Easter message

“For over 2,000 years the story of Jesus’ resurrection has been recognized as the central event in human history.”

John Coster

Once again, on this Easter weekend I am letting someone else speak for me.

I see that the Christian religion I learned in my childhood has been warped and stolen by people who have replaced it with something far easier to sell than “love your neighbor.” The golden calf won.

“They worshiped the golden calf.” Scene from Cecil B. DeMille “The Ten Commandments.”

We are descendents of a succession of winners in the competition for survival. Jesus, the supposed central figure in Christianity, preached against the survival instincts of human nature. Radical generosity? Love enemies? Help people who cannot reciprocate? That’s a strategy for losers. The American mood chooses to be proud winners ,and we are moving toward a state-approved version of Christianity that validates this spirit of triumph. We’re number one. Plows into swords. Impoverish your neighbor. Hate your enemy. Dog eat dog.

I am too disappointed and cynical to write an Easter message, so I asked John Coster to do one. He studied theology at Regent College while continuing his career managing multimillion-dollar development projects for high-volume users of electricity. He recently retired. Coster is an unusual combination. He operated at the highest levels in the Seattle technology world while also doing hands-on missionary work in Africa and Asia and, most recently, among the homeless population on the sidewalks of Seattle.

Coster

Guest Post by John Coster

Much is being written about Christian Holy Week and what it all means (or doesn’t). Here is how and why I embrace Easter.

Religion is often rightly blamed for some of the most horrific acts in human history. But what exactly is “religion”? If you look up the etymology of “religion” you will find almost as much controversy in the details of its meaning as you will about differences in religions themselves. I’ll use the definition that religion is any belief system that provides its adherents (creedal or not) with a sense of identity, purpose, meaning, and moral reasoning – what is good and fair and just. But most importantly, religion is wherever humans place their ultimate hope or confidence. Some secular examples of “religion” are the U.S. Constitution, financial markets, political systems like democracy, technology (seriously), or even agreed-upon principles of decency. They are where many people have found identity (e.g., MAGA, LGBTQ+ etc…) and in which they have placed their hope and sense of worth. Wars of aggression in the name of religion are rarely theologically based regardless of the claims.

Back to Easter. For over 2,000 years, in every culture that has embraced it, the story of Jesus’ resurrection has been recognized as the central event in human history, offering ultimate hope in an otherwise despairing world. It’s why Christianity is growing so quickly in the Global South; they have so few other avenues of hope. St. Paul the Apostle wrote that if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then our faith is in vain and we (Jesus followers) are to be most pitied.

My parents were old-school fundamentalist Christians who discouraged all the cultural Easter festivities because they believed it trivialized the single-most sacred event of their faith -- one that that made eternal life with God possible. I used to be a little embarrassed by their hard lined stances on things like that, but I have come to appreciate what they held as sacred.

My wife and I went to a Good Friday service at our church that revisited the Passion story in music, scripture reading, sacraments and prayer. Sunday will be a celebration. Next week I’ll go to a friend’s Greek Orthodox Church to celebrate their Pascha. I’ve celebrated communion with Christians in different cultures in dozens of countries and I’m always delighted to see how different cultures express the same story in powerful ways.

It ain’t about bunnies and chocolate eggs.