I was reading an article recently wherein the author noted, “While people enjoying coming to church for the ‘special’ worship on Easter Sunday, be sure to make your worship setting and entryway reflective of the many ways that Christ’s resurrection is present in your community throughout the year.” (Is your Easter “outreach” out of reach? – resourceumc.org) This really got me to thinking – do we? Do we take the resurrection of Jesus into account on more occasions than just Easter? Certainly we get all excited as we remember the arrival at the tomb on Easter morning, the discovery that it was open and Jesus was no longer inside, but, do we remember that sacred occurrence at other times of the year, too?
I cannot recall how many times people would ask me during Lent, why aren’t Sundays included in the forty-day period? Well, the simple response is – every Sunday is a mini-Easter. Every Sunday is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. That is why we worship on Sunday instead of Saturday. For Jews, Saturday is the Sabbath, the last day of the week, the seventh day in which God rested. For Christians, however, while Saturday may still be the Sabbath day, we celebrate and worship on Sunday because that is the day on which Jesus rose. That is the day he overcame the grave. That is the day he reigned triumphant over death and secured our place for all eternity. So, we celebrate his resurrection and life every single Sunday – every Sunday is a mini-Easter.
We are in the midst of a special sermon series entitled “We Are Witnesses.” I wonder, how might you witness to the power of Jesus’ resurrection in your life today? How can you proclaim this good news wherever you are with those who God has given you to witness to? How can you live out the power of Jesus’ resurrection in your life each and every week, not just one Sunday in spring?
Always pondering,
Pastor Steve
