EASTER SUNDAYAn Easter Message

byIan Ellis-Jones

Honorary Minister, Sydney Unitarian Church8 April 2007

For Christians, Easter is a time when attention is paid to the sacrifice of the

Master Jesus on the Cross. Unitarian Christians, and even Unitarians who do not

identify themselves as Christian, tend to remember and commemorate, not just

his death, but also his sacrificial life, for Jesus did indeed leave us a wonderful

example of how to live. He constantly gave of himself selflessly to others, so that

others might live. Indeed, it is written that Jesus came that we might have life,

and have it more abundantly. The Easter story is one of courage, love and

sacrifice. It is an account of goodness and truth confronted by evil and duplicity.

Much has been written about the so-called Way of the Cross. That Way, the Way

of Jesus, requires that we give of ourselves to others. Jesus is the Way-Shower,

who says, “Follow me.” He shows us the way by awakening us to the possibilities

of our own nature. Only those actions through which shines the light of the Cross

are worthy of the disciple. We must lay aside the old self, that is, we must repent

of our self-centredness, pride and wilfullness, for the way of Jesus involves

constant self-sacrifice and love. His selflessness sits in quiet judgment upon our

selfishness. His living personality and spirit, lying hidden in his words, is a

powerful motivating force for individual transformation as well as a source of

inward power. As we contemplate his suffering love we are moved to moral and

spiritual transformation and become set free from ourselves. Self is nailed to the

Cross, which is the answer to self-centredness and selfishness.

The story of Jesus’ self-giving, that is, his incarnation, passion, death and

resurrection, is also an acted parable or dramatization of the ongoing cosmic

sacrifice - the self-limitation of life itself - in which the Spirit of Life ever descends

into matter, ever offers Itself, pours Itself out into the created world, is crucified,

and ever gives of Itself to Itself in manifestation, so that life, in all of its multiplicity

of form, is perpetuated. In this sacrificial outgiving - the putting forth of the

Eternal Principle of Life as the Logos who freely offers Itself as the ensouling life

of matter - the one life manifests Itself in all things as all things but ever remains.

Said the great avatar, Sri Krishna: "I established this universe with a portion of

myself; and I remain." Ultimately, this tremendous Energy, having poured Itself

out into the created world, draws that world back into Itself – the so-called

inbreath and outbreath of Brahman.

This is the enduring, eternal sacrifice by which the world is nourished and

sustained, the sublimest myth known to humanity, the “Man Crucified in Space”

of Hindu mythology, the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” of

Christianity - the Self-Givingness of life. In this cosmic sacrifice - in which the

Life-giver is, as it were, crucified upon the Cross of matter and imprisoned in

form - the indwelling life is poured out. This is a continuing process in which

each of us has a part. Let us not forget the common life in ourselves, for we are

all one, all life is one and indivisible, and every form that exists is a symbol of the

supreme oblation, the Spirit of Life giving Itself to Its world that it might have life.

Yes, the Spirit of Life, which breathes into existence all that is, is both

transcendent and immanent in our universe, suffering, evolving, acting with and

through all life.

Whilst most Unitarians, including myself, would reject the whole assertion that

Jesus Christ literally rose from the dead – for me, that is nothing more than the

carnalization of the ancient myth of the dying and rising god - the spiritual

meaning of the Easter story is of profound and lasting importance, for we are all

resurrected into newness of life, not just once, but every day, indeed, every

second of every minute of every day. However, the great challenge for each of us

is to be consciously resurrected into newness of thinking and acting.

Easter is about endings and beginnings. It’s about love overcoming hate, hope

prevailing over despair, and life triumphing over death. Easter celebrates the fact

that life has no beginning and has no end. Life is indestructible, and as part of

life's self-expression, we can never cease to be. There is only life. We are life.

Life is energy. Life is expression. It cannot cease because it is ceaselessness.

We may change form and vanish from view, but we cannot cease to be. We

never cease to be, not for a moment. We cannot be separated from life. We

cannot be less than life.

May you all have a happy and holy Easter.

-oo0oo-