He is Risen, indeed!
It’s been going on for years now…the night before Easter I can’t sleep at all. I want it to be the next morning so badly that you would think I was a kid on the night before a big trip to Disneyland or waiting for Christmas day to show up.
Today, I got up at 5am (after being awake since 4), told my wife “He is Risen” (to which she has learned to cheerfully reply, “He is risen, indeed” and then turn over and go back to sleep until the kids wake her up about an hour later). I got ready and drove to a Sunrise service at a large traditional church at 6. By 8 I had downed my Grande Americano and showed up at my church, where I met the staff and volunteers who would serve at our Easter service.
Our gathering was, in a word, awesome. There was a great celebration of Jesus Christ, who conquered, death, sin, hell and Satan on the cross, and proved that He was who He claimed to be when He rose from the dead three days later. Because He died on the cross, my sin can be wiped clean. Because He rose from the dead, I will, too. That is radically exciting.
So we celebrated. Our kids heard the gospel story and hunted for Easter eggs. The adults heard the gospel story and ate donuts and coffee. There were decorations, there was fellowship, there was music. There was joy! In the same way that we somberly reflect on our sin and the cross on Good Friday, we pull out all the stops and celebrate on Easter. I want us to splurge on Easter…I want my kids to have candy. Not because Easter is about candy, but because it is part of any good celebration!
As I’m writing this, I’m watching a live online service from a church in Seattle whose pastor I know. They are having a blast, too. They are baptizing scores (maybe hundreds today?) of newly saved people on the spot! Easter is supposed to be just that fantastic. Jesus is alive, so we are alive too. Because He died for me and rose again, my sins can die and He will live through me if I give my life to Him. There is NOTHING better than that reality, and though believers need to celebrate that every day, there is something special about enjoying Easter with my flawed brothers and sisters (me being chief among the flawed) that nothing compares to. Being with the church for Easter vs. hanging out alone between “you and God” is, to me, the difference between going to the Super-bowl with 20 of your best buddies and sitting on the 1st row 50 yard line or watching it alone with a bag of stale chips on a 13-inch black and white TV.
HE IS RISEN, INDEED!