Text for the Month
"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins."
1 Corinthians 15
In 1956, C.S. Lewis published Surprised by Joy, a book that tells the story of how he fell in love with Joy Davidman after many years of believing he would remain a lifelong bachelor. Yet, beyond that, it is also the story of his spiritual journey - from cultural Christianity to atheism, and finally, to a deep and true discipleship of the Lord. The defining emotion in his coming to faith was, for Lewis, joy. April is the month in which we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord. This, dear friends, is the very foundation of our Christian faith.
As St. Paul so powerfully stated, “If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is in vain.” The Russian Orthodox priest and theologian, Fr. Alexander Schmemann, once wrote: “From its very beginning, Christianity has been the proclamation of joy, of the only possible joy on earth… without the proclamation of this joy, Christianity is incomprehensible.” As we reflect on this, we see how profoundly true it is.
Consider the disciples on the road to Emmaus. St. Luke tells us they returned to Jerusalem overflowing with joy after encountering the Risen Christ. In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke describes how the followers of Jesus were filled with joy. What had changed? The answer, of course, is this moment - this Day of Days: the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It was their encounters with the Risen Lord that transformed them from fearful, trembling deniers into courageous and joyful witnesses. The very men who had fled in fear when Jesus was arrested now proclaimed that the same Jesus, crucified as a criminal, was alive. As Peter declared before the crowds in Jerusalem: We are witnesses to this!
For me, it is this historical reality—this truth—that defines my faith. Ultimately, I am not a Christian because of Christmas, or Palm Sunday, or Maundy Thursday, or Good Friday. I am a Christian because of Easter—because Christ is risen! That is why St. Augustine could so beautifully proclaim: 'We are not a Good Friday people; we are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song! Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by His death, and bestowing life upon those in the tomb.'
Christ is risen!
Christ is alive!
Christ is with us!
May we encounter the Risen Christ this Eastertide and be filled with the same Easter joy that transformed the first disciples. And may we live out that joy in the world so that, through us - His disciples today - others may come to know this wondrous truth:
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
Father Tim Handley, Vicar St. James’s Church, Sussex Gardens