The wonder of Easter is more than one week in Spring

Published: June 2007

Related Topics: Easter

After all the Easter services are over and we take time to relax and think about Pentecost, the summer picnic in June and all the other things that make up the church year it seems that the promise of Easter is quietly put to one side. It merges into the background with all the other parts of church life that are over.

We worry about the passing of time. It goes so fast that we don't seem to have time to reflect on the wonder of Easter. We have the Sundays of Easter leading to Pentecost and the Ascension of Christ but it is not quite the same. The church is not filled with the people that come only at Christmas and Easter--not that there is anything wrong with that. It is better twice a year than never. The Easter flowers are gone and it sometimes seems that the stone has been rolled back.

I am not sure why this is so; maybe it is because the pressures of society press so heavily upon us that it does not seem possible that Jesus could have died to make all things right. However that is exactly what took place.

God so loved the world that he sent his only Son so that we might not perish but have everlasting life. I don't believe that God sent Jesus to die. Just as a country or a parent does not send their children into war to die but knowing the possibility of death is always there. I believe that God sent Jesus to do whatever was necessary to lead us to the love that God has for all creation. In following the will of his Father, Jesus paid the ultimate price.

Jesus died a horrible death upon the cross and it seemed that it was over. All the promises seemed to be lost. Even Mary could not accept that there was anything other than death. "If you have taken him away, tell me where he is so I can take him away." To Mary the body of Jesus was what was most important. It was not until Jesus called her by name that the penny dropped and she knew it was not over but just beginning. The wonder of Easter did indeed make all things right.

We worry about not doing all the things we need to do before we die, not saying all the things we need to say, not telling someone that we love them. But the reality is that we do not die and it is never too late. Jesus calls each and every one of us by name just as Jesus called Mary. Life goes on in a different form, but never the less it goes on and we can know that all things do come right because of Easter.

This year let us not let Easter pass, but truly remember each and every day that nothing, not even death can separate us from the love of God.

The wonder of Easter is more than one week in Spring

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