We have arrived at Easter, one of
the two most joyous days in the entire year for Christians around the world.
The other day, of course, is Christmas. We all know why Christmas is joyful. On
that day, God came into our world as one of us. And Easter is joyful because on
this day, Jesus lifted us up out of our world as children of God. Easter is the
“bookend” to Christmas. One holiday isn’t complete without the other. They are
both occasions of great joy!
So – if Easter calls for us
to be just as joyful as we are at Christmas – why don’t we celebrate Easter
more than we do? If you compare the way that we celebrate the two holidays,
Easter really takes a back seat to Christmas festivities. Oh, Easter is
certainly joyful. Folks wear their best clothes to church – and we did. The
Christ candle is lighted again, in churches that do that kind of thing – and we
did that. Worshippers sing “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” a song that is
full of joyful alleluias – and we did that, too. But on Monday morning, the
only reminder that Easter has taken place will be the Easter grass that has
settled into the edge of the carpeting in the living room. And all the
hard-boiled eggs in the fridge that we have to either use or throw out.
Have you ever thought about
how little we celebrate Easter compared with Christmas? Christmas celebrations
go on for months! Decorations are in the stores right after Halloween (if the
stores wait even that long), radio stations begin to play Christmas carols 24-7
in early November, and holiday bargains are… well, everywhere! But Easter? It’s
almost invisible. You might see a lily or two in the window of the local
florist, but they aren’t hanging from the light fixtures in Wal-Mart. The
Chipmunks haven’t recorded a version of “Because He Lives.” And I’ve never once
seen a store offer an Empty Tomb sale! Although Easter is celebrates Christ’s
victory over death itself, we just don’t get as excited about it as we do over
Christmas. Why do you suppose that is?
I don’t know the answer for
sure, but I have a suggestion. Could it be that Easter takes a back seat
because we just can’t wrap our minds around Easter like we can around
Christmas? After all, Christmas is full of images that we know well – images
that we cherish. We all love newborn babies, with their chubby fists and their
squished-up faces. We’re comfortable with farm animals in the stable. Even city
slickers can relate to lambs and donkeys and brown cows. We can even imagine a
bunch of smelly shepherds crowding around a manger in the middle of the night. But Easter doesn’t have any
of that. We don’t know what to do with Easter! We’ve never experienced an empty
tomb. We’ve never met an angel who proclaims that the dead is alive; and then
asks why in the world we’re still standing in the graveyard. The Jesus that we
know teaches and heals and comforts. He doesn’t appear unexpectedly in the
middle of the room and walk through doors, as he does in the gospel stories of
the resurrection. Easter is so foreign to us that when it rolls around each
year, we do our best to celebrate; but while Christmas lives deep in our
hearts, Easter stays in our heads. We know
about it; but we just can’t relate to us.
That’s why I’m convinced that
many people live their lives stuck in Lent. They never manage to make it past
Good Friday. Even on Easter morning, they’re still hanging on to the old rugged
cross that’s planted firmly on the hill of Golgotha. After all, that’s where
their experience is. When most people wake up in the morning, they don’t open
their eyes and think, “Alleluia! Christ is risen! Death and evil don’t have any
power over me anymore! Because he lives, I will live, too!” No, they open their
eyes and they worry about their aging parents; they face their own illnesses;
or they mourn the loss of a loved one. They wonder how they will get the rent
money; how they will put food on the table; and sometimes, how they will simply
get through one more day. Those aren’t Easter thoughts. Those are Good Friday
thoughts. During Lent, we look those experiences in the face and state
confidently, “It may be Lent now; but Easter’s coming!” But all too often, we
never quite make it to Easter; and we live our lives wishing for the resurrection that is ours already!
The reality is that it’s awfully hard for us to get
Jesus down off that cross. We tend to be so focused on Jesus’ suffering that
we never get to the triumph of his resurrection! We hear Jesus’ last words
from the cross, “It is finished!” – and that’s where we stop, too. Because
Jesus’ earthly life is over, we take his words to mean that the whole story
is over! We’re like Mel Gibson, who ended his movie The Passion of the Christ with Jesus’ body being put into the tomb.
That movie never got to Easter. But in the words of the famous radio personality
Paul Harvey, there is a “page two.” And if we want to hear “the rest of the
story,” we have to get to Easter morning.
After all, without Easter
morning, Good Friday is meaningless. Without Easter, Jesus’ crucifixion is just
an unjust execution; another example of corrupt authorities who intend to hold
onto their power at all costs. Without Easter, Jesus’ crucifixion is just one
more tragedy in a world that is full of them. Without Easter, Jesus suffers
eternally, but never triumphs. Without Easter, the cross is merely a hideous
symbol of human cruelty. But with
Easter, it is the ultimate symbol of God’s amazing power, love, and grace.
Easter is God’s eternal beginning that transforms all of the endings in our
lives, no matter how cruel and unfair they may be. In Luke’s account of the
Easter story, an angel asks the women who have come to the tomb, “Why are you
looking for the living among the dead?” That angel is talking to us, too, you
know. Why are we looking for the living among the dead? Why are we looking for
the triumphant among the suffering? Why do we insist on staying in Good Friday?
Maybe it would help if we added
some Easter symbols to the cross that hangs so prominently in most Christian
churches. During my time with the children, I’ve told them that we have three
symbols for God on our altar – the Bible (symbolizing the Word of God), the
cross (symbolizing Jesus Christ), and the candles (symbolizing the Holy
Spirit). What resurrection symbol could we add to these others? Well, we might
add a few colorful butterflies. Butterflies are an ancient symbol of the
resurrection. They start out their lives as caterpillars, humble little
critters who creep around on the tomato plants. And then, they spin a cocoon
and they appear to all the world to be dead. But they’re not. Just when we
think that ugly old cocoon will stay that way forever, out of it comes… a
butterfly! It’s not too much of a stretch to make the connection between the
newly-born butterfly and the risen Christ. A few butterflies might remind us
that the cross is not the end. Or we might give lilies a permanent place on the
altar. Lilies grow from bulbs, just like all the flowers that are decorating
the sanctuary today. A lily bulb appears to be dead. But when it’s buried in the
garden, out come little green shoots that eventually bloom as a beautiful
flower. Out of death comes life. We could even surround the cross with empty
plastic Easter eggs, just like the one that I used this morning in my time with
the children. There’s no candy in them. They’re empty – just like the empty
tomb! Any of these symbols would remind us that we are Easter people in the
end; and that Christ is risen indeed. After all, the resurrection is the
foundation of our faith!
On this Easter morning, I invite
you to leave Good Friday behind. Oh, don’t forget about it altogether. The
cross is a vital symbol of our faith. But remember that the cross doesn’t get
the last word! This morning, take a joyful, confident step into Easter. Jesus
isn’t on the cross anymore! Let’s not go looking for the living among the dead.
He is risen! And because he lives, so do we!
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