Easter is about meeting the risen Lord Jesus Christ, who keeps showing up in our midst, even when we hide out behind locked doors and four walls. Easter is about the risen Jesus showing up and standing in our midst — still today, 2000 years later — and giving us his peace and filling us with his Holy Spirit and sending us out from inside these four walls and from behind whatever doors we have locked because we are afraid. Easter is about meeting the risen, living Lord Jesus Christ — in the Word, in the water, in the bread, in the cup. Easter is about, even in the midst of the doubts that life forces upon us, finding ourselves saying with Thomas, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus keeps showing up!  Jesus keeps showing us that although he was crucified, he is alive and with us still today. Jesus keeps saying, “Peace be with you.”  Jesus keeps giving us the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus keeps sending us out from behind our locked doors and our fears. Jesus keeps calling us to trust in him.

_________________

Philip Gladden serves as Pastor of Wallace Presbyterian Church in Wallace, North Carolina. He holds degrees from Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina and Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. His wife, Nancy, is also an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and serves on the staff of the Presbytery of Coastal Carolina in southeastern North Carolina.