The congregation had been keeping vigil on Saturday night of Holy Week. In the first moments of Easter Day (just after midnight), they entered the empty sanctuary, as the women had entered the empty tomb on the first Easter.
They began to worship. The priest cried out, "Christ is risen!" They answered, "Christ is risen indeed!" The priest repeated the joyous announcement to each section of the cathedral.
To one section, where a group of American Presbyterians sat, the priest cried out in an English thick with the accent of his native tongue, "Christ is risen!" Somewhat startled to hear the announcement in their own language in this cathedral in a foreign capital of a former enemy of the United States, the Americans answered, "Christ is risen indeed!"
They found in that moment the joy of the resurrection. They found in a foreign people, a safe and sacred place. Whatever their anxieties about being thousands of miles away from home, whatever their concerns about historical enmity and world politics, the anxieties and barriers were put in the perspective of a greater reality that they shared: life under the reign of Jesus Christ. They found in these people a common faith in God. They found people whose citizenship in the realm of God superseded any temporal citizenship.
The power is God in Christ. The cross of what came to be called Good Friday (but which was first a very bad Friday) and the resurrection of Easter give witness to this power. Easter shows us that God in Christ is victorious.
Blacksburg Presbyterian Church is a community of faith, which seeks to live out the reality of God in Christ. We are a people who seek to grow spiritually and invite you to grow with us. We are a peole who have our own questions, doubts, and insecurities and seek at least proximate answers, and we invite you to join with us in exploring your questions, doubts, and insecurities. We are a people who seek to express our faith in our community and our world as a reality that lifts up the human spirit and dignity. From partnerships in Blacksburg (from Virginia Tech, children, and those whose homes need repair) and Chicago and Malawi, we befriend those whom Christ called friends. From public policy to individual human need, we oppose anything that would seek to destroy or deform human life and work for those things which work toward wholeness of the individual and the human society.
We do this because:
Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!
An Invitation-
All who seek faithful growth, fellowship, and service as Christ's followers are welcome here. Please browse our website and be sure to contact us if we can provide more information. May God bless you and bless our world.