Finally, it is the hope of resurrection and of eternal life. This is the finality of our life. By the good we do in the name of Jesus and by his grace, we attain to this state of life at the end. Read meditatively 1 Corinthians 15 and listen to Paul unraveling the mystery of resurrection. He concludes: "Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain." Resurrection is about action by God through us.
May the joy of the risen Christ fill your hearts always.
Bishop Bethlehem Nopece Diocese of Port Elisabeth, Southern Africa
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