Yesterday my two good Mennonite neighbors mowed their lawns so I was assured that it was okay to do the same to my lawn on Easter Monday. Don't ask me where Easter Monday came. I think it's an Amish holiday...another way to get a day off. Maybe it celebrates that Jesus rested after being resurrected. I checked to make sure there weren't any other restrictions on Easter Tuesday.
I've been waiting for Easter since Christmas. It was then that I had a conversation with a devout Hindu, the father of a friend of Ben and Rose's. He mentioned in the course of our conversation that he had seen a sermon title on the sign of a Lutheran church somewhere..."He is Risen...now what?"
Easter has so many memories attached with it. Easter egg hunts. New shoes and an outfit for church. The energy of spring after a long winter. Sunrise services. Breakfasts at church so we didn't have to go back home between the services. But now that it is over, what do we look forward to? Or as I entitled this blog...now what?
What does it mean to be a Christian post Easter? How does it change my life that Christ, my redeemer, has risen from the dead? For one thing, no other religion claims their founder rose from the dead. For that matter I'm not sure any other claims to have come from the Father to show us how to live a redeemed life in relationship with God and then returned. It's more than my human brain can comprehend (and I would suppose anyone else's) to understand how God can be three in one. I don't think we're supposed to figure that one out.
So will people know that I serve a risen Savior because I have a new pair of shoes? Or I can show them the remnants of the candy I got (with the green artificial grass all over the house)? Or have the nicest lawn with my mulch already in place?
It's got to be more than that. In fact those other indicators don't even need to be repeated next year. I serve a risen savior and I have an intimate relationship with the Father because of Jesus. And it changes my life today...and every day since Easter. In fact, I downplay Easter now because I don't want people to get the impression that that is the only time I serve Jesus.
I serve him in the way I treat my neighbors. I serve him in the way I respond to aggressive drivers...first by not being one. I serve him by loving the unlovely. I have compassion on those who are angry and spiteful. I treat my wife with respect. I serve those around me. I live a lifestyle that is different because I serve a risen Savior. Not because I want to be in tune to the green focus our culture has now. Or give away money so I can get my name on buildings all over LA like the guy I saw on 60 Minutes a few days ago.
It's time for us to live as people of a risen Savior...every day of the year and not just on Easter. It's time for us to have an intimate relationship with him so that we can love as he loved us. It's time for us to repent of the daily ways that we don't reflect the Savior when the Holy Spirit prompts us. It's time for us to change our lives and join in the resurrection of our Redeemer.
Forget the dandelions in your yard and focus on removing the dandelions in your spirit. Forget getting a new pair of shoes and get a new heart by giving your life to him. Forget getting up so early for one morning of the year just so you can have coffee and donuts at church with your friends. Join others who need fellowship and need to know the risen Savior at the local Dunkin Donuts next Sunday morning. Love the checkout clerk at your local grocery store. Show compassion to the attendant at the convenience store. Come in the opposite spirit of the aggressive driver and bless them in their stress.
Now what? We've got a whole year ahead of us, 365 days to live like people who have been resurrected.
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