“Pastor Don! And you know what I got this morning? The Easter Bunny left me a real egg!”
Those words came rushing out of one particularly excited child’s mouth as they rushed to show me all their treasures from the Sunday School Easter Egg Hunt . . . which, of course, featured a wide variety of ‘surprises’ in plastic eggs. After recovering from the initial shock of what was spoken and trying hard not to split a gut in laughter, it occurred to me that there was a very deep truth being spoken by this child: Real is giving way to plastic in more ways than one . . . and Easter is just one of the latest examples.
Real Easter is the Risen Christ. Real Easter is an empty tomb. Real Easter is women at the tomb long before the men would ever venture out. Real Easter is soldiers lying as dead men beside the stone which was rolled away. Real Easter is men who see and don’t know what to believe. Real Easter is the vast majority of folk never knowing what happened until long after it happened. Real Easter is a dose of skepticism, even among the closest of Jesus’ disciples, coming face to face with a new reality. Real Easter is brooding grief being forced out by unrelenting joy. Real Easter is Jesus meeting with those who ran away from Him and loving them anyway. Real Easter is God’s answer of ‘Life!’ to Jesus’ intercession for our deadly sinfulness. Real Easter is God’s revelation of Heavenly Wisdom in response to earthly exercises in death. Real Easter is our hope in Christ for the resurrection of our souls, when the most we deserve for our behaviors is the pointed pain of Hades. Real Easter is the stuff of real eggs.
Yet, we coat Real Easter with the plastic of earth, make it into a movie, and sell it for profit. We package Real Easter with bonnets, dresses, spring shoes, cute suits, and trendy baskets. We substitute attendance in worship once or twice a year for the faith of Real Easter living every day. We promote ‘Christian’ coffee clubs, book clubs, fraternities, and sororities, all designed to study the things that make for a successful witness in growing a church or a business, in place of Real Easter behaviors which requires of our time, our labors and our resources to feed the hungry, give a drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, care for the sick or welcome the stranger. We look to self-help authors to guide our daily choices and give homage to cultic media stars that demand our attention, rather than subscribe to the Real Easter ethos of daily Bible study and praying for the Spirit to direct our steps in responsiveness to God’s Gift of Grace in Christ. Then, to top it off, we buy into the notion that filling and ‘hiding’ hundreds of plastic Easter eggs conveys the same meaning as taking the time to personally dye and hide a couple of dozen real eggs, which actually have the potential of feeding the seeker a nutritious meal, rather than loading them up with the processed energy of a sugar high.
Those words came rushing out of one particularly excited child’s mouth as they rushed to show me all their treasures from the Sunday School Easter Egg Hunt . . . which, of course, featured a wide variety of ‘surprises’ in plastic eggs. After recovering from the initial shock of what was spoken and trying hard not to split a gut in laughter, it occurred to me that there was a very deep truth being spoken by this child: Real is giving way to plastic in more ways than one . . . and Easter is just one of the latest examples.
Real Easter is the Risen Christ. Real Easter is an empty tomb. Real Easter is women at the tomb long before the men would ever venture out. Real Easter is soldiers lying as dead men beside the stone which was rolled away. Real Easter is men who see and don’t know what to believe. Real Easter is the vast majority of folk never knowing what happened until long after it happened. Real Easter is a dose of skepticism, even among the closest of Jesus’ disciples, coming face to face with a new reality. Real Easter is brooding grief being forced out by unrelenting joy. Real Easter is Jesus meeting with those who ran away from Him and loving them anyway. Real Easter is God’s answer of ‘Life!’ to Jesus’ intercession for our deadly sinfulness. Real Easter is God’s revelation of Heavenly Wisdom in response to earthly exercises in death. Real Easter is our hope in Christ for the resurrection of our souls, when the most we deserve for our behaviors is the pointed pain of Hades. Real Easter is the stuff of real eggs.
Yet, we coat Real Easter with the plastic of earth, make it into a movie, and sell it for profit. We package Real Easter with bonnets, dresses, spring shoes, cute suits, and trendy baskets. We substitute attendance in worship once or twice a year for the faith of Real Easter living every day. We promote ‘Christian’ coffee clubs, book clubs, fraternities, and sororities, all designed to study the things that make for a successful witness in growing a church or a business, in place of Real Easter behaviors which requires of our time, our labors and our resources to feed the hungry, give a drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, care for the sick or welcome the stranger. We look to self-help authors to guide our daily choices and give homage to cultic media stars that demand our attention, rather than subscribe to the Real Easter ethos of daily Bible study and praying for the Spirit to direct our steps in responsiveness to God’s Gift of Grace in Christ. Then, to top it off, we buy into the notion that filling and ‘hiding’ hundreds of plastic Easter eggs conveys the same meaning as taking the time to personally dye and hide a couple of dozen real eggs, which actually have the potential of feeding the seeker a nutritious meal, rather than loading them up with the processed energy of a sugar high.
Now, lest you think that I am against plastic eggs, marshmallow rabbits, chocolate bunnies, candied eggs, and the light green artificial grass which fills nearly every Easter basket, let me unequivocally state for the record, such things are part and parcel of the season and are all a part of the joy I share with my children, grandchildren and my extended church family. These are the accruements of Easter much in the same way that the decorated tree, tinsel, stockings, and holly are a part of Christmas. Yet, what this solitary child caused me to do was to stop and separate what is holy/real of Easter and what is secular/plastic. Though there are ways that all are important in the tradition, what is central to our identity as Christians is the love of God for humanity expressed in the resurrection of Jesus. That is what is real. Everything else is a vain attempt to articulate the heart of our faith in the Risen Christ.
Is it a wonder that a child would be amazed at the concept of finding and enjoying a real Easter egg? In our current time-pressed, commercialized religious culture, finding or receiving a real Easter egg is roughly the equivalent of finding the stone rolled away from the tomb and the grave clothes folded neatly away. This young child, wildly excited by the novelty of what they received, calls all of Christendom to a higher plain of reverential Easter living and to an authentic witness of what is of real and lasting value in the Christian Story . . . and what is not.
Is it a wonder that a child would be amazed at the concept of finding and enjoying a real Easter egg? In our current time-pressed, commercialized religious culture, finding or receiving a real Easter egg is roughly the equivalent of finding the stone rolled away from the tomb and the grave clothes folded neatly away. This young child, wildly excited by the novelty of what they received, calls all of Christendom to a higher plain of reverential Easter living and to an authentic witness of what is of real and lasting value in the Christian Story . . . and what is not.
Art Linkletter always said, “Kids say the darnest things”, and he was right. They also have a knack of saying the most truthful things, if we but have ears to listen. Real Easter is in the hearts of those who hear.
Your servant in Christ,Pastor Don
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