The dead come alive!

The dead come alive!? How absurd. The dead don?t stay in their graves!? How frightening. Visions of horror movies come flashing through one?s mind. Zombies and decaying people clawing their way out of the ground and scaring everyone in their path. The dead come alive!? How absurd!

The last article I wrote for The Journal was around Christmas. I wrote a confession to you that I was not in the mood to decorate and join in on all the pre-Christmas celebrating. I confessed to you that the reason for my disposition was that my mom, Clara, was dying of lung cancer. On Feb. 20, 2015, my beloved mom took her last breath and died. It is so strange to talk on the phone with my dad and not speak to mom. Death is real. I?m deeply saddened when I send my dad a package and I don?t include my mom?s name on the address. Death is real. I fill up with tears when my dad begins to cry because his wife of 63 years is no longer by his side. Death is real. Death is very real and the void it leaves in its wake is immense. Grief and the pain of sorrow are deep and wide. Death is real.

Today we remember that death occurred to our Savior, Jesus the Christ. Today we, the community of Washington, walked the town square carrying the cross remembering the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Tonight at Immanuel Lutheran, 8 p.m., we will remember the last words of Jesus upon the cross. The sanctuary will go in darkness as we remember that Jesus, too, took his last breath and his corpse was laid in a tomb. Death is real.

No matter what the circumstances are that death comes, death is NOT the last word. For death no longer has the ultimate power over us ? LIFE does! Though today we remember the death of Jesus, Christians around the world will be celebrating LIFE on Sunday. God breathes life back into Jesus and rolls away the barrier of life from death. God?s powerful love for us breaks the sting of death and breathes life back into us. Jesus is risen from the dead and because Jesus lives we, too, have life! Yes, death is real and grief is painful. However, now death has a new reality. Death is a mere veil one must go through to receive life and life eternally. We all will travel through that veil to life, but we do not travel alone. Our Lord and Savior, the first fruit of eternal life, journeys with us through life, death, and into eternal life.

The dead come alive! Absolutely! Death is no longer to be feared! How wonderful! Join Immanuel Lutheran (1226 E. Washington St. in Washington) for the celebration of death to life beginning tonight for a Tenebrae service at 8 p.m. Worship with us again on Easter Sunday, at 6:30 and 9:30 a.m., to hear the proclamation that Christ is Risen! The promise of life for the world. Alleluia!