Maybe we put too much pressure on Easter.  We get this one time during the year to celebrate the Resurrection so it takes a life of its own.  Choirs rehearse to knock our socks off.  Preachers search for every angle to make the sermon the best of the year.  It is our Super Bowl in many respects.  We expect much from this one day.  Attendance matters greatly to us.  I remember the full crowds in my church while growing up.  But is this really too much pressure for this one day?


No one really expected much out of the very first Easter.  The one thing that always gets my attention is that the women showed up at the tomb of Jesus to finish the burial!  Surprise is the word of the day as they discover everything changed overnight.  Angels remind them of the promises made by Jesus in the days before His death.  Mystery overtakes them as they cannot imagine the stone being rolled away.  Those spices prepared for the body get forgotten when the miracle becomes a reality.  Not a single act of finishing the burial process ever gets underway.  This is a definite moment when the new normal comes to pass.  Not a single follower expected such a divine encounter that day.  Yet it still happens as morning sheds light on God's power.  We tend to read this story with such familiarity that the emotional arc escapes us.  Maybe that is part of the key of avoiding a misguided emphasis on Easter.


We get so busy getting ready for Easter that we run the risk of missing the meaning.  That is just the norm for humanity.  It does little good to aim for perfection on a day that stands for grace.  It causes us to look ahead in the story without coming to grips with the details.  It becomes so human centered that we may miss the simple truth of God's power becoming real to us.  Some days we end up more tired than terrific with everything we do on Easter.  Do not get me wrong.  Easter is the central experience of the Christian faith.  My fear is it gets lost in all of the trivial matters in our world.  Those of us who believe the basic truth of Easter can do it all in our power.  That is not what the day is all about.  Let's try to discover God's presence in a fresh way this year. Then we can recover Easter for all year beyond the single observance.  It will make all the difference in your world now and then.


Bro. Trey