Easter

Since we couldn't meet together as a small group this week to discuss things in person, I wanted to briefly share some of my thoughts on Easter. Thanks for humoring me. If you'd like to comment on my thoughts, or leave some of your own, please feel free to do so.

I feel like in the past I have done a poor job giving the Easter season the attention it merits. (I guess I should say, I have historically done a poor job giving Christ the credit He deserves during the Easter season, but I think you know what I mean.)

In the past, I really haven't done anything to prepare myself for Easter. I certainly haven't ever counted the days like we often do for Christmas (264). As a whole, I think we Christians sort of treat Christmas as the Super Bowl, while Easter is relegated to Pro Bowl status. (For the women who are struggling to follow that analogy: Christmas = Ann Taylor Loft, Easter = Old Navy.)

For this Easter, I tried to make a concerted effort to be more mindful of Christ's suffering and death. I tried to recognize minor inconveniences for what they are, especially in light of the massive sacrifice He made for me.

I think (and so does A.W. Tozer, whose opinion carries far more weight than mine) that today, Christians settle for a view of God that is far from who He truly is.  In his book, The Knowledge of the Holy, he says:

The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshipping men. This she has done not deliberately, but little by little and without her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic.

The low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us. A whole new philosophy of the Christian life has resulted from this one basic error in our religious thinking.

I think the first step in truly celebrating Easter is by realizing who Christ really is. Tozer goes on to say,  "Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God."

As you can see, when expressing myself, I often find that what I feel has usually been said by someone else far more eloquent than I, and this occasion is no different. Below is a Puritan Prayer that is about the Resurrection.

O God of my Exodus,
Great was the joy of Israel's sons,
when Egypt died upon the shore,
Far greater the joy
when the Redeemer's foe lay crushed
in the dust.
Jesus strides forth as the victor,
conqueror of death, hell, and all opposing
might;
He bursts the bands of death,
tramples the powers of darkness down,
and lives for ever.
He, my gracious surety,
apprehended for payment of my debt,
comes forth from the prison house of the grave
free, and triumphant over sin, Satan, and death.
Show me herein the proof that his vicarious offering
is accepted,
that the claims of justice are satisfied,
that the devil's sceptre is shivered,
that his wrongful throne is leveled.
Give me the assurance that in Christ I died,
In him I rose,
in his life I live, in his victory I triumph,
in his ascension I shall be glorified.
Adorable Redeemer,
thou who wast lifted up upon a cross
art ascended to highest heaven.
Thou, Man of sorrows
wast crowned with thorns,
art now as Lord of life wreathed with glory.
Once, no shame more deep than thine,
no agony more bitter,
no death more cruel.
Now, no exaltation more high,
no life more glorious,
no advocate more effective.
Thou art in the triumph car leading captive
thine enemies behind thee.
What more could be done than thou hast done!
Thy death is my life,
thy resurrection my peace,
thy ascension my hope,
thy prayers my comfort.

 What does Easter mean to you?