Monthly Archives: April 2019

May 2019 Shavings Letter

Hello Wildwood,

It seems it was only a few days ago we were proclaiming the Easter message, “He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!”. As I was preparing my Easter message, I came across a poem by the American poet and novelist John Updike titled Seven Stanzas on Easter. The poem wrestles with the attempts some have made in the modern world to dismiss the resurrection of Christ as something less than an actual historical, physical event. Updike puts it well in the first stanza when he notes, “The Church will fall”, if it didn’t really happen. Like the Apostle Paul we recognize that the heart of Christianity is found in Christ and more specifically in his resurrection. Consider this: Jesus dies as the vast majority of his disciples have abandoned him. The resurrection is that event which brings them back together, galvanizes them, and reinvigorates them for the life of persecution that they will lead in the wake of the scandal. For the Christian, the resurrection is the ballgame; it’s everything. It changes everything. Because He is Risen we have full confidence that death is not the last word. Instead, in Christ, the one who conquered death, we have a certain hope of resurrection beyond death. God gets the last word and that word is life; life abundant now and eternally with Christ. He is risen, He is risen indeed!

Seven Stanzas on Easter

The same hinged thumbs and toes The same valved heart That—pierced—died, withered, paused, and then regathered Out of enduring Might New strength to enclose.
John Updike

Blessings, Pastor Erik