The collective nouns of Easter Christians

I like collective nouns, so I find myself continually looking for new ones. Some are obvious: it’s a herd of cattle, swarm of bees, a school of dolphins. Some are strange like an unkindness of ravens. I find some bizarre: what is the collective noun of hermits? Surely, there cannot be a collective noun of hermits precisely because they are hermits!? (It’s a ‘conference’, by the way.) So, what’s the collective noun of Easter Christians?

     Firstly, we are a joy of Easter Christians. On the Cross, Jesus took the sins of all who genuinely seek forgiveness. I don’t know about you, but the thought of having my sins taken away is a relief beyond measure; it’s better than a dream. Before I knew the Lord Jesus, I thought often of my sins before I knew myself to be forgiven. I thought of my anger and lust, the way I kill people with my tongue, and the thousand and one ways in which I am a bad person. I thought of the balance of my good and bad, and tried to do as much good as I could to outweigh the bad. I tried hard; I tried harder; I tried too hard. I became obsessive because of the nagging doubt, “What if my sins outweighed my good deeds?” Worse, “What if I did not know of bad­nesses and so whatever I did that was good, it was still less than the total of my badness?” Worse still, “What if just one of my bad acts was so tremendously awful in God’s eyes that whatever I did afterwards, I could not compensate for it—one bad action, one single but really bad act could determine my eternal destiny for ever?” But the sins of a Christian are forgiven entirely because they give their life to the Lord Jesus. Their sins are gone. If they sincerely desire to stop sinning and want to serve the Lord, then Jesus forgives them and assures their eternal destination. Thereafter, a Christian has a vast, overflowing joy because their inglorious past is no more than the past. It may be a litter of puppies, a murder of crows, a pack of hounds, but in response to our entering new life as Jesus forgives our sins we become a joy of Easter Christians.

     Second, we are a transformation of Easter Christians. The person who has been forgiven to the uttermost will differ from people who do not know them­selves forgiven. Before we gave ourselves to the Lord Jesus, before we were forgiven, there existed a profound barrier between us and God in consequence of our unforgiven sins. But in proportion that we know ourselves to be forgiven we can move forward in faith. We come into relationship with God and our prayers can be answered — and the first prayer of every genuine Christian is always to know more of God for, once tasted, we will always want more and more and more of him. Knowing God changes a person because to know God is to be filled by God. Our future so differs from our past that we become an entirely new creation; in fact, it’s safer to say our old self has died and we’ve been born a second time. So it may be a parliament of rooks, a wake of buzzards, a charm of goldfinches, but as the power of Easter helps a person change to become like the Lord Jesus, we are a transformation of Easter Christians.

     And thirdly, we are a holiness of Easter Christians. One of the reasons for being a Christian is to have God forgive our sins. This forgiveness removes the barrier between us and God. We draw so close to God that we actually know him. We grow to become first-hand disciples, responding to God through informed choice rather than being told second, third, or fourth-hand about God. This is far removed from following the rules of a past disciple, believer, or prophet. Because we can follow God first-hand, he learn how to follow him in ways that are customised and true. Easter Christians ask God to fill us with himself, which means in effect he fills us with his Holy Spirit. With God himself inside our souls we grow ever closer to God and he participates in every decision we ever make. We grow to become the people that God calls us to be. We become Christlike. So, it may be an obeisance of servants, a murmuration of starlings, a surfeit of skunks, but as the risen Christ comes to live in each of us, we become a holiness of Easter Christians.

     It’s Easter and so a time to celebrate the wonderful, mighty resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Therefore, as joyful, transformed and holy Christians, we wish you every blessing in our Lord Jesus as we approach the profound, wonder-filled and love-laden resurrection our Lord Jesus.