Bishop of St Andrews

The Most Rev David Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane and Primus

April 5, 2015

Easter faith shouts its message of hope and possibility

In his Easter message the Most Rev David Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church says:

“The joyful Easter shout, ‘Christ is Risen’ is a statement of faith in Jesus Christ.  Jesus who was crucified has been raised to new life by the power of God.

“‘Christ is risen also declares faith that what is dead can be given new life – redeemed – by the power of God. The world is literally full of life – full of colour, energy and vitality.  But there is also much that speaks of death and loss.

“The learning which has changed me most this year has been about climate change and climate justice.  I sat in an international group of bishops listening to the stories of how our patterns of life and economic activity are bringing death to the planet.  When you hear from the mouths of people who live there about how South Australia is becoming an arid wasteland, about rapid warming that threatens the patterns of the indigenous people of Northern Canada, about crop failures in Tanzania, about the need to relocate communities in Fiji whose homes are threatened by rising sea levels, you are hearing stories of death.

“There are of course many other stories of death which we have come to accept as normal – the pain of relationships which have died, the stories of apparently unending conflict, the loss of cohesion and community in our society.

“Like the women who went to the tomb on the first Easter morning, Easter faith whispers the possibility that these stories of death need not be and are not the end.  Like Christian disciples through the ages, Easter faith shouts its message of hope and possibility.  God’s power working through people of faith and people of goodwill can transform all this.  A new awareness of the oneness of creation as a precious gift to us can transform us from careless exploiters to careful guardians of the goodness of the earth.

“What is dead in our world and in our hearts can be brought to new life in the power of God.

“Christ is Risen!”