Easter Every Sunday?

"There will be a day when watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim, 'Come, let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.'" —Jeremiah 31:6

“Can’t we do something besides going to church every Sunday?” said little Johnny to his dad. Sure, son, what would you like to do this Sunday? “Oh, I just want to stay home and play video games and stuff,” said Johnny. “But what would God think?” replied his father.
“I’m sure God will be ok without us, Dad!”

Isn’t that close to what we adults even think, whenever we decide to do something else besides get up and get ourselves and others in our family ready so we can all go to church? You’ve heard the story about the mother who woke up her son one Sunday morning saying, “Come on now its time to get up and get ready for church.” “Aw, do I have too! I really want to stay in bed and sleep this morning,” he said. “No, you can’t stay home now,” his mom scolded, “after all you’re the pastor.”

Yes, even the pastor has to make an effort to get to church some times. And, you know what? God would be ok without us, too.

But will we be ok without God? That’s the real question. It’s not like we’re doing Him some favor by going out of our way to be in His House of worship on Sunday morning. Oh, He misses us when we’re not there, at least He misses us being there where He wants us to be: in fellowship with our neighbors and friends in Christ, in thanksgiving and praise which ultimately does us more good than it does Him and in the Bible study that helps us to grow in understanding the role of faith in our lives.

What happens when we’re not there is what happens to us. It’s what we’re missing that feeds our soul and nourishes our spirit. It’s what keeps us alive and renews our sense of purpose and our focus on God’s love for us, and how we can show his love to others.

An old English children’s poem, illustrated with hands clasped and fingers inside except the index fingers raised and touching each other, went like this:

Here's the church, and here's the steeple
Open the door and see all the people.
Here's the parson going upstairs,
And here he is saying his prayers.

The thumbs together were the doors and when opened the inside fingers represented the people. But the way I learned it as a child left out the parson and ended with all the fingers outside the clasped together hands:

Here’s the church and here’s the steeple
Open the door but where are all the people?

Sometimes after Easter and when school is out that later picture seems all too real. This year’s Easter service at Trinity was filled with people and it was a joy to share in the worship with all who were there. But from the time of the Apostles after Jesus rose from the tomb every Sunday became an Easter celebration of the new life we have been given in Christ.

If you were to ask someone who starved himself to death why he didn’t eat, first he couldn’t answer because he is dead, but if he could wouldn’t it be silly for him to say, “I’m sure the cook was ok without me!” No, we must eat for our bodies to live and we must worship that we may live with Christ in our lives. Just as you wouldn’t unnecessarily miss a good meal, why would you likewise miss going to church? Sounds like a “no-brainer” to me, what about you?

FROM DARKNESS TO DAWN

"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." -Matthew 28:6-7

“How dark does it have to get before the night is over?” The question of a small child may seem without importance when one is struggling through a sleepless night. But with moral and spiritual darkness enveloping the night of our age we cannot help but speculate on the present course.

We would seem pointless to merely observe the many indications that such a night has fallen. Too often and too easily we decry what is happening to our nation with its loss of values and absence of leadership. We’re too negative; some will say while they can’t disagree with the prevailing circumstances that affects us all. Indeed, we quickly turn to more positive thoughts giving us hope that the night will soon pass. Are we any different than the unsure child seeking answers and confidence from a loving parent?

Enough with the bailouts and the president’s and congress’s health plan which many feel will lead us further into socialism and a national debt we can’t afford. Enough with questionable political practices behind closed doors of our government. Enough with alarm over encroaching gay rights activities, liberal bias in the media and a multitude of other disturbing trends in our society. “Enough!” we say. Enough! Let us look on the bright side. Let us think positive thoughts. Let us believe things will get better if we just do our job and don’t let our surroundings get us down. Isn’t this how we convince ourselves that the night is almost over—that dawn is almost here?

There are, unquestionably, many streaks of improvised light in this surrounding darkness. In our churches and Christian schools, in our homes and families, even in our jobs and neighborhoods, good people do good things and we enjoy many happy and encouraging moments that give us a degree of happiness and hope for a brighter tomorrow. There are certainly enough opportunities to concentrate our attention on flickering points of light in our lives instead of the outside blackness. And these are not inconsequential. They are not to be disregarded, especially where we see evidence of spiritual and moral influence and where Bible based Christianity still prevails in our hopes and in our dreams.

But there is still a better way to quiet the fear that gnaws against us—a better answer for the hope that lies within our hearts and gives us confidence of a new day. That is the guarantee of resurrection that our Lord Jesus Christ has given us. The hours and days immediately before the dawn of Easter morning were as dark as it can get on the earth. Jesus who brought new light into the world, a light that enlightens any soul from within, was extinguished on the cross. The forces of darkness had overtaken him in his cruel death. Gone was the One on whom anyone could look and be healed of all sickness and disease that inflicts darkness on our bodies, minds and souls. Gone was the life Who was the light of men. It seemed that darkness would prevail perpetually, that there would be no dawn, and that our greatest fear would be realized in the death and entombment of the Christ sent by God to help us.

We know that wasn’t the end, or we would not be here 2000 years later continuing our hope in the Creator’s purpose. The miracle of Jesus’ resurrection foretells the miracle awaiting us all. Our hope for a new tomorrow does not rest on the politicians, nor does it rest in our own feeble efforts at keeping the lights we depend on in our own worlds around us glowing. The dawn we truly await is one of enduring brightness which will remove all fear that night could ever again fall. This is not a desperate hallucination, as some would charge. It is not hope against hope, but it is based on concrete knowledge, concrete facts and concrete revelation which God has poured out into our hearts and minds.

Christ is Risen!!! We have cause for celebration of the Day to come prefigured for us by the Day the tomb was found empty and the risen Jesus appeared to his followers. This is the assurance we need to carry on through the night, no matter how dark it gets. For the reality is, it will most likely get darker before the dawn. But Jesus assures us, “Do not be afraid.” “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” “Go therefore and make disciples ...” The dawn is coming. Look up, for you know not when your redemption comes; but He is coming.
Amen.