Let's Put a Greater Emphasis on Jesus' Resurrection This Year

The long 40 days of Lent are marked with somber fasting, awareness of the brokenness in today’s world, and reflection on the sin in our own lives. Often churches create variations on the Stations of the Cross to help us on this almost seven-week journey. In contrast, when the celebratory day of resurrection comes, it seems to be over as soon as the chocolate bunnies are eaten! 

Jesus’ resurrection is the source of hope in the gospel story. This is the light our neighbors seek when their world seems so bleak. Our community needs this power when we wonder whether big social problems can even be fixed. This is the encouragement followers of Jesus hold on to when our faith communities don’t seem to be making an impact. As important as “Jesus died for your sins” is in sharing the gospel, the fact that “Jesus overcame death” is indeed the good news our world is desperate to hear!

This year I’ve been wondering what it would look like for the church to put a greater emphasis on Jesus’ resurrection. How could it encourage our gospel witness in the community? So I began to imagine a Stations of the Resurrection, and it turns out that in 1988 Father Sabino Palumbieri in Rome proposed the same thing. It's called The Via Lucis (“Way of Light”) and it emphasizes the hope of the gospel after the mournful Lenten season. 

Artist Scott Erickson has designed Stations of the Resurrection, each as a downloadable, contemplative artwork that invites viewers to engage with Scripture and reflect on its meaning for their lives using a QR code at each station. This art show is a simple way to share the good news of hope and life with your neighborhood Eastertide. Here are a few ways you may want to consider using it:

• Set up each station on a garden stake around your church property. You may want coffee and/or hot chocolate available in the evenings to offer hospitality to those on this journey.

• Put one station a day on a slide and project it onto the side of your church building (on a white sheet or theater screen).

• Ask neighbors in your community if they would be willing to host a station in their front yard. Print off walking maps to help people find each station.

• Ask one of your community partners (like a library or coffee shop) if you can hang the art in their building for a couple of weeks following Easter.

What ideas do you have? Please share them with us! Send Amy Schenkel an email at [email protected]

Amy Schenkel is Resonate's Regional Mission Leader for the Great Lakes Region