To the people of Christ Our Hope,
Alleluia, and Easter greetings to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray this letter finds you rejoicing in the Resurrection of our Lord.
The Apostle Paul writes, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:56–57)
The sting of death hurts deeply. Death is a monster—stealing life, joy, and peace, and casting its shadow over us. We see its effects again and again in our world. Just when we think we have moved beyond its sting, it reappears. And when it does, pain and suffering follow. We see this brokenness in our own lives, our churches, our society, and our world. Recently, we even lost a beloved clergy member in this diocese—shockingly and suddenly.
Death remains the greatest fear many people carry. It can come like a thief in the night, and none of us will leave this mortal life without passing through its doorway.
St. John Chrysostom proclaims, “Let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free. He has destroyed it by enduring it… Hell took a body and discovered God. It took earth and encountered Heaven. It took what it saw and was overcome by what it did not see.”
On the other side of death’s sting is victory.
When I was a pre-teen in the early 1980s, I watched a movie called Victory, filled with well-known actors and athletes, including the late, great Pelé. Set in Nazi Germany, the film tells the story of Allied POWs playing a football match against a Nazi team. These POWs were sick, wounded, and captive—yet in the final moments, Pelé scores the winning goal and leads them to victory. They could have escaped at halftime, but they chose to stay and finish the match. Everyone loves a story of victory.
Victory in the Christian life is both a present reality and a future promise.
Paul says so beautifully just before the verse quoted above: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable… We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet… the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed… Then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’”
Until that day, I count the victories of the Resurrection even now.
Recently, I spent time with lay leaders and clergy from both established and newer churches in the Appalachian region of the Eastern U.S. New people are coming to faith and discovering “the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” One church in this region was given a building—completely free of charge—located within 100 yards of a major university. More than two years later, another church in the same town, just ten minutes away, gifted them a second building: a beautiful, historic, Anglican-looking church. Two buildings, freely given. The Kingdom of God is not about buildings, but these gifts reveal both a hunger for Jesus and the provision that follows. Laborers from all over are coming to this region. It is astonishing to watch the Lord move. A region often treated as a punchline is now witnessing the powerful effects of Resurrection. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
It is truly amazing that although we will all die in this mortal body—and though death may bring a measure of pain—we shall live forever in the resurrected bodies promised to us by Jesus.
A rich blessing to you and yours in Christ Jesus,
+Alan
The Rt. Rev’d Alan J Hawkins
Bishop Ordinary
Diocese of Christ Our Hope - adhope.org
