Celebrating Easter, celebrating Spring, celebrating Creation – what do they all share? So much it is worth our contemplation as we enter April this year of our Lord 2009. And we certainly need something to celebrate this year amid all the doom and gloom that has set in for our country and our time in the world. The apostle Paul said it best, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8) When better to apply such encouragement than now as we prepare to enter Holy Week on Palm Sunday, April 5th.
Celebrating Easter may come a little harder for some this year. So much negativity in the air it’s difficult to manage that positive outlook that Easter usually brings. But then we think about Jesus rising from the tomb overcoming death and proving that God’s love for us is still intact and our confidence is restored. Not in earthly things, but the things that ultimately matter most in life, things worthy of praise. Truly, the Resurrection of our Lord is cause to celebrate and to be given our thanks. Here we have reason for joy in our hearts to replace our sorrow for having our sins covered by the Blood of Jesus who died for them on the Cross.
Celebrating Spring has its way of lifting us up, if only after a rather dismal winter with waves of cold temperatures and a few storms we watched pass through with concern. Seeing the greening of trees and grass and the flowering of fields and gardens renews our appreciation that some things return with regularity. This gives us hope that the same may hold for the economy and the American way. Winter for these may be more long-lasting, but nature’s springtime offers some respite to our outlook as we hope for a better future for our children and for coming generations.
Celebrating Creation is also appropriate in a time when God’s divine providence in making the universe and all it contains is given less credence than it deserves and demands. Celebrating Creation has much in common with both Easter and Spring. All are about new life, all are about God’s power and love, and all give us hope of redemption and purpose. Celebrating Creation doesn’t mean to worship the thing created, but to worship the Creator for the fact and evidence of his creating hand over all the eye can see. When we do this on the basis of God’s Word, for He is the only one who can tell us about it—He was there!—then we are giving Him honor, glory and praise. When God completed creation in the beginning as Genesis tells us, He saw everything he had made and behold it was very good!
When we celebrate Spring by thanking God for restoring life that had lain dormant through winter we again recognize his goodness in all that He has made. And when we celebrate Easter by coming to our places of worship praising God for raising his beloved Son Jesus from the dead, we are again acknowledging his goodness to us. The Resurrection of our Lord declares the power of God to make all things new. Not only the newness of Spring and not only our newness of life in the Spirit through our baptism and God given faith, a new creation itself, but a new heaven and new earth in the promise of God at the final resurrection when we will be like Jesus.Truly we have much to celebrate and much to think about when it comes to Creation, Spring and especially Easter. Let us then rejoice in all our Creator has done for us. Happy Easter!!!