Easter In Kyiv

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Listen to this devotional:
 Listen while you read: "Christ Arose"1  (Lyrics)

Luke 24:1-5 – But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." (NRSV)

Eastern Orthodox Christians use the Julian calendar, so as many of us Christians celebrate Easter today, we ask ourselves how on earth the Ukrainian people will be able to observe Easter next Sunday with many of their churches destroyed, their people dispersed around the world, and the nation lying in tatters. What I do know without a doubt is that they will not only observe Easter, they will celebrate it. In the face of death and destruction and inhumanity, we have witnessed their courage and determination and defiance.

Many would expect no less from such a people who have known such conditions throughout their history.

There is an apocryphal story told of a speech given in 1930 in Kyiv, Ukraine, by a famous Russian communist leader, Nicolai Ivanovich Bukharin. He was a very powerful man, editor of the Soviet journal Pravda and author of numerous works on political science and economics that are still read today. The topic of his speech was atheism, which is of course a tenet of Marxism. For more than an hour before the huge assembly, he addressed his hardest hitting arguments against Christianity. Rational proofs and insults put down the historic faith of the Ukrainian people. When he finished, he looked out over what he assumed to be the smoldering ash heap of the crowd's faith and asked if there were any questions.

Silence.

Then one man came down to the front, and stood next to the famous speaker. He looked over the audience, left and right, and then shouted the Easter greeting of the Orthodox Church. "Khrystos voskres!" (Christ is risen!) And the people in their thousands stood on their feet and shouted back, "Voistynu voskres!" (He is risen indeed!)

A young Ukrainian couple taught me a common greeting in Ukrainian: "Slava Isusu Khrystu" (Glory to Jesus Christ!) to which we were to respond with "Slava naviky" (Glory forever!)

This might be the most powerful greeting that you can offer another this Easter season. This might also be the beginning of resurrection for the Ukraine and for all of us.

Prayer: In times like the world now faces, with war and disease and degradation of the environment all around us, we ask You to shine Your light in us, through us, over us. May we make a difference in this world for Your glory and purposes. Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness joy. We offer this prayer for a world that so desperately needs Your presence and healing. Thanks be to You, God, for Your indescribable gift! Amen.

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About the author:

Kenn Stright <kennethstright@yahoo.ca>
West Petpeswick, Nova Scotia, Canada
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1 thought on “Easter In Kyiv”

  1. Amen!

    Thank you.

    Christ has risen!

    Thank you for sharing.

    What a powerful message! Thank you Kenn.

    Amen and amen! To God be the glory! Blessings.

    Thanks, Kenn, for a very special devotional today.

    Thanks for the encouraging thoughts, Kenn. Happy Easter.

    Thank you, Kenn. They are a powerful testimony for the Lord.

    Indeed. Great story thanks.
    (ON)

    Oh Kenn. May the Risen Christ be with the peoples of the Ukraine.

    Memorable and obviously TRUE, Kenn. Grateful is what I am. Brings me to understanding today.

    Dear Kenn,
    Great message and great prayer. Thank you. Blessings.

    Thank you for your inspiring message, Kenn! May God be with you and the Ukrainian people this Easter morning!

    Read your prayer at the dinner table tonight. So appropriate for these times. Thank you.
    (Ontario)

    What a beautiful, heartwarming message for these times.
    Glory belongs to our God! Christ has risen indeed! Hallelujah!

    This was such a moving devotional, Kenn. Thank you for the reminder and encouragement that Christ’s death and resurrection bring never ending hope.

    Thank you! What a powerful moment in history! Thank you for passing it on. Praise God! He is risen indeed!
    Happy Easter!

    My sister told your story of Kiev in her sermon and the elderly couple who had served in Russia responded in kind.
    (ON)

    God bless you, Kenn
    I will share those amazing truths. Truly this will be the Easter where so many will accept Christ or renew their relationships with Christ. Have a Blessed Easter!

    Dear Kenn,
    It is important to remember the strife of the Ukraine and pray for peace. Thanks for your message on this Easter day in 2022.
    (On)

    Hi Kenn, this is an inspiring devotional that stirs my heart and my faith. I listened to the sad news on the radio this morning about the fate of Ukraine, then read your glorious pronouncement of faith, and my hope is revived. God bless you, Kenn, this Easter, and thank you for your continuing witness through PresbyCan.

    Good afternoon Kenn,
    Our family has returned to their home and I am now reading today’s devotional which is powerful and for which I am grateful. Had I read it this morning, I would have been in a hurry and not really appreciated it to the fullest.
    Joy to you this Easter Day.

    Greetings Kenn and many thanks for your very special and timely devotional today. Our prayers are so needed for the people and entire country of Ukraine these days as we see the heartbreaking happenings there. May our Lord’s power overtake the persistence of the enemy and restore peace and glory to the country and its people. Blessings for your very thoughtful writings.

    Hi Kenn,
    What an awesome Devotional for today. Thanks so much for sharing. Keep up the good work with our Devotionals.
    Blessing to you this Easter Day.
    Christ is Risen !!
    Let us continue to serve a Risen Savior.
    (Ont.)

    Dear Kenn , Easter Greetings
    I just finished forwarding your Easter devotion to many family and friends. Some have replied already! It certainly is a message for Easter 2022. An Easter like we have ‘t
    had in our lifetime.
    This morning I noticed an big IKEA umbrella. Huge one. It was the blue and yellow of Ukrainian Flag colours. Laughing I said “wouldn’t I love to prance into church today using that as my Easter bonnet”. Anyway it was a nice thought. Hope of the Season.

    Good Easter Morning Kenn,
    Many Thanks for writing this morning’s devotional and especially for incorporating the Prayer of St. Francis within yours.
    It is my prayer that an Easter miracle be given to the Ukraine that somehow, some way, Peace will prevail.
    It would be wonderful if that could happen for all countries in turmoil, and perhaps selfish of me to concentrate only on the Ukraine, but it is closest to our hearts.
    May the Blessings of Easter be with you and your loved ones.

    Oh Kenn,
    Thank you for sharing this message! i breathe deeper with hope and wish that we all would greet one another with Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed as well as Glory to Jesus Christ; Glory forever!
    Those phrases do mean SO much.
    Unfortunately, ‘Happy Easter’ has become the norm with the Easter Bunny and chocolate being such a focus!
    I found these words so hopeful: What I do know without a doubt is that they will not only observe Easter, they will celebrate it. In the face of death and destruction and inhumanity, we have witnessed their courage and determination and defiance.
    If a people in such circumstances can and do remember the reason we celebrate Easter, so ought we who are so privileged!
    Hallelujah, Christ IS risen! Jesus LIVES and so too, shall we!

    I was truly blessed by your devotional.
    For many years, our family were guests at a neighbour’s Latvian breakfast on Easter Sunday. The tradition was fasting from Friday to Resurrection day.
    Once we were all in place around a long, festively decorated table, laden with traditional breads and salads, the eldest member of the family would raise a shot glass, filled with chilled vodka and say the words you quoted (in Latvian). Then we would reply with the words you wrote. Then “down the hatch” went the contents of the glass!
    Thanks for being able for the first time, to record the words I remember, so that we can repeat this at our family Easter breakfast from now on!
    Many blessings on your presence in the community of West Petpeswick, NS!

    Thank you for today’s story. I heard recently that Putin had or has some connection to the Russian Orthodox Church and still does not understand or believe that Christ is Risen.
    Blessings to you for contributing in PresbyCan. We read every day.

    Amen and amen! I’m saving this devotional! Blessings.

    I thought that you would be encouraged to know that I read this devotional at the beginning of our Easter Sunrise Service down by the river and then to open the Presbyterian service later. I taught them the Ukrainian pronunciation, and we practiced and did it! I had a hard time holding back my emotions. At both services there were people of Ukrainian heritage present, and one of them gave the proper response without being prompted.

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