Even as I write this article my thoughts are also on Easter celebrations with extended families. This year we had planned on an Easter supper in Sullivan with my family. I do not have to describe the food throw-down that was going to happen. Not including family-time, laughter, games, gifts, and desserts!
As I write this article my thoughts flee to the first Easter—namely, the early morning Jesus rose from the grave. Come to think about it, the first Easter did not have houses of Christian worship. Families were not celebrating and exchanging gifts. Jesus rose from the grave with only a handful of witnesses and they turned the world upside down by proclaiming He is risen!
Let me encourage you in this manner. Perhaps the forced simplicity of Easter 2020 will have the same thrust of the first Easter circa 30 AD. Therefore, do not be down-cast. Do not let the Devil rob you of the joy of celebrating Jesus’ resurrection from the grave. Instead, even more so, understand the truth and thrust of Galatians 2:20, “ I have been crucified with Christ. It is not longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (ESV)
*Notice I did not say an empty church. Now, more than ever, we are fully realizing the biblical truth that church is not an edifice; it’s a group of people.