Easter message from the National Council of Churches

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

 An Easter 2011 message from the National Council of Churches. April 18, 20 11. 
See http://www.ncccusa.org/news/110418easter.html

>"Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?"

The phrase is from the Hebrew scriptures -- Lamentations 1:12 -- but for ma ny 
Christians, it's an Easter provocation. A Lutheran church in Pottstown,  Pa., 
places a crude wooden cross on its front lawn on one of the borough's  busiest 
streets, and drapes it with a pointed question: "Is it nothing to y ou, all you 
who pass by?"

Persons passing by must think of the question as a rebuke, insinuating that  
for many of us, the true meaning of Easter is lost amid stacks of candy an d 
hats and other finery.

The truth is, it's not an easy question to hear. As the world's 2 billion C 
hristians enter the holiest time of their year, the contrast between what m any 
believe and what they do can be upsetting.

In simple terms, this is the story. "God so loved the world that he gave hi s 
only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have et ernal 
life." (John 3:16). "God proves his love for us in that while we stil l were 
sinners Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8). God "has anointed me," Je sus said 
in the midst of his earthly ministry that led up to his Easter sac rifice, "to 
bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release  to the 
captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed g o free, to 
proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19).

>That's the good news.

The bad news is that God's intervention in human history seems to have lost  
its power in many human hearts. The lilt of Easter joy is hard to hear ami d 
the din of sin.

As we prepare to celebrate the victory of the Prince of Peace over death an d 
decay, human violence is as rife as at any time in our history. Peaceful  
revolutions against oppressive regimes in Northern Africa are collapsing in to 
bloody civil wars. Autocrats on the continent of Africa, some of them pr 
ofessed Christians, use torture, murder and rape against their opponents. D rug 
cartels in the Americas show utter contempt for human life as they assa ult law 
enforcement officers and market their poisons. Belligerence and hor rific 
violence replace peace talks between the Palestinian Authority in Isr ael.

Here in the United States, the debate over the national budget has ignored  the 
most vulnerable members of our society -- millions of the working poor,  the 
homeless, children, and disabled persons -- while political leaders of  both 
parties jockey for tactical advantages as if they were more intereste d in 
pursuing power and office than a balanced budget. Incessant gun violen ce 
continues to take thousands of lives and injures thousands more.

Given this background, the common prayer of the 37 member communions of the  
National Council of Churches is this: that the true and complete meaning o f 
Easter be visited upon us all. May peace be restored in human hearts and  on 
battlegrounds around the world. May the poor hear God's good news. May t hose 
who live in oppressive lands experience God's justice and freedom. May  the 
blind and uninformed see God's truth. And may God's economic justice b e 
experienced by all.

>"Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?"

This Easter, may the message of the cross change hearts and lives forever.

The Lord is risen. The Lord is risen indeed.

>---

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ  in 
the USA has been the leading force for shared ecumenical witness among C 
hristians in the United States. The NCC's 37 member communions -- from a wi de 
spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic Africa n 
American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more  than 
100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 646-853-4212 ( 
cell), pjenks@ncccusa.org