Good morning Green Acres, today is Monday, April 13, 2020.
Well, again, happy Easter to you! I know, I know, Easter was yesterday you say, but just like we observed Lent as a season of fasting, repentance, and reflection for 46 whole days that came to a head at Holy Week, Easter Sunday is actually the first day of the Eastertide. And just like Lent ended dramatically in Holy Week, Easter begins dramatically with what they (whoever they are) call “Easter Week.”
Easter is a season in the church calendar that last for 50 whole days! So, folks, just like spent the Lent season reflecting on specific things like repentance, the Easter brings with it a whole host of celebration and devotional thoughts that we will explore together until the end of May.
Now, it is no secret that we have been using the Church calendar to help us think strategically about our worship patterns, but this is not a new thing for us, even us Baptists! We have been celebrating Christmas and Easter, two of the most principle days in the church calendar, for a very long time now!
Observance of the Christian year is not prescribed in the New Testament, so if it is unhelpful for you, or maybe brings up bad memories of growing up in Catholic Sunday School, don’t worry! It is only one of dozens of devotional practices that Christians have developed as helps to their public and personal prayer life. It is helpful to think of the Christian year as devotional guide, like any other you might purchase at a Christian bookstore.
And speaking about the Easter season specifically, Augustine described Eastertide this way: "These days after the Lord's resurrection form a period, not of labor, but of peace and joy. That is why there is no fasting and we pray standing, which is a sign of the resurrection. . . .[during this season] the "alleluia" is sung to indicate that our future occupation is to be no other than the praise of God."
You may be asking yourself, “but why would we celebrate when we are in the middle of a pandemic?” My hope is that by celebrating Easter in our devotional and prayer life, at least here in this morning devotion, that we would be reminded that our hope in a future resurrection and new life now would be stronger than our fear of the death that this pandemic threatens us with. Notice I did not say that our hope in the resurrection negates our concerns during this time. No, there is a healthy place to process and even express things like fear, hurt, pain, or anxiety. Not to push these feelings down and suppress them, but rather to bring them before the Lord knowing that he suffered with us in all things, knows our pains, and gives us hope that this life, and all that is now, is not the end. Easter reminds us that while our suffering is great, God, how knows the suffering, defeated it and invites us in to new life through Him. We can share in his victory over death.
So, I’m going to read a passage of Scripture and then pray for us. I encourage you to spend some time thinking today about what it means to celebrate the resurrection even in the middle of a pandemic as threatening like COVID-19.
Acts 2:22-32
“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
David said about him:
“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
“Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.
Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.
Prayer for Monday of Easter Week
O God, who for our redemption gave your only begotten Son to die upon the Cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the devil and the power of death: Grant us grace to die daily to sin, that we may live with him in the joy of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.