Every Little Easter
Happy Easter!
Yes, I know it’s already Wednesday, but we’re still in the Easter Season of celebrating. In fact, every Sunday is meant to be a little Easter as we reflect on and celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. It is such a special day – and this year was no exception. The sanctuary was full, the choir loft was full, the fellowship hall was full (so much so that we ran out of hot food for brunch – we’ll order more next year!). The music was beautiful, the flowers were beautiful, the people dressed in Easter finest were beautiful. What a day!
And what a transformation!
If you joined us for Maundy Thursday – in-person or online – you saw a dark place that got darker with each reading, a quiet place that closed in silence, a cross that was covered with nails and black paper (and even our lighted cross draped in black)… and then on Sunday, something totally different!
The cross that had been down, covered in nails and black paper was now standing, wrapped in multi-colored wires that reflected the light of the day. The lit cross that had been draped in black cloth was uncovered and no longer obscured. The chancel that had been nearly stripped with no more than a mobile pulpit and candelabras was once again filled with a grand pulpit and chairs – and the flowers… spread across the steps that shouted new life!
In a matter of just a few days, the whole space was transformed. It happened while we slept. It happened while we ate. It happened while we prayed. It happened while we went about our daily tasks, without any of our efforts – much in the way of the resurrection. God was at work. And we were just the recipients.
It’s one of my favorite things about Easter. The sanctuary is laid bare before our celebration, and transformed overnight. We wake and are reminded of the in-breaking of God with love and a good news that we didn’t quite understand before, but is on full display now.
And God is still doing that. God is still breaking in with life and love and joy and peace. Into our hurting hearts, into our disappointment and disillusionment, into our fear and failures. Three days ago we celebrated it. And in four days time, we’ll celebrate again. Because sometimes three days is all it takes for the shine to rub off. And we need another reminder.
In the same way, sometimes three days is all it takes for God to break in and make it all new.
Come and be reminded. Come and be renewed. Come and celebrate with us Sunday again!
Welcoming You to Grow in Jesus – every little Easter,
Pastor Don