Monday, April 2, 2012

The Challenge of Easter

   How many times have I been through an Easter season? How many times have I read, or listened to, or watched the events of Easter as they took place 2,000 years ago? How many times have I stood in church and sang "Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Alleluia"?

   Will it be any different this time around? Will I really grasp how all of this plays out in my own life? Will this day make any difference in the way I live and respond to God? Will I hear the angel in the tomb say to me "Don't be afraid, go back out into your world and live like this really matters"?

   The Scripture for this morning was in Mark 16, concerning the women coming to the tomb on Easter morning and their reaction to the angel. It is a story that I have read many times. I've heard it preached and sung, but has it really sunk in?

   The narrative is old, but the message needs to be new every day. I tend to treat it like an old shirt, just put it on this week and be comfortable, it won't upset your plans. You have a lot of things on your calendar, and this series of days will just fit right in, as usual. You can pay lip service to an extraordinary series of events without letting them change your life in any way. I can easily do that.

   But I am challenged this morning to do it differently this time around, to make Easter, not just another Sunday on the calendar in 2012, but to make it mine, really make it mine. I am not even sure what that all means, but God knows, and I want to.

   Today is Monday, but Sunday is coming. Get ready......

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