Stay Home and Plot the Revolution
It would be easy to feel bereft this Easter. At this time, the choir would usually be finishing their rehearsal and the new fire would be prepared. Dozens of candles would be at the ready and the celebratory food and booze would be laid out. The church would be brimming with flowers and the brand new paschal candle with a new image for the year would be waiting to be lit. But the organ will not thunder this evening, and we will not share in the blessed sacrament together this Easter.
Instead we are sheltering in our homes, around the light of a single candle, welcoming the light into our midst as we do every Easter. But, if you’re anything like me, this Easter is tinged with fear and anxiety.
And we’re right to feel uncertain and afraid. This virus is killing hundreds of thousands of people. It is dangerous, and we are doing what we must do to stop its spread. While we shelter, the economic infrastructure is crumbling, and all the weaknesses of our global society are being exposed in sharp relief. Let us not imagine that this virus is the great leveller. It is the poor who will die quickest and in greatest number, and the poor who will be the last to receive a vaccine when it comes. And while leaders of government, industry and civil society, both here and around the world are being praised for decisive and bold leadership, let us not imagine that suddenly we are all equal and that the good of the many has suddenly become the priority of the few. We are already seeing calls to let a few people die for the good of the economy, already seeing the rumblings of concern from those who have always been suspicious of the welfare state and its safety nets, and we are already seeing concerning signs around the world of the misuse of police and government power in ways that do not advance anyone’s health, but do affirm centralised control and compliance.
So I believe that during this lockdown, if we are to be Easter people, we must stay home and plot the revolution.
Now, when I say revolution, please don’t mistake this for the violent seizure of the means of production that Marx advocated, nor an escalation of the culture wars so beloved of Christian dominionists. The revolution we need right now is the revolution that happened at the resurrection, when the one who had been executed by corrupt powermongers refused to stay dead, and instead exposed their cruel scapegoating and began to destroy its power. As Easter people, with ‘Alleluia’ on our lips, it is to this work that we are now called, during this in-between time. We must be alert to the victimisation of those on the edges, the exploitation of power and the escalation of violence.
It is happening in our communities, even now. It is happening in our homes, even as we hide from the virus. Victimisation, exploitation and violence cannot be resolved merely by old rivals banding together in common cause. We need a new way.
In the resurrected Jesus, those of us who persist with hope that the world will be made whole see the prototype of what our lives can be and will be. In the new creation, the power of Caesar and Herod, the betrayal and denial of Judas and Peter, and the howls of the angry mob will lose their efficacy and the tender, generous care of the women at the tomb will usher in a new age.
This pandemic will not change the world, I don’t think. But it is already exposing the stark reality of the world as it truly is right now. This is a moment, then, for us to pray and plot, from the comfort of our own homes. Christ’s revolution of nonviolent love and infinite compassion has been unleashed on the world, so how, then will we live as Easter people in this in-between time? How will we plot the revolution?
Christ is Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!