EASTER 2024: Finding hope in a time of conflict

Mar. 29—TRAVERSE CITY — Easter Sunday marks the culmination of the holiest week in the Christian calendar. Today, more than 2.3 billion people in churches around the world will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, following his crucifixion and burial on Good Friday.

But this year some worshippers wonder: Should we be rejoicing during a time of war and suffering in Holy Land, not to mention Ukraine and many other conflict areas around the world? With all the hatred between people, is Easter's message of hope and redemption still relevant today?

The Record-Eagle reached out to clergy and congregants in the Traverse City area to answer those questions. They came from many faith traditions — Catholic, Protestant, non-denominational and orthodox — yet all agreed on this: The gift of Easter is more important, and more essential, than ever.

"People sometimes forget that the context of the resurrection was one of great cruelty and suffering in the Holy Land," said Pastor Chad Oyer of First Congregational Church in Peninsula Township. "The Roman Empire was a very brutal place, and we see certainly see violence there today."

In first century Jewish culture, many followers of Jesus thought he would lead an army against Roman rule, Oyer noted. They expected or hoped he would reclaim the Holy Land through power and force.

"But Jesus refused to take that role as a political or military messiah," he said. "Instead, Jesus insisted that the way of peace and faith is the way forward. He was willing to lay down his own life to show us that way."

This Sunday, Oyer said his sermon will focus not on the how, where and when of Easter, but rather the "why."

Young people, in particular, need to hear that message, he said: "Easter is an invitation to the greatest mission ever given to us. Jesus said: 'Take up your cross — not my cross — and follow me.'

"The challenge of Easter is to love and serve one another, to put another person before one's self. There is no greater challenge and no greater mission. By the resurrection of Christ, God makes a definitive statement that he hasn't given up on us, that he is always present in our lives."

Jackie Morgan, 23, works as secretary at Trinity Lutheran Church in Traverse City. The turmoil in the world is definitely on her mind, but it pales in comparison to the message of Easter.

"There's so much confusion and hatred out there," Morgan said. "For me, especially this week, we need to focus solely on Jesus — the love he gave us and the sacrifice he made for the world.

"As Christians, we're called to sacrifice ourselves to help others around us. It's the truth that never strays, despite all the conflict in the world. When we do go home to heaven some day, the awesome reward that awaits us will be far greater than anything money can buy."

Father Micah Chisholm is the rector at St. Sebastian Orthodox Christian Church in Garfield Township. Unlike most western churches, the orthodox church follows the Julian calendar and will celebrate Easter on May 5 this year. In the meantime, orthodox believers are in a period of prayer, repentance and contemplation called Lent.

Looking forward to the end of Lent, Chisholm said, "Easter is a reminder that, out of brokenness, suffering and death, there is still hope. It is precisely at that moment when the joy of the resurrection becomes a reality."

When asked how his church deals with the suffering in places like Ukraine, Gaza and Israel, he replied: "We pray together every single service for all sides in conflict. We pray for peace, healing and an end to war, and that for the needs of all who are affected by war."

Meghan Chenoweth is a parishioner and vestry member at Grace Episcopal Church in downtown Traverse City. During Lent, she said she's been praying even more than usual, and that prayer has raised important questions for her to contemplate.

"I'm wondering, how can we truly be agents of Christ in this hurting world?" she said. "All people need peace and blessing, so how can we carry Christ's love in our daily lives? Kindness goes so far in answering that question, but we need so much more of it today."

Her fellow parishioner, Ellen Schrader, agreed: "The resurrection has the possibility to change our hearts. If we can't change our hearts, we can't change the world. ...Easter is a 'new beginning' that gives us the opportunity for reconciliation. This year, we need that desperately."

The Rev. Jyson Godsey spent 15 years of his life traveling the country as an itinerant preacher. A dozen years ago or so, he became pastor at a church in Cadillac and recently added pastoral duties at Zion Baptist Church a few miles west of Greilickville.

"Easter is more relevant than ever before, especially in light of the death and destruction we see today," he said. "The message of Easter is life beyond death and how God loves us so much that he wants us to have hope — despite everything that's happening."

The original Good Friday was a sad, agonizing experience for the early Christians, scholars say. Their beloved rabbi Jesus was viciously beaten and then publicly crucified by the Roman guard, his battered body left in a stone tomb. Three years of intense ministry seemed to grind to a halt.

"Then came Easter Sunday and, suddenly, hope filled the world," Godsey said. "Sin and suffering may reign for a while, but God's message is that he going to make all things right ... no matter what we're going through now. That's the message of the Gospel."

At the Presbyterian Church of Traverse City a group of women meeting together offered this impromptu statement about the meaning of Easter in 2024:

"Holy Week is the most important day of the church calendar with a reminder of the immense sacrifice Christ made for us. We need this annual reminder of God's great love as it helps us focus on our blessings. ... We take this special time to pray for peace for all the peoples of the world."

Catholics are largest Christian denomination in Grand Traverse County, making up about 40 percent of the local population, according to the Association of Statisticians for American Religious Bodies.

Priests at the local Catholic parishes were difficult to reach during Holy Week, but one Catholic parishioner suggested going right to the top, pointing out: "Pope Francis is delivering a special message to people in the Holy Land this week."

Here is a part of his special message:

"Dear brothers and sisters, the Christian community of the Holy Land has not only acted, down the centuries, as a guardian of the places of our salvation, but has likewise borne enduring witness, through its own sufferings, to the mystery of the Lord's Passion," Pope Francis wrote. "In these bleak times, when it seems that the dark clouds of Good Friday hover over your land, and all too many parts of our world are scarred by the pointless folly of war ... you are lamps shining in the night, seeds of goodness in a land rent asunder by conflict. ...

"Dear brothers and sisters, allow me to tell you once more that you are not alone; we will never leave you alone, but will demonstrate our solidarity with you by prayer and practical charity. Soon we hope to return among you as pilgrims, to draw near to you, to embrace you, to break with you the bread of fraternity and to contemplate the tender shoots of hope that spring from the seeds you are sowing in pain and nurturing with patience."