Sean Major-Campbell | Rolling away stones of injustice at Easter

LOVE AND life do not belong in a tomb. That is why resurrection defies the ugliness and pain and loss caused by the power-mongers of the world. Any stone that is placed between life and darkness must be removed.

Love causes us to seek help in removing the stone that may prevent us from reaching those whom we love. Love caused Mary Magdalene and others to go to the tomb of despair and sadness. No wonder she was willing to spread the word, “I have seen the Lord”! She who was an “apostle to the apostles” knew that she had to share her testimony of the risen Christ.

On the first day of the week, the women took the spices they had prepared to the tomb where they found the stone rolled away. You already know the story. Fast-forward to 2025 and we need some other stones to be rolled away.

STONES TO BE ROLLED AWAY

Will we ever find the stone rolled away for Gaza? While the world becomes desensitised to the genocide in Gaza, an oppressed people await the day of resurrection and victory over death! While we celebrate Easter or Resurrection or Alleluias or Passover or whatever the wonderful shouts of praise and happiness today, there are members of our human family who are mourning, hurting, dying, suffering, crying, waiting. What does ‘Happy Easter’ and ‘Happy Passover’ mean when Gaza’s last functioning hospital has been bombed by the Israeli military? Is it anti-semitic to feel the hopelessness, the despair, and the darkness that defenseless people must endure?

Will we ever find the stone rolled away for Ukraine? A nation waits for the world to which it has cried for help. It waits for healing. It waits for more voices to plead its cause. It waits for those who used it as an experiment to tempt Russia to push the boundaries of hope for a broader footprint in the eastern hemisphere.

Will we ever find the stone rolled away for those in need of mercy? Too many across the globe are crying out for hope and food and shelter and stability and opportunity just for survival. In a world where a billionaire’s losses for one day can feed many in many lifetimes. When Elon Musk lost US$100 billion between mid-December and now, in the sale of Tesla shares, my little mind lost the capacity to figure out how many poor neighbourhoods could have been transformed with basic amenities for the poorest of the poor with access to even US$50 billion. Poverty is such a crime when one thinks that the world has sufficient resources to sufficiently make everyone comfortably housed, fed, and watered!

On this Resurrection Day, we must examine our claim to love if we do not seek to witness and announce the new day of life and triumph for those entombed with despair. When decency and humility and innocence have been crucified, our hearts and wills must valiantly seek to have stones rolled away to reveal victory for decency, humility, innocence and love.

RESURRECTION OF BLACK JESUS

Will we ever find the stone rolled away from the tomb of black Jesus? Blue-eyed, blonde, white Jesus has arisen in the hearts and minds of many. If ever there was an example of idolatry – that which gets between the God and the worshipper, it is white Jesus. The Church can roll that stone away by decolonising the Church throughout the world. No longer should the scourge of white supremacy be protected by the Church.

To be clear, black Jesus was no foreigner to diversity, equity, and inclusion. His disciples were from all walks of life. On the day of Pentecost, the Church was born with people of many shades and colours. Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome, (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs. In fact, it is undeniable that the Church is made up of people from across varying demographics. The visiting Magi/wise ones from the east at Epiphany represented the gentile world. The Church at its best celebrates an all-inclusive community with no race, colour, or ethnicity above others within the beloved community.

Whether our concerns are with what is happening with Gaza, Ukraine, Haiti, oppressed people in general, or black Jesus, the root of the problem is sin. Sin always distorts our relationship with God, self, and others! Sin leads to a state of death rather than that of life.

Easter calls us to defy condemnation to false accusations; to defy condemnation to injustice; to defy the message that justice dies with death; and to defy even the notion that death is the end of the story! We stand with St Augustine, who declared, “We are an Easter people and alleluia is our song.” May you know that the Christ of Easter is blessing and keeping you all during these times.

We pray in the words of one of the Easter collects as we celebrate resurrection and pledge to move away from the death of sin:

“Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus

Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of

everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the

day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death

of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our

Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one

God, now and forever. Amen.” ( Book of Common Prayer)

Fr Sean Major-Campbell is an Anglican priest and advocate for human rights and dignity. Please send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and seanmajorcampbell@yahoo.com