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“The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.” (Exodus 25:20)

“And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.” (John 20:12)

Easter does not belong to the institution of the Christian religion, it belongs to everyone. The fact that the world can’t comprehend the resurrection apart from it’s religious entrapments means two things: First that Easter has been co-opted by religion, and second, the Easter which is celebrated possesses no more power to awaken us than our chocolate bunnies.

I’m probably overly conscious of how the religious industrial complex leverages God’s complete demonstration of love into a massive power play by engineering it with the ultimate threat for non-compliance. Easter is one of two times per year when community churches do everything they can to maximize attendance and grow their base of business. No one charges wedding guests to come and celebrate, but churches will charge any and all for celebrating the event which is central to the Christian faith. Easter isn’t really about mercy, if behind it resides a business model that says: “God will give you mercy, and then later you’ll give our business money for telling you about God’s mercy.” And the sheople are fine with this.

Religion tarnishes the message of Easter, and diminishes salvation to a fee for service spirituality. Salvation doesn’t merely save a human soul, but the entirety of human existence and our world. Salvation isn’t finding God through some QR code which lands us in a bible study on a Tuesday night. Experiential salvation is a realization, an awakening toward the indescribable love and mercy of God, that we discover a version of ourself which never existed, but whom is only known by God knowing us.

We can know salvation has come into our lives when our will is so altered, that we can no longer approach anything in life with the usual numbness and casualty. Salvation is evidenced by our love of God and the longing in our heart for union and self discovery. Salvation reprioritizes life itself, not an afterlife. Salvation is finding the entirety of one’s life within the context of God speaking us into existence, gifting us with the life of Christ Himself.

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Compare this biblical salvation to the idea that the resurrection is exclusively as a holiday belonging to the Christian religion? Easter cannot belong to the Christian religion, because it predates the religion by hundreds of years. Easter and salvation have nothing to do with conversion to religion.

Let that sink in.

In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he uses Christ’s death and resurrection as emblematic for how people live decades after Jesus’ death. Paul is doing something modern religion can’t or won’t do. The Colossians’ salvation isn’t a belief or a religion, but a present experience of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Life itself became the mercy seat of God, the sanctuary where God dwells within them.

The cross in its horror is the world’s greatest display of God’s mercy, removing humanity’s sin which separated us from God and ourselves, and in justice, nailed all of it to Jesus. The temple wall (torn in two at the crucifixion) separated the mercy seat of God from the people, but the Easter story is that God got out of religion’s captivity, and began dwelling in and as our lives.

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14)

“If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” (Colossians 2:20-23)

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:3-4)

“Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” (Colossians 3:11)

Reflect on the arc of Paul’s Good News message to this community. Compare this to the pageantry and pomp of modern religion. Once institutional religion got a hold of the Easter narrative, mercy became contingent. Mercy became merit based. Religion’s mercy of God is conferred upon only those who convert to the religion, and now Easter focuses on religious conversion, church growth strategy, and candy.

Here’s a side note for those who read the text and want to bring up 3:6 where it reads in English:

“On account of these the wrath of God is coming.”

Any scholar recognizes this as an inserted bias. First the text is in the present tense. Second, Paul is revealing that the “anger, punishment, or wrath” of God comes “dia” (through) wrongdoing. Paul is warning Christ followers to avoid wrongdoing, not because doing so will cause God to punish them, but that doing so is the punishment for forgetting such mercy.

Reflect on this.

Two thousand years later, we are more removed from the life of Jesus than at any point in history. Religion still obscures the Gospel of mercy by convincing generations that God is far from nearly everyone in the world except a few devoted to the best religion. Essentially Easter has become a re-sewing of the temple veil and an effort to put God back inside.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13)

If this is true, we can all test it. Wherever we are, just sit still. Remain quiet. Become aware that God is within us. Ask God to remove any delusions of separateness, and to reveal Himself. If we are alive, it’s not merely biology, we are the life of Christ living in us. God is speaking his Word into existence, knowing us, loving us through Christ whose sacrifice makes this union possible for all humanity. It’s a big consideration, one that awakens us to the profound mercy within us. This is tremendous grace. This is experiential salvation. This is true Easter.

If you’d like to actually experience this please consider subscribing to our virtual contemplative community: The Old Stone Chapel

Freeing Easter from religion is a tremendous gift. Happy Easter.