Daily Devotional for July 11

 

July 11                                                                 Luke 24:1-11

In his hymn, "Easter People, Raise Your Voices," William
James wrote these words for his Harlem congregation:

         Easter people, raise your voices
         Sounds of heav'n in earth should ring.
         Christ has brought us heaven's choices
         Heav'nly music, let it sing.

         Fear of death can no more stop us,
         From our pressing here below.
         For our Lord has now empow'red us
         To triumph over ev'ry foe.

         Ev'ry day to us is Easter,
         With its Resurrection song.
         When in trouble move the faster
         To our God who rights the wrong.¹

Although the Easter account begins with the disbelief of those
to whom the women told their story, the fact remains that the
disciples did, in the end, become "Easter people." Not only
did they become convinced that Christ had risen from the dead,
but they also recognized their call to live new lives as followers
of Christ and to be witnesses of the resurrection story for the
whole world. Easter people they were, not only startled by the
resurrection event, but transformed by it.

Often we greet the experience of newness of life with the same
disbelief as the disciples. Often we are slow to accept the com-
plete redemption of our failures, mistakes, and sins. Often we
linger at the tombs of our past, sure that we will find the
evidence that we have been defeated and that our hope is dead.

The good news is that the Easter is still there for us to discover
in our own time and life. We, too, are invited to walk into even
the bleakest of situations and to discern there the same power
of God that raised Christ from the dead once again at work
to restore, heal, and transform life. "Ev'ry day to us is Easter"
whenever we remember the good news that Christ lives and
"has now empow'red us to triumph over ev'ry foe."

​

¹ Copyright @ 1979 by William M. James. Used by permission.

​

From The Road to Emmaus - An inclusive devotional Edited by Joseph W. Houle

Emmaus House of Prayer - Washington D.C.