By Reverend Vona Wilson

Holy Week presses in on our daily routines and beckons us to recall the story of Christ’s passion. Churches hold vigils and services to retrace the steps of Christ. Purple cloth adorns the altars, and Easter baskets emerge from the closets where they’ve been sitting since last spring.

Yes, spring is here! The flowers, trees and plants are shouting praise in their blooming. And yes, this is a sacred story. I have wondered this season, “How does Christ feel about the way we tell his story?” The question has left me speechless for all that I do not know.

Over three years, Jesus shared intimately with his 12 disciples and taught them everything they could take in. Ultimately, he gave them a charge to share the message with any who would listen. It was a message of love and forgiveness. Radical love. Radical forgiveness.

For more than 2,000 years now, people have continued to have encounters with Christ through direct experience or through the love, grace and mercy shown to them by people who believe.

Making all things new

My brother died in a car accident when he was 16. Easter reminds me we will be together again. My father died from emphysema; a lifetime of smoking cut his life short. Easter reminds me we will be together again. My list goes on and on. I suspect yours does as well.

And it is not only death that is conquered in the Resurrection. It is also those things that bring destruction and death into our daily lives. Addiction, heartache, illness, financial oppression, dysfunctional relationships and a host of other things. Christ’s life, death and resurrection hold the power to redeem it all.

Today I have a slightly different question: "How does Christ ask me to tell the story?"

“Love one another as I have loved you,” is all I hear in response (John 15:12). By this love—the love of Christ—the world will know his story.

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