Monday, May 11, 2009
1 Corinthians 15:17 If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
EASTER IS NOT JUST ONE DAY!
Quite often we feel something of a spiritual "let down" after our Easter celebrations. As a liturgical church we spend seven weeks preparing for Easter through the season of Lent during which we consider the suffering and death of Jesus for us. The emotions build throughout our Holy Week celebrations -- from the joyful exuberance of Palm Sunday to the mixed agony and thankfulness of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday -- then in one day it is all over.
Statistics show that many churches experience a drop in church attendance after Easter. I hope it is not because people have less desire to celebrate the resurrection after the day is past. Easter is the most central and joyous Christian celebration of the year as the Apostle Paul says: "If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!" (1 Corinthians 15:17).
Do we really want to relegate the celebration of such a momentous event to one weekend of the year? Certainly not! For that reason, we dedicate the six Sundays that follow Easter to the ongoing celebration of Jesus' resurrection and its meaning and application to our lives. This week is the last of those weeks before we direct our attention to the celebration of Jesus' ascension. So this week we plan to review the account of Jesus' resurrection, and consider once more the meaning of His resurrection for us.
Even as we leave the "Easter season" we realize that we never really leave the message and meaning of Easter behind. It is -- and always must be -- an essential part of our weekly (and daily) proclamation of the Gospel!
