Our Weird Easter--2008
It was a weird Easter for us this year. Our kids are grown, and even though we kept the Easter basket thing going for a number of years after their transition into adulthood, we haven’t colored eggs in a number of years, and have cut back on candy in the most recent years. We have been guilty of still buying peeps for our 32 year old girl and special jelly beans for our 26 year old boy and of course Cadbury eggs and chocolate bunnies all around. That is until this year.
This year, The Daughter and her hubby were tied up with other very mitigating concerns and getting together with them 85 miles away, in their narrow window of opportunity seemed like forcing something that would not be very meaningful or satisfying. The Son was more flexible and was open to whatever transpired, but did have an opportunity to have Easter dinner with his girl friend and her family. On top of all this, my wife was struggling in the clutches of a cold that had been hanging on much too long, and there were 6, count them, six inches of new snow on the ground added to what was still left from the winter (thank you very much Al Gore). With all of that, we weren’t even seriously considering joining other extended family members way across town for any observances.
So, we woke up Easter Sunday morning to another inch of new snow and a light snow still falling. There were no hidden eggs, no candy to dive into, no biting the ears off of chocolate bunnies and no special breakfast. We did go to church, however. The weird thing about this was our unusual question of how to dress for Easter services. You see, we have most recently started attending a church that we like very much, but the outward coverings are not a real concern there. The pastor, an extremely down to earth guy with degrees from both Harvard and Yale is often dressed in jeans and a casual shirt. If you would assume that from his educational background and dress that he is liberal theologically, you would be very far from the truth. He casts off the pretense in much the same way Jesus did. The congregation is varied in background, education, socio-economic standing and in many other ways that we tend to assess people and their state. With this atmosphere at church, we have become quite comfortable to wearing jeans to church. They are so comfortable. Since it was Easter, we decided to not press it too much. Gayle wore her black jeans and I wore some comfortable, casual kakis. We figured we would be pretty much in the fashion middle with these choices.
Through much of our history, the churches we attended tried to put on some sort of special Easter music with whatever semblance of a choir that could be conjured up (can you use the word conjure when talking about a church?). The music this year was definitely special. There was a choir of sorts, and we enjoyed it, though the message was a bit on the different side.
I am used to the “Easter” message. Most people seem to expect the “Easter” message. I used to preach the “Easter” message in my pastoral days. I am also aware that many times, pastors will forego the “Easter” message upon the reasoning that every day should be a celebration of the truths of Easter. My daughter’s pastor is such a pastor, though for the past two times that we have attended their church on Easter, he has preached Easter messages. Our pastor, this year, however opened the message with an audio clip from a Pink Floyd (70’s rock band) song, called “Time”. Now remember, I said he is not a liberal, and is very sincere in his teaching and preaching, but he is not known for the norm. So this Easter Sunday’s message started out with Floyd. What the . . .? Don’t get me wrong. I love Pink Floyd. I love that song, but it’s not the normal way to start an Easter message. He did eventually bring it around to a very poignant, and powerful, though not customary, biblically based truth.
So after the “Floyd” sermon, we headed home with the question of what to do about lunch/dinner. We had bought no Easter ham or any kind of dinner fixings for that matter. Gayle was still feeling pretty punk with her cold, and my arthritis was really acting up due to Saturday’s activities (I could barely move and much groaning was involved when I did). Gayle suggested that we stop by a local restaurant to see if they were open and were having their usual Sunday brunch. We did, and they were. The food was good enough, but everything was so different. It just didn’t feel like Easter.
It was still Easter, however. There was very little of our accustomed fanfare and celebratory acts; the bunnies, the eggs, the food, the dress and even the family. But it was still Easter, and not just because of the day on the calendar. The truth is our accustomed trappings don’t make Easter. Easter exists without all of this. Our Lord, Jesus makes Easter. He made Easter when He arose from the grave so many years ago. He made Easter then and he continues to make Easter now. Even without the baskets He is still Lord over death. Without the fancy clothes, shoes and bonnets, He is still ascended and sitting upon His throne in Heaven. He is still Lord of all whether we hunt eggs, eat candy, and eat ham with family or not. Even if we eat a pathetic fast food burger for our Easter dinner as a close friend did, Jesus is still risen and He is still Lord of Lords. It has never been our actions that make Easter. It has always been the actions of our Lord that make Easter, the actions of our Lord, Jesus so many years ago, and the actions that continue even today.
Jesus makes Easter.
