Life during the pandemic continues to be tough. And the toughness will last for more weeks. One of the many sad parts of this time is that we cannot gather in person for worship, especially for special holy days like Easter. I will miss seeing Easter Sunday’s bright smiles and bright colors to match the bright sunlight outside. That does make me sad. But there is always this good news: 1) we are still the church, and 2) Easter will still happen.
As for #1, the idea that church only happens when you’re sitting in pews is wrong during a pandemic, and it’s wrong outside of a pandemic. We’ve talked about this in worship lately: the Body of Christ is still strong and active, even if it’s a little more spread out than usual. It has been challenged before and has overcome. We have been challenged before and have overcome.
As for #2, this Sunday will definitely still be Easter, whether we’re in the same building or different ones. You can’t miss Easter...
Here’s the funny story: my step-mom Liz (who many of you have met and who grew up in Asheville) served as a Chaplain Lt. Colonel in the Air National Guard until she retired. One year, she was sent to the air base on Guam for a deployment. She flew from her and my dad’s home in Georgia to the West Coast. When she boarded the next plane for the long flight across the Pacific Ocean, it was the morning before Easter, on Holy Saturday.
Her plane landed in Guam at 3:00 am. She stepped off the troop transport, and the base chaplain greeted her. She saluted him and offered that wonderful celebration statement that churches proclaim on Easter: “Christ is Risen!” The chaplain saluted back and said, “Yes. Yesterday.” As it turned out, my step-mom had crossed the International Date Line during the night. When she did, all calendars jumped forward a day into Monday, and she had lost a day: Easter Sunday!
For better and for worse, we’re not going anywhere this Easter weekend. We’re staying home and staying healthy, so we won’t cross the International Date Line, and we definitely won’t miss Easter.
Still, we will miss being with each other in person. Proclaiming together, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” We will miss community Easter egg hunts watching kids fill their baskets. And we’ll miss singing together, “Christ the Lord is risen today, haa-aa-a-lle-lu-u-jah.” So yes, there will be many things that we will miss this Easter, but we won’t miss out on Easter itself. Death couldn’t stop the first Easter Sunday, and a coronavirus won’t stop this one. You can’t stop Easter!
Easter isn’t about what we do, it’s about what God did, what God is doing, and what God will do. God is bringing new abundant life. Always. No matter what. And that is worth celebrating.