An Easter Message
Photo by Will Sadler
As I began my sermon last Sunday, I mentioned that this was the first time I have ever stood in the pulpit on Easter Sunday and preached to an empty church. As I think about that now, not too many times have I stood in the pulpit and preached to a full church – unless of course someone dies. It is an odd time. It is a strange time. It is a scary time. The Coronavirus has changed the world. It has changed our lives. We will be telling this story as long as we live – to our children and grandchildren, and even their children will read about it in the history books.
There is another event that changed the world – an event that usually fills our churches because someone did die – an event that took place because God so loved the world that God gave His only Son that we might have life and have it abundantly. We call that event Easter – the Resurrection of Christ. As Christians, we believe (as Paul taught in Romans 6) that in Christ our old self died on the Cross with him and our new self was raised with Christ to newness of life. In other words, we are not who we used to be but are now a new creation in Christ Jesus our Lord (2 Corinthians 5:17).
As new creatures in Christ, we have had to find other ways to worship and stay connected during this odd time of covid-19. I have found that people are responding in great faith. People are worshiping on the Interney – even bogging it down to a crawl at times. Worship attendance is up; way up. People are not only attending their own church’s worship service, but church hopping and denomination hopping – attending four and five worship services every Sunday.
There are other things I have noticed these days. We long for live human interaction. A simple hug is enormous – a handshake – sitting down with friends and family in a restaurant – attending a sporting event, concert, rodeo, or trade show – not to mention being able to gather with our church family and worship together. We have new super heroes – doctors, nurses, grocery store and drive through restaurant personnel, school teachers, and many others that I have not mentioned. We have truly learned the value of life in a small community and the people God has placed in our lives that makes life worth living.
When the women left the empty tomb on that first Easter morning, they left with fear and great joy (Matthew 28:8-10) – fear of what they had experienced and great joy for what it might mean. For assurance, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Do not be afraid; go and tell….” I think that is our message today. In spite of this odd and strange time, do not be afraid; go and tell that Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! And that makes all the difference in the world.