April 19, 2025 in Bishop, Bishop messages
An Easter Message from Bishop Bryan Penman
Fearful, Yet Overjoyed. The Women at the Tomb By Sister Mary Stevens, CRSS
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP
An Easter Message from Bishop Bryan Penman
April 19, 2025
The Vigil of Easter
“But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” – Luke 24:11
Dear Beloved in Christ,
On the first day of the week, as the sun rose, a group of women went to the tomb—not to celebrate resurrection, but to carry out the rituals of grief. They were expecting death. What they found instead was the shock of an empty tomb, and a message that would change the world: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”
These women—Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James—rushed back to share what they had seen and heard. They were the first to proclaim the resurrection!! They were the first to preach the Good News!! But when they told the disciples, their words were dismissed as “an idle tale.” Too unlikely. Too strange. The messengers didn’t fit the mold.
And yet, this is where the resurrection begins: with unexpected voices, in unexpected places, this is where resurrection begins, bearing Good News from the margins.
This Easter, I wonder: how often do we still overlook the resurrection happening right in front of us—because it comes from the voices we’re not trained to hear? As we celebrate the season of Easter together, where are you hearing the Good News? Who are the unexpected voices in your life who proclaim resurrection with their lives, their stories, their quiet persistence?
Too often, we expect God’s voice to come from pulpits or through polished words. But God is always surprising us—speaking through the marginalized, the overlooked, the ones the world forgets. God is showing up in the middle of our ordinary days—in the laughter of children, the courage of neighbors, the resilience of those who’ve been told “you don’t matter” but rise anyway, proclaiming with their very being that life wins.
Later this spring, our own Pastor Violet Little will release a powerful book titled Good News from the Margins, reminding us that God is still speaking—through the stories of those often pushed to the edges of society. Her work invites us to listen again for resurrection not just in stained glass sanctuaries, but in shelters, in city sidewalks, in stories of healing, recovery, resilience of refugees, and deep love shared around a common meal. It’s a beautiful and challenging reminder that the Good News is often carried by those the world forgets.
What if this Easter we, too, could be given new eyes and ears—to see and hear the Good News in places we least expect it? What if we took seriously the call to trust the voices that the world too easily dismisses?
Beloveds, what if this isn’t an idle tale, but instead the powerful truth of the way God works resurrection in our world. What if this is the way that God scatters the proud in their conceit, casting down the mighty from their thrones and lifting up the lowly? What if this is the way God fills the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty? What if this is the way God continues to show up time and time again into our broken and hurting world, not as an idle tale, but indeed the power of resurrection.
The tomb is still empty. Resurrection is still unfolding. And the messengers are all around us—if we’re willing to listen.
Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
In hope and joy,
+ The Rev. Bryan J. Penman
Bishop, Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA.
