Easter Message: A time of reflection

Easter Message : The Methodist Church, South Caribbean District

by Reverend Derick A. Richards

Brothers and Sisters, I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ who is head of the Church and by whose life, teachings and example, we live in communion with God and one another. This is a time when the nations of the world are at a standstill as a result of the impact of COVID-19. So far, our beloved nation of Barbados has recorded 63 positive cases of the coronavirus and 3 deaths.
On behalf of the Methodist Church of Barbados, the South Caribbean District of the Methodist Church of which I serve as Bishop and President, and on my own personal behalf, I express condolences to the families and friends of those who have died as a result of COVID-19. I want to assure the families and the nation as a whole of our continued prayers. I commend our health professionals for their selfless service as they continue to care for persons with COVID-19 and thus offer to them and to us hope in a time of despair.
As a nation we are indebted to the many volunteers who make life much more bearable for the most vulnerable of our citizens by ensuring that they have adequate food and the basic necessities. We also recognize those providing counselling and psychological support, the security services and many others who help to keep us safe.
Brothers and Sisters, in the midst of this unexpected and unprecedented health challenge of global proportions, I am comforted and I hope you are too, by the words of the Psalmist which is echoed in the song “BE STILL FOR THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD IS HERE, THE HOLY ONE IS HERE”. Listen to the words of one of the stanzas:
Be still, for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place:
He comes to cleanse and heal,
To minister his grace –
No work too hard for him.
In faith receive from him.
Be still, for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place.
As the Christian Church throughout the world makes preparation to commemorate the Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; and as we celebrate the triumph of good over evil, love over hate, and life over death, it is right and fitting to pause, to be still, and indeed to ask ourselves some pertinent questions. What is it, in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic, that God is saying to us? Is there some value amid the madness, in the panic, in the time spent working from home? What about those who may have no work after this? What is it that God is saying to us as we feel, as we see and experience what is an abnormality?
Like the sudden death of a loved one, an unexpected and unrivalled challenge such as the coronavirus throws us off guard and disrupts our lives in ways that we never would have imagined. The coronavirus may create a season of joblessness; it may challenge the way we think about, and do work; it has forced us to rethink worship and spirituality and it has definitely reminded us that personal hygiene is of great importance in the grand scheme of things. But more than these, this crisis presents us as people of faith and the entire human family with opportunities to slow down, to stop and to consider who we are, whose we are and for what purpose we are here. In other words, moments of crisis sometimes demand that we re-examine, renew, and put into perspective our relationship with God and with each other so that we may experience deeper faith and the world may experience God’s love in all its abundance.
Covid-19 reminds us of the brokenness and the fallenness of the world which has stemmed from Adam’s sin. For not only did sin bring death to humanity (Rom. 5:12); it also brought devastating effects to all of creation. The creation itself according to the apostle Paul, was “subjected to futility.” Hence it is in “bondage to decay” and “groaning in labour pains” (Rom 8:20-22).
In our present suffering which includes COVID-19, creation’s groaning, and our groaning too, does not, and cannot, have the final word. We have seen that even as Jesus suffered and died on a cruel Roman Cross that eventually death gave way to life and victory. So my dear friends, even though we suffer and groan inwardly, a new and beautiful creation has begun.
The message of Easter is our hope of the fullness of this new creation. Jesus is the Mighty God, the Lion of Judah, who conquered Satan, death and the grave. He is risen! Risen indeed! Our hope, our confidence and certainty of new creation is rooted in the fact that Jesus has been raised and the tomb is empty.