Easter Eve

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. 

And I think I have just decided that I am not going to church.

The church I go to doesn’t celebrate Christmas or Easter.  I’ve been planning on going tomorrow, but I’ve been planning to go more or less to hear why they don’t celebrate Easter.  To see if they judge the rest of Christian culture for celebrating.

But if I’m really honest with myself, I don’t want to spend my Easter Sunday like that.  I don’t want to spend my Easter Sunday with a critical spirit, and I don’t want to spend Easter Sunday without celebrating Jesus’ resurrection, His new life, and the new life that He offers to me and you, the redemption of creation and relationships. 

Yes, Easter may be the Christian conversion of a pagan holiday.  And yes, the name Easter is likely derived from the name of the ancient goddess of spring.  And no, nowhere in Scripture are we instructed to celebrate Christ’s resurrection one day out of the year; if anything, we are instructed not to base our faith on religious holidays (Galatians 4:8-10) as so many other religions do.

But my faith isn’t based upon the holiday; rather, the holiday provides the space to intentionally reflect upon my faith.  And while, yes, perhaps every day should be lived in thankfulness of Christ’s work on the cross and in celebration of God’s power that raised Him from the dead, it physically hurts to think of spending Easter Sunday in church without consciously celebrating what that means for us and for our world.  My heart pains imagining greeting my fellow churchgoers without being reciprocated a “He is risen indeed!”

So, while most Christians flock to church tomorrow, I think I will stay home and embrace the space that Easter offers.  Because Christ is Risen – He is Risen Indeed!

Church

This morning I made it to church for the first time! While there are many many churches in Bangalore city, Visthar is just far enough away that to go into the city would be quite the hassle. As it is, our closest church is quite a walk and a busride away. It was so wonderful to be at church and with the body of believers again! I always love experiencing the House of the Lord in different cultures; I don’t know what I was expecting, but the service was relatively reserved compared to other international churches that I have attended and, as usual, the worship songs sung were classic 90’s contemporary Christian tunes: Lord I lift your name on high, Blessed be the name of the Lord, Open the eyes of my heart. The pastor gave a sermon on the role of a pastor, highlighting that leadership is consistent discipleship. Chew on that for awhile. Because they had an annual meeting directly after the service, I wasn’t able to stay for tea and meet people, but I look forward to doing so on future Sundays!