A Tale of Two Easter Sundays

You can see me facing the congregation with the orchestra
in the foreground and the choir in the distance.

Yesterday here in Cedarville, the Grace Church family celebrated the Resurrection with two services filled with music and Word--we have our children worshiping with us on this day, and so the whole service was geared toward the whole family. We considered three themes together, "Lost, Waiting, Rescued" as we recounted the story of Jesus death and resurrection in the context of the Bible's grand story. It was a great day of worship and celebration. We arrived and left without incident. We always do. Surprisingly, last week, the new Chief of Police, a believer himself who attends a sister church, stopped by on Sunday morning to speak to our safety team here and ask if there were any ways that he could be of any assistance to us. It was a very kind gesture. We haven't had any need for the police to protect us, and in my tenure here, we have not had to have the police intervene during a service or offer us assistance, other than in an occasional medical emergency when they accompanied EMS workers who came to help.

In contrast, the Zion Church in Sri Lanka did not have their expected Easter Sunday. Instead, a bomb ripped through their building killing dozens of people. The pastor, a graduate of Singapore Bible College, lost his son in the blast. The picture you see was taken at Zion Church just ten minutes before the bomb exploded and killed half the people you see in that room. The authorities are convinced that this was the work of terrorists targeting Christians, but they have not yet named the group responsible [UPDATE: The government has named a known Islamic terror group as the perpetrators, but says they could not have acted alone and must have had outside help from other like-minded groups. The government was warned of these attacked by the US and other intelligence services weeks in advance but did not issue warnings or take steps to protect Christians].

This is a picture of the children of Zion Church in Sri Lanka,
ten minutes before half of them were killed in a bomb
blast that targeted the church along with others across
Sri Lanka, on Easter Sunday morning.

Sri Lanka is an island nation where the majority religion is Buddhism, and the next largest is Hinduism. These groups were at war for decades ago, as the minority Tamil Tigers, made up of members of the minority Hindu people, waged a guerrilla war against the Buddhist Sinhalese majority. It was a terrible time, but a peace agreement ended such terrible carnage over a decade ago, and Christians were not in the crosshairs then. No one expected such large scale violence again in the country, and especially not against Christians on Easter. But the longstanding Catholic presence, along with a small but fast-growing Evangelical presence, has brought opposition from the larger religions, including Islam.

Sometimes these stories make us momentarily sad, but they are easy to hold at a distance. Not so this time. We have two members of our own Grace Family from Sri Lanka, and each of their families was touched by this string of church bombings, losing members of extended family. I spoke with them Easter Sunday at our services, and they were still awaiting word on the rest of their families. Thankfully, no immediate family members were harmed.

I see some Christians who seem to be reacting with anger toward those who did this: anger that probably is due, at least in part, to being taken by surprise in both the incident and its violence toward people we know were not a threat to anyone. I'm troubled, but not angered. Here's why.

Jesus told us a number of truths about being his people. One is that we should expect hatred, just like he himself faced. Further, he told us that we are blessed when we are persecuted for his name's sake, and that is clearly what was happening here. Speaking to the church in Smyrna about the persecution they would face, he did not urge anger or retaliation, but rather, "be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life." These martyrs will receive that special gift from Jesus himself.

We grieve the loss of life, and we weep with those who weep. This was not deserved, nor was it anything other than criminal and evil. But it really should not surprise us that it happened--even if the particular occurrence was a surprise. It has been happening throughout Asia for years, even as the evangelical church is growing rapidly there.

Those who plotted these bombings believe they can silence Christians and stop the gospel from moving forward by their actions. Not only are they wrong, but they will find what many before them have discovered--"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." And in what might be one of the most ironic of results, some of those who plotted this deed may themselves come under the conviction and saving power of the One they were trying to fight. Just ask Saul of Tarsus.

We had a great Sunday, but it was a bit more sobering than normal, for the events in Sri Lanka had already occurred and we noted them, praying for our brothers and sisters there. But right after we prayed, we sang a song that included the following words:

There's a reason why our hearts can be courageous,

There's a reason why the dead are made alive,

There's a reason why we share his resurrection,

Jesus is alive."

(From "Praise the King" by Shane and Shane)

Believers in Sri Lanka and other places need that courage right now, and God will give it. And we may need it sooner than we realize--may we seek it in the power of Christ's resurrection!