The Scandal of Easter

Daring to Celebrate Life in the Midst of Death

John 20:1-18; Isaiah 25:6-9

All through holy week the trial of Derek Chauvin who suffocated George Floyd to death has been playing out. As I’ve thought about what if anything I  had to contribute to the ongoing conversation around the trial, police in Chicago apparently decided that running away from them is once again a capital offence instantly punishable by death on the sidewalk. This time, the victim was only 13 years old. 

When I went to pull up the news stories after seeing something about this in my facebook feed, I started by typing in “13-year-old boy.” What comes up first are suggestions for 13-year-old birthday parties, 13-year-old gifts, 13-year-old-boy haircuts. Searches for life, not for death. Where did his mother have to go to find 13-year-old funeral planning suggestions? And how do you grieve the loss of a child executed by the state? 

And then there’s the larger problem of trying to figure out how to talk about resurrection when 550,000 people and counting have died fr…