When I grew up and got behind a pulpit, Easter took on a
different meaning for me. It was the day I could expect the biggest crowd of
the year in our building. I began to think of ways I could make the biggest
impact on visitors and the people in the church who were not faithful in their
attendance. I learned each year by trial and error how to preach meaningful
lessons that would hopefully bring people back another Sunday. I have been
excited, nervous, stressed, and have felt just about ever other human emotion you can imagine in anticipation
of the pulpit opportunity an Easter Sunday brings.
Easter is different for the preacher. The reality is that
after the largest crowd of the year in the morning, the lowest crowd of the
year is that evening (see also Mother’s Day). It is ironic that this man-made
holiday, which supposedly seeks to elevate the Christ, is really more about
people, their families, and their traditions. If you are a preacher you really
have a choice to either be happy that you had an opportunity to preach the
gospel to more people than usual, or you can let yourself be disillusioned by
the people who are somewhat disingenuous. You could become depressed when you
see Christians who are usually faithful Sunday nights cater to their unfaithful
families for a day because you know they are just trying to keep everyone happy
and together.
I am personally confident that there is a reason why God
never ordained specific religious holidays for the New Testament church. For
one thing, God knows that man’s nature is to change the original intent of any
religious observance to suit himself. The Israelites did this with every holy
day in the Mosaic system at one time or another. They were often disciplined
for it, and eventually God completely wiped the old covenant away by bringing His
Son to the cross. It is merely my own opinion, but I believe that in the
Christian age God has refused to give men an opportunity to celebrate a specific religious
holiday regarding Jesus. He knows man will always abuse it and change it. In
the meantime, we have made new religious holidays anyway. And for each person,
these holidays mean something different.
What you need to know about Easter, or Christmas, or any
other religious holiday that man has created, is that you are not obligated to
observe it. At the same time, you need to respect what these holidays mean to
those who observe them and respect their right to act according to what they
know. Romans 14 teaches us that while we know certain days mean something to
some and nothing to others, we ought not to offend anyone who esteems one day greater
than another. Trust me, whenever I have written or taught about man-made religious
holidays I have always approached the subject with trepidation. I am hugely in the
minority. My views on Easter and Christmas and other religious holidays are largely
unpopular. I understand that teaching what the Bible says about those things is
going to be an eye opener for many. It may even offend them or cause them to
struggle to understand the point I am actually wanting to make. And when this
happens everything else I may have been trying to accomplish with those I want
to influence for Jesus and the church can be lost in the shuffle. Even today, if I post
this some people will have to argue with what I have said here. They are too
convicted in their own thoughts about it. They won’t be able to stand it. These
struggles I face are all a part of being different from the world.
But Bible facts are Bible facts. There are no “high days” for
Christians. Not when everything we do or say is supposed to be done in the name
of the Lord Jesus (Col. 3:17). Not when every Sunday has been set aside by God
for worship and the commemoration of the death, burial, and resurrection of
Jesus. Not when there is zero authority from the text to observe a day that is
not in the text. Not when the apostles never observed them. Not when the church
of the Bible never observed them. Not when God never asked for them to be
observed.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE Easter. Though
instituted by man, it is to me a reminder of what my Lord did for me, and I am
thankful that a great portion of the world is still remembering that, even if
it is just for a day. This holiday also ushers in the spring, warmer
temperatures, and the beginning of new life after several months of death, and
no doubt this is spiritually analogous for people in the northern hemisphere as
to what God can do on the other side of the grave. Did I mention I also LOVE
jelly beans? Easter is jelly bean season! There is a whole aisle in Walmart
dedicated to different kinds of jelly beans! And beyond all of this I am going
to have an opportunity to talk to people about Jesus for a Sunday who I might
otherwise never get to meet.
I remember years ago in my younger preaching years talking
to a man who rarely attended church services. He had just gone to an Easter
service the week before at a neighboring congregation. He said the preacher got
up and berated all the people who only come twice a year. The visitor’s
response was that he was never going back again. He said, “And he wonders why I
don’t come! Well who would want to come and hear about what is wrong with them
all of the time? I need encouragement. I already know what is wrong with me. I
don’t need the reminder the one time I actually get up enough courage to come
to church.”
Funny, isn’t it, how we humans are? The reality is that we desperately
need God. We need His word every day. We need to be faithful. And we need to
actually be able to distinguish between man-offered religion and God-ordained
religion. Easter is a true reminder that we are struggling in this world as a people
to follow God. In the background is the remembrance of the event that changed
the world, and in the foreground is the fact that many people don’t even know
that God never asked us to celebrate Easter at all. It could be said that the
world has not been changed by the death, burial, and resurrection as much as it
needs to be changed. Jesus died that we might all die to ourselves, and yet
because of our lack of attention to His Word and our desire to do things our
way, we still find ourselves in a place of confusion as to what we are actually
supposed to be practicing in the name of the Lord.
As I look to this Sunday, I am promising myself that I am
going to be thankful. I will not concentrate on local Easter gimmicks from big
city churches. I will not be cynical and judge the hearts of the people who I
may not see again for 6 months. I will not be a 21st century scribe
and pretend that I have everything figured out when others do not. Instead I am
going to take this opportunity to love God, and to love people, and to pray
that this one day will lead to many other days of faithfulness to the One who
bled and died for all men.
Easter, even if it is man-made, definitely does one thing
that is absolutely undeniable and beyond human comprehension. It reminds us
that God’s love cannot be quenched. In a world lost and spiraling away from God
in the sickness of sin and death – there is still a day remembered – yes, even
set aside because Jesus died and rose again. It is an absolute fact. Jesus
came. He lived. He loved. He died. He arose. He ascended. And the world knows
it. And the world, as long as it remains, will always know it.
“He is not here, but is risen…”- Luke 24:6
