Easter Sunday 2017 was my first Sunday with you. I thought Easter would be a perfect time to start our new life together! And it was. It was a huge day. The church was packed. The energy was through the roof. It has been three years since then, and we’ve shared a lot of life together. We’ve learned a lot about each other. We’ve mourned many deaths. Prayed for one another when we were ill or unsettled. We’ve celebrated lots of new members, 200 years, we saved the bell, and put a reverend in the rafters. This year is a little weird. I feel sad.

Last Sunday’s service was joyous! It was so good to see so many familiar faces and hear so much positive feedback about how meaningful you found the service. It was a big undertaking, and I thank all who sent in footage. I thank Harry Buch figuring out the app to get the Gathering Band together. Cathy, Jim, and Stacie who gathered here to film and offer their gifts. Alex Gabrielsen who put it all together and Terry Rhodes who figured out how to release it into the wild.

We wanted a big crowd and a big service to reflect the day! Palm Sunday was a big deal! An unexpected parade of Jesus coming into town. Yet we think our Easter services are supposed to be bigger. The biggest day next to Christmas! Everyone should be here celebrating, and the fact that we’re not physically together today can make us sad. Yet that first Easter didn’t draw a crowd. It started with Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. Two guards. And the Angel of the Lord. It started small. Then the news spread. “He has been raised from the dead!” Then Jesus was there! And they fell at his feet. His words echo whenever God shows up in scripture, “Do not be afraid.”

Whenever God shows up, it’s a vulnerable feeling. We suddenly feel exposed and fearful. God in Jesus does not come back with a vengeance to kill us. God comes back with blessing. “Do not be afraid. Tell others what has happened. I’ll meet you in Galilee”
The first Easter was just as unexpected as the parade. The first Easter was a quiet affair that came without crowds, palms, or a parade. It started small. You may be feeling sad. Disappointed that our traditions have been derailed. Angry even. These are fine emotions to have. Sad that there aren’t more Easter lilies. Frustrated that you won’t be able to get up and sing a roaring Hallelujah chorus. Angry that there’s no dinner to put on for your extended family.

No matter how you’re feeling: Easter has come anyway.

This COVID-19 time has shown me that I may have made an idol out of my Sunday morning routine. I miss the 8:15 service and shaking Bob Fodor’s hand. Of seeing the faces there. I miss getting coffee and snacks at the 9 Gathering service and our weekly communion. I miss the 10:30 service with the choir and then coffee hour after. But Easter has come despite these things not happening. New life can be found.

I have realized that we do not exist to go through a bulletin. We don’t need a lengthy bulletin for Easter to happen. We don’t need snacks. Before or after this service. They are a nice touch. A sign of hospitality. But they are ultimately not needed for worship and for Easter to happen. We do not need a full church. Lilies. A choir or band cranked to 11.

I’m reminded of the Grinch discovering that he could not steal Christmas…
How could it be so?
It came without bows.
It came without tags.
It came without baskets, boxes, or bags.
It came without rabbits or egg hunts
It came without clever liturgical stunts.
No need for a Spring Grove service in the early morning hour,
No need for a parade of a cross with all its flowers.

Easter is beyond all those things. Each of those things separately point us to the resurrection and new life that surrounds us! Often, we get hung up on the tradition, and forget what the tradition is supposed to point to. We develop idols. Let us draw a connection between the empty tomb and our empty church building. Jesus is already out making all things new. Jesus is in us, not this empty sanctuary. Our job is to witness to that! To find it and point to it and live a new life!

Easter changed everything. Easter is the reason Christians worship on Sunday. Easter is the reason that you and I are together. Jesus took the worst that humanity could throw at him. God took our worst and responded with love, redemption, and new life! Go tell that news! Don’t be afraid! Go and tell your brothers and sisters. Ring out the good news! You don’t need anything but the belief that you are accepted and completely loved by God, right here. Right now. Every morning is Easter morning from now on.

That’s the message. It’s as simple as that. We complicate it. Maybe our traditions on this day have obscured the original message. This year we can take a breath and focus on the question: Just what is the purpose of this day? New life. God is doing something new. God has done and continues to offer each of us the new life of a love that brings people back from the dead! Resurrection! Not punishment, not bulletins, not flowering crosses. Sure, it’s okay to miss those things but those things are not the point. The point is Jesus.

We are missing a lot of things in this new normal. Yet in our rush to get back to normal life, are we asking ourselves just what life we want to return to? I would be okay with some changes. I’m okay with some new life in my life. I would prefer a life where our educators and medical professionals are lifted up for the heroes that they are. I would prefer a life where people take more walks and notice nature and wave to their neighbors. I would prefer a life that’s a little less scheduled. A life where I’m not too busy to make calls or send cards to loved ones. I would love a new life where people seek out community here in this building. Where we choose to be church on Sunday because we’re not too exhausted by our rush of a schedule the rest of the week.

I invite you to share your Easter photos. How are you celebrating? Share and we’ll put a little video before next Sunday’s live-stream.

There is new life coming. I wonder what it will be like. I think it will be as unexpected as someone coming back from the dead. Jesus modeled how to do it, after all. Maybe… Just maybe… We can come back from the dead, too. Amen.