Easter and the Garbage Man

I remember a time when Easter Weekend used to consist of a statutory holiday on Good Friday, and another vacation day on Monday. Over time, though the statutory holiday remained on Friday, the Monday holiday seemed to be just a vacation for schools, banks and government workers. Well this year, when the garbage trucks arrived Monday Morning to pick up the trash I realized we have drifted one step farther from the intention of this weekend when it was first established. When the government workers have to work you know that the holiday holds little place in the consciousness of our community! Now I don’ t really expect that those who are not followers of Jesus to make much effort to celebrate Him, nor do I hold it against them. I have however, been thinking about the church and about myself. Do I give Easter, and the amazing fact of Jesus’ resurrection enough reflection and enough celebration? Jesus never asked us to commemorate his birth and yet we can make it a huge deal. With services, extended holidays, parties, family reunions and gift buying and giving it can take months of preparation. Of course, our culture has been successful in making Christmas a huge industry and thus encourages us along in this direction. And maybe this is a key question, form where are we taking our lead? Despite Easter Bunnies and chocolate eggs, the world may not see Easter as economically that important, as Christmas but scripture shows us that Jesus intended that His death and resurrection be the central event to be commemorated and celebrated. When it comes to Easter, the celebration of Jesus’ being raised to life, the apostle Paul states that without it our faith would be futile. It is in the resurrection that we find our hope, the hope that we too will experience resurrection, that the world will be redeemed in a New Heaven and Earth and all will be as it should be. We also find our purpose in the here and now as we represent the Kingdom, being its ambassadors, representing God’s heart and intentions and providing a sign of what is to come, encouraging and inviting others to be a part of God’s Kingdom. If this is what Easter represents, if this is what we celebrate, then maybe, despite the fact that the world around us is not making a big deal of it, we can lead the way. Maybe we can aim to make it even bigger and more precious than Christmas. Maybe we can find some ways to demonstrate just how special, important, and central it is to our year and our lives.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. - 1 Corinthians 15:17