Easter was this last Sunday. The songs were sung. The alleluias returned. The readings said, "He is not here. He has risen, just as He said." I proclaimed, "He is risen!" And those that packed the sanctuary responded, "He is risen indeed!" And we joined together with "Alleluia!"
Packed the sanctuary? Not really. If you can count 7 other people as packing the sanctuary, then yes it was. The virus kept people home from attending worship. Some folks said that we will feel much like the people in that 1st century, they were not in a place of worship either. The churches were not filled at that time, so that means that since the churches were not filled this year, we can understand what they were going through.
I disagree. I know that isn't popular. After all, we are trying to find positive ways to look at what is going on. We are using the math: A = B. Does A = B? Is A the same as B? Is what is happened today the same as what was happening then? The answer is: (drum roll please) No.
It isn't the same. In the 1st century, on the first day of the week after Jesus had been crucified and laid in the tomb, they were not looking forward to worshiping that day. They did not have "churches" that they stayed home from on that Sunday. In fact, the time that they had in the Temple would not be the same as the time we have in worship. When the sun rose on Sunday, they were still thinking that Jesus was dead. When the women went to the tomb, they expected to find a corpse. When Peter and John ran to the tomb, they were shocked that there was no body but only the clothes it had been wrapped in. They were not thinking about lifting up their voices in praise. They were lifting up their voices in prayers of sorrow, begging God to bring them comfort because Jesus had been crucified and was dead. They were filled with grief because they had lost their Master, their Teacher. No worship had been planned. No time of praise was planned. It was a terrible, awful morning for them.
When Jesus came to them in that upper room, everything changed. When Jesus appeared to Mary, everything changed. When He appeared to the women, everything changed. When He was with the men on the road to Emmaus, everything changed. They went from sorrow to joy. They went from trying to be alone to getting together to tell one another this wonderful news. They were filled with joy, with excitement. They told each other. The women went back to tell the disciples. The men from Emmaus ran back to Jerusalem. Over and over again, we see the change.
But that Sunday, was not the same as it is today. For us, Easter is not a day in which we were filled with sorrow because Jesus was dead. Easter is a day when we celebrate once again, the fact that Jesus is not dead but He is alive, just as He said He would. Our Sunday is a day when we get together to actually worship our God, to praise his name for the resurrection of Jesus and to recall the fact that because He lives, we live also. Our Easters are never days of sorrow. They are days of joy.
We get together on Easter because it is a day of life and salvation. It is a day that we hear again, even as we do year after year, that Jesus lives, the victory's won! Death no longer can appall us. To have our church buildings empty is a terrible thing. It means that we are not able to get together with other Christians to proclaim "He is risen!" Yes, we say each other online. Wait, no we didn't. I did not see you. I did not interact with you. I did not embrace you, shake your hand, see the joy in your eyes, hear the song on your lips.
It was a loss. Yes, it was a loss to not be able to worship together on Easter. Some will say, "It is only a day." Wrong! It is more than just a day. It is THE day when we recall the most amazing and fabulous event that ever happened. It is THE day when we recall that Jesus rose from the dead. It is THE day when death is defeated. Think about it, death is defeated! That means that when grandma dies, we are assured that because she believed in Jesus as her Savior, she lives eternally with Him. That when we stand at the side of the grave of that loved one, we can be assured that because he/she believed in Jesus Christ as his/her Savior, this body will rise on that last day, glorified, holy, living forever. Death is defeated.
That is why we are getting together. We are assured of the resurrection. We are gathering together to say that on this day back in 30 A.D. everything, absolutely everything changed. We are assured because Jesus rose on that first day of the week, we will rise again. It is that resurrection that lead those men and women in that upper room to be changed. They went from hiding in that upper room to going out and proclaiming, wait for it: the resurrection! That is the message. They proclaimed that Jesus was alive.
They began to worship together. Yes, worship together on Sundays because that was the day of the week that Jesus rose. We worship because Jesus rose from the dead.
So when we were not able to worship on Easter, we missed something. We missed that opportunity to gather together and sing the praises of Jesus. We missed the fellowship of the body of Christ. We missed out. The early Christians did look forward to getting together, not avoiding each other, but getting together with one another to remember and celebrate the resurrection.
So A does not equal B. We are comparing apples and steaks. They are not the same. Yes, we tried to make some sense of what happened, but doing it that way was not the way to do it. We must remember that gathering together to recall all that God has done for us, to receive the strength of the fellowship of getting together, and being fed from God's Word and Sacrament is not really something that should be taken for granted. We missed the Easter celebration this year. And it was sad.
No matter, Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! I look forward to being able to worship with you again. Please Lord, make it soon.
The tie that binds
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