Easter message - Bishop of Bangor

In his video and written messages - entitled God in Ruins - Bishop Andy reflects on the difficult events of this last year, and on how Christian people, from the first Easter onwards, have been able to find hope coming out of ruinous situations.

‘A God in Ruins’ is the intriguing title of a novel by Kate Atkinson. It tells the story of Teddy Todd, a World War Two veteran, as he attempts to navigate a future that he didn’t expect to have. The sense of ‘ruins’ is something that I suspect will connect with many of us, after the past twelve months. In many ways this last year has felt like a siege, battling with a virus that has wrought havoc and brought ruin to so many parts of life.

Coming to another Easter, with the world still enduring the pandemic, I’m conscious that many continue to find this a truly wretched time. For those grieving the loss of loved ones, those who have lost livelihoods, those who have had to put life plans on indefinite hold: it can seem as if everything is in ruins. And the net effect has been a crisis of hope that we can ever find ‘normal’ again.

We need to remember that the Easter story began with a crisis about hope. The first Christians had come to believe, as Jesus had told them, that he was the one who would bring in a new age of hope. So when he died, hope died with him. It seemed that God was utterly in ruins.

That makes what happened next so very important - because the same people who were witnesses to Jesus’ appalling death were the very ones who claimed that he was alive, although in a new and different way. This conviction not only gave those witnesses hope but helped them make sense of life. They still had to navigate a world full of uncertainty and challenge - but because of the resurrection there was a way through it too.

But in the midst of what has been so ruinous there is a way of responding, a way that is about hope.

The pain of this last year is undeniable and the Christian story doesn’t gloss over this or any other sort of pain. But in the midst of what has been so ruinous there is a way of responding, a way that is about hope. That was the experience of those first Christians and countless others since, who have found - when all seemed lost - the resurrection power of Jesus.

I hope you have a blessed and happy Easter.