Happy Easter!!!! The Lord is risen!!! He is risen indeed!!!!!!
What? You think that just because Easter was April 1st, that now Easter is over? Not so fast! Easter continues on well past Easter Sunday. The season of Easter continues for 50 days, all the way until the Festival of Pentecost. 50 days of continuing to proclaim the good news of the resurrection. 50 days of continuing to proclaim that Jesus is risen from the dead. 50 days of continuing to proclaim that death has been swallowed up in victory. 50 days of continuing to proclaim that God has triumphed over death. 50 days of continuing to proclaim that life reigns supreme. 50 days of continuing to proclaim that God wins.
50 days is a long time. But 50 days is also not nearly enough time. Because how can we ever fully proclaim the immeasurable power of Easter? How can we ever fully proclaim the full scope of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ?
The truth is, 50 days could never be enough time. Neither could 50 weeks, or 50 months, or 50 years, or 50 decades, or 50 centuries, or any length of time. We can never fully proclaim the grace of God, the love of God, the majesty of God, no matter how long we might have. Because God is simply more awesome, more amazing, more wonderful, than we could ever hope to explain.
But we do the best we can. We sing praises, we shout praises, we speak praises. We witness to what God has done for us. We testify to what God is doing in us. We proclaim what God has promise to do further through us. We do the best we can with the resources we have for whatever time we have. And it still could never be enough.
Because God has done amazing things. God has loved us with an infinite love. God has showered grace down upon us in limitless waves. God has blessed us in more ways that we could ever possibly keep count of. God has loved us more than we could ever imagine love could be. God wipes away our sin, cleanses us from all our failings, raised us up every time we fall, given us new hope when all hope seemed lost.
God gave us Jesus, the true Son of God, to live as one of us, to teach us the truth about God and ourselves, to model for us what true love is truly like, to inspire us to give of ourselves for the sake of others, to lead us down the path of righteousness, to guide us to places of rest and renewal. God gave us Jesus, who willingly endured the agony of the cross for our sake, who died so that we might live, who lives eternally so that we need never fear death ever again.
God gives us Jesus, our loving Savior. God gives us the Holy Spirit, to lead us, empower us, guide us, and send us. God hears us when we pray, when we cry, when we shout, when we sing, when we weep, when we whisper. God embraces us in love and never, ever lets us go.
God raised Jesus, and God will raise us. God will yet give us eternal life, and a place in the eternal kingdom, a seat at the eternal feast, with all our loved ones and all the saints of God.
50 days could never be enough time to fully proclaim all that God does for us. But the season of Easter, these particular 50 days, are a gift from God, a gift of time to give thanks to God, to sing the praise of God, and to tell the world what God has done for us, for them, for everyone, without exception. 50 days to hone our skills, craft our message, and begin to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love. 50 days to set out on the path of faith, take that first step, or that next step, down the path of life, the path of God, the path that leads us to our eternal home.
Happy Easter!!!! The Lord is risen!!!! He is risen indeed!!!! See you in church!
Peace,
Pr. Paul
Download it HERE