One of the things I HATE...YES HATE...is when we think we know something that we really have no idea about. 

I HATE that conservatives love to HATE Obama and consider him the end of America. 

I HATE that liberals HATED Bush and considered him the end of America.

On those notes, a friend of a friend attended President Obama's Easter Prayer Breakfast on April 6th and sent his speach along for me (and others) to read.  You can read it if you want at the White House Press Page, but I thought I would post some very interesting chunks.

I don't know that I like Obama and I don't know that I don't. But I do know that much of what he said is down right true and frankly not even being said (let alone) preached by many of the people who should know better...

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Good Friday and Easter combine to create an emotional roller coaster of faith packed into a single weekend. Reflection upon Good Friday can bring darkness, conviction, grief, introspection, gratitude, and worship. And reflection upon Easter can bring wonder, fear, faith, hope, exhilaration, trembling, and deep joy. These days are two sides of a single coin of faith, one rooted in belief in a God who holds power over sin and death, for our sake and His glory.

But the depths and heights of these emotions cannot be sustained over life’s journey; there are plains among the valleys and peaks. This is why we remember these things regularly in communion, preaching, and days of remembrance. So we may find ourselves wondering how we should continue in Christian living following a weekend of such magnitude.

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“Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him” (Rom 6:8). We have died with Christ; we have suffered the agony of our sin that He carried for us on the cross; we have failed Him, fled from Him, come back in shame and sorrow to kneel beside His tomb.

And then – into the darkness of Holy Saturday shines the light of Easter. An empty tomb. Shock, fear, awe, joy. “He is not here, for he has risen” (Mt 28:6).

Now, only now, can we raise our voices in praise with Paul: “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him” (Rom 6:9). Christ is risen – not a legend, not a hope, not a spirit, but the Son of God in new, strangely transformed life, the firstfruit of the new creation.

Jesus is dead. Say it again: Our Lord is a lifeless body, wept over by a few women, his friends having scattered. Darkness lies over the land. We can imagine the disciples, on that terrible Saturday, puzzling over what seemed to be shattered hopes. “We had hoped,” Cleopas would say a day later on the road to Emmaus, “that he was the one to redeem Israel” (Lk 24:21). Is this what the vindication of Israel looks like? Is this what the Kingdom of God looks like? Or is it what it seems to be – shame, death, defeat?

What is there to do? Perhaps only to give up. Yet not everyone had abandoned Him. In the waning hours of Friday, a few stayed faithful, even if it was a faith without hope. Joseph of Arimathea, a man “looking for the kingdom of God,” did what he could, even if it was pathetically little.

If Easter Really Happened
I don’t have to strive anymore,
or seek an identity beyond being me,
For Glory resides in me.
Christ in me, the Hope of Glory.

If Easter really happened,
the Sacrifice is finished—my penalties have been paid in full.
Pain is no longer without Counsel, nor suffering perfect Empathy.
Hope is no longer without Communion, nor the body a bond of peace.

If Easter really happened, a Savior says,
“Be still, my daughter, and cast your cares upon me.
My blood makes you white as snow—my suffering forever present to your sorrows.
Where you are weak, inadequate, boring and insecure, I seek you.
Where you are ashamed, unlovable, disappointed and tired, I love you.

Christ is risen! On Easter, we raise our voices in praise and thanksgiving, celebrating the victory won for us by Our Lord, our new life made possible in His new life.  

And rightly we do celebrate – but before we do, wait a moment. Paul writes in Romans that “if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Rom 6:5 ESV). How easy it is to jump ahead, in our eagerness to be united with Our Lord in a resurrection like His own mighty resurrection. Stop for a moment. Stop and think on Paul’s words: “if we have been united with him in a death like his.” A death like Jesus’ death. What does that mean?

We cannot come to new life without death. We cannot find the Risen Lord without the Cross; we cannot reach Easter any way except through the agony of Good Friday and the emptiness of Holy Saturday.

Ten years ago, when I was a senior at Oak Hill Academy, I thought I would never attend a Christian university. But because I was young in the faith, I decided that I needed to grow. So I enrolled in a Christian university where I could grow in my knowledge of God and study the Scriptures.

Liberty University holds chapel services three times a week. I didn’t always pay attention in chapel, but I remember one particular meeting just before Easter break. Dr. Gary Habermas stood in front of thousands of students to present the historical evidence for the resurrection.

After presenting a convincing argument for our faith in the bodily resurrection, he shared a personal story of how the resurrection of Jesus got him through one of the most difficult times in his own life. Habermas told us:

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I don't want to be an April fool this year. With all the competition for superficial warm fuzzies--like new clothes and daisies in the yard--I cannot squander the significance of Holy Week. 

As a follower of Jesus Christ, Easter is the biggest deal ever. It’s the iconic counterpoint to Christmas. Instead of a Nativity star against a navy blue sky, Easter is the sun shining in the clouds. Instead of wise men at the manger, Easter brings us stunned disciples at the tomb. If Christmas is the promise, Easter is the proof. 

But here's one distinction between the holidays that sadly lightens Easter's theological weight. Unlike Christmas, whose placement in the dead of winter has very little emotional competition, Easter has become only one of many feel-good Spring touch points for Americans.