St.Helens R.F.C.'s Chaplain & Welfare Manager Paul Johnson, known affectionately as 'Chappers', has written an Easter message for all Saints supporters!
People can often be misquoted, or their words can be taken out of context. This can get people into all kinds of trouble, but I’m about to do precisely that!
He may well have been talking about how to win a Premier League title, but I’m going to use Arsene Wenger’s words to make a point! He famously once said, “Christmas is important, but Easter is decisive!”
Our culture really goes big for Christmas, we have the Christmas lights and trees going up in November, music playing in the shops from the moment that Halloween decorations go down and Christmas parties and nights out are being booked in September. Most people know something about the Christmas story and most homes celebrate hard. That’s great, but Easter kind of sneaks up on us. Maybe it’s because nobody ever really knows when it’s going to happen. Maybe it’s because Slade never wrote a song about! I want to suggest that it could be because people don’t really understand why it matters.
The Bible was written over a few thousand years, by a number of different writers. Sixty six books follow a story and the thread that flows through it all, the centrepiece of the whole thing is the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Everything points to it and the impact that it had.
One of my favourite bands as a teenager, and still are, Metallica. They wrote a song called, ‘The God That Failed’ and it describes the crucifixion as a failure. Christians believe that it’s just the opposite – it’s the biggest statement of victory in history. It says that nothing, even death itself has the power to hold us down. There is hope and there is a future.
As we celebrate Easter this year, hold on to the fact that Christmas is important, but Easter is decisive. It makes a difference and reminds us that self-sacrifice and putting others first will have a powerful impact and will help us know hope for a better tomorrow.
