Worship - 5 April 2026 - Easter

Summary of this week's theme

Menorca has been offering us a kind of lived parable. Through Lent and Holy Week, storms and the relentless Tramuntana wind battered the island. And now? Calm waters, a placid shore. Peace has returned - but not everything is as it was. The marks of the storm remain.

So it is with Easter. We celebrate resurrection, but we cannot forget what came before. The white Lenten flowers - signs of purity - give way to blossoms tinged with crimson. Tears, yes - but also blood. Resurrection does not erase the cost.

In our Lenten reflections on flawed figures, such as Jacob, David, Peter, and Paul, we saw that God offers redemption freely, but the consequences of sin do not simply vanish. Scars remain. Even the risen Christ bears them. Redemption is real, but it is not reversal.

And yet, the shock of Easter is not only the empty tomb. It is that God returns from death not with condemnation, but with love.

As Jeremiah proclaims: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.’ This love - deep, enduring, beyond easy translation - is the foundation of resurrection. It was first spoken to a people in exile, but it reaches far beyond them. It reaches us.

At the tomb, fear, joy, and worship mingle together. Like Miriam dancing after deliverance, Easter is liberation. A new beginning. An invitation to live differently - to accept God’s redefinition of life, death, and what truly satisfies.

Perhaps Lent was never about impressing God with sacrifice, but about noticing what we reach for - and why. Beneath all the noise and distraction, grace was already there, waiting.

The tragedy of Good Friday unfolded in plain sight, yet many barely noticed. Life went on. And one wonders: does resurrection pass unnoticed, too? Do we miss its meaning even now?

God does not ask us to pretend the world is better than it is - but not to miss the beauty still present, or our capacity to contribute to it. We are called to channel God’s steadfast love into the world.

Easter proclaims not only that death is defeated, but that sin - greed, pride, hatred - does not have the final word. The risen Christ calls us into a transformed life: to love enemies, to serve others, to see differently.

So let us not take Easter for granted. Let us remember both its cost and its promise. And today, may we immerse ourselves in the depth of God’s love - allowing that love to reshape who we are.