In this special Easter edition of the Frontlines video series, Prison Fellowship Ministries President and CEO Jim Liske recounts his recent visit to teach at a church where an inmate choir led the congregation in worship, sharing a beautiful picture of the unity of God’s Kingdom inside and outside prison walls.
Over Easter weekend I met a young man in a prison infirmary. He wore a Styrofoam helmet to protect his badly damaged skull. His had been terribly incapacitated by the same drunk-driving accident that killed his boyhood friend. As the driver in the accident, this young man was facing a 40-year sentence.
When Jesus was ministering near the Jordan River, a messenger came with the news that his friend Lazarus was sick unto death in the town of Bethany. But Jesus was not in a rush to get there. He waited two more days, saying, in essence, “Lazarus is just asleep.
“Remember Jesus of Nazareth, staggering on broken feet out of the tomb toward the Resurrection, bearing on his body the proud insignia of the defeat which is victory, the magnificent defeat of the human soul at the hands of God.”
– Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat
Easter morning service was exhilarating and joyous – rousing music, a reading of the familiar but amazing gospel account of Jesus’ resurrection, and an inspiring sermon culminating in a festive Eucharistic celebration.