“How terrible to wake up on Easter and no voice to shout, ‘He is risen!’ Far worse, to have a voice and not want to shout!”
Those poignant words were written by William E. Sangster on Easter 1960. For two years, he had been struggling with an incurable disease that caused muscular atrophy all over his body. By Easter, his voice muscle had also fallen victim to the disease.
William Sangster had been a spiritual leader in London during some of the darkest hours Great Britain had faced. He served as pastor of The Westminster Chapel Hall, not far from Westminster Abbey, from 1939 to 1955.
During World War II, the basement of his church was used as an air raid station. For 1,688 nights, Sangster did his best to meet the needs of the people of his church and his country. He always had a message of hope.
Like William Sangster, we have experienced an unusual year — a year of anxiety, illness and even death. At times, we may have felt that we were in a “bomb shelter” of social distancing. Most churches did not meet in person last Easter.
This Easter ought to be a time when we literally, or at least figuratively, shout “He is Risen!” Jesus Himself declares, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26, NKJV).
He is Risen!
