4731

How was your Easter?

Were you asked to be a witness to history, to what happened to Jesus, or were you asked to examine your inner life, motives and attitudes? Was it all about you, your problems, your solutions, your purpose on earth, your good moral behavior and example; was it about renewing the environment and saving the earth for the bunnies, flowers and blue skies, ending the war in the Middle East, Sudan, or Somalia, fighting AIDS or poverty? Did you get a long list of do's and don'ts, or did you get the full Gospel? Was the miracle of the resurrection explained away, with a patronizing pat on the head if you chose to believe? Were you asked to crucify those bad thoughts and roll away the stones in your life that keep you from reaching your spiritual goals, or were you asked to see and believe what happened to Jesus Christ? 1 Corinthians 15 (NIV):

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel . . .By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word . . . Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

Paul didn't preach "personal relationship," or about life's purpose, he preached Christ crucified and raised from the dead.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. . . .If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."

Can you imagine Paul enduring (2 Corinthians 11) prison, stoning, shipwrecks, hunger, thirst, bandits, and 40 lashes minus one for the sermon you heard on Easter? If you didn't hear what Paul believed on Easter Sunday, he says you are to be pitied. And if you only hear it on Easter and not the rest of the year, I'd suggest that's a pity too.