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With Easter a couple of weeks behind us, I feel led to address something that has been heavy on my heart: Have Christians forgotten the real meaning of the holiday?
It was my first Easter in my new home. I had forgotten it was the passion week, and I was planning on doing some shopping on Friday. On Wednesday I remembered: Friday is Good Friday! The stores will be closed! So I did my shopping on Thursday.
Meanwhile as I was scurrying about on Thursday, I received messages from a Christian family in Pakistan. In essence, they were asking if I was joining with my family to celebrate "Holy Thursday" ...
I had never heard of "Holy Thursday", but I would soon learn that it was a day to wash one another's feet, following Jesus' example at the Last Supper...
Wow! What a beautiful tradition! Here I was, scurrying about trying to "fit" Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday into my otherwise busy schedule. Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, the celebration of this greatest of gifts had become the centre of Christian lives!
I was thinking about this as I set out to see my husband on the morning of Good Friday. Imagine my uttermost surprise to see that the stores were all—open! On Good Friday! Back in my home province stores were all closed on Good Friday. Apparently this wasn't the case where I now live! I soon learned it was a decision made because the city is so multi-cultural ... Isn't it sad that even in a country that proports to be "Christian", these types of compromises are made?
Another thing that really grated on my nerves was how people were celebrating. One lady I met on a walk the day before Good Friday said she had already celebrated Easter with her family. But how can you celebrate Easter early? I mean, we don't know when Jesus was born, so celebrating Christmas early—or late—really changes nothing. But we do know when Jesus died: He died on Passover and was resurrected the following Sunday! Somehow it just seemed wrong to celebrate Easter early, especially when all it meant was a dinner with family.
Someone else was upset because of circumstances surrounding an invitation to Easter dinner, and out of a sense of hurt feelings, was considering not going. But how can we be nurturing hurt feelings when we are supposed to be celebrating the one act in history that brought forgiveness to anyone who believes?
Have we traded the cross for a dinner table?
I am not pointing the finger at any of these examples, for it I were, I'd have to be pointing plenty of fingers back to myself as I think about how I've celebrated Easter in the past!
I know it is after the fact; nonetheless, I feel compelled to write this today. This isn't a "scolding". Rather, it is a wake-up call. If Easter has been reduced to a time to get together with family, what have our weekly church services become? Fellowship alone?
And what about our personal worship? Has that been reduced to rotely reading our Bibles and mumbling some memorized prayers?
And then there are our fasts. Do we fast? Most don't. But those who do: Has it become rote? Are we truly seeking the Lord when we fast?
As I think of this, one poignant Bible text comes immediately to mind: "Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;
the incense of your offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting — they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings. I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals. They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!" (Isaiah 1:13-14 NLT)
There are 11 months between now and next Easter, and at least 8 months until Christmas. Can we all resolve to start—now—making our worship more meaningful? Can we truly seek the Lord in our daily worship? In our fasts? In our church services? For if we can succeed in these smaller things, then perhaps it will be easier for us to do things like, "Keep Christ in Christmas", and make the celebration of Jesus' death and resurrection a meaningful time when we draw closer to Christ!
This is my challenge to each of you today.
And maybe next year we should consider celebrating "Holy Thursday" by gathering with fellow Christians and washing each other's feet…
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
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