After Easter, now what?

Granted this Easter, not unlike Easter 2020 looked different. For those of us who typically spend almost all of Holy Week in the Church building, it was again different than years past. I missed the grandeur of Holy Week, the setting up and creating of an experiential Good Friday service. I missed the music of Easter Sunday morning.

These Covid days have a tendency of blurring into one another and unless you have little children around anxiously awaiting the Easter Bunny, you may have found yourself saying, “Oh right, it’s Easter”.

My prayer has been that even though we were unable to gather in person, that you were still able to stop, reflect and celebrate. Now that Easter has passed, my prayer for you is that you will remember that Jesus lives in the everyday, and every day we are invited into His presence.

After the eggs are cracked and egg salad sandwiches consumed, after the little foil wrappers from the chocolate eggs are picked up off the floor and table tops and thrown away, after the bunny decorations are packed up… it’s easy to put “Easter” away until next year.

But Jesus says, “I am always with you.”

That means that Jesus is with us as we are pumping gas or at the dentist. Jesus is with us if we are worried about test results, or anxious about our online presentation. Jesus is with us when we lose our temper or when we feel like all that we do goes unrecognized.

Jesus says, “I am always with you.”

There is a story in the Bible of two men walking to Emmaus. Jesus joins them on their journey, but the two men didn’t recognize Him. They were chatting away, telling Jesus all that had happened to Him, and they didn’t even know it was Him. Jesus was right there next to them. He was right there all along and they didn’t see Him. How often do we do the same?

As you journey through the next days, weeks and months after Easter, remember that the Easter message was never intended to be a one-Sunday-a-year event. We are to live out the message of the good news that Jesus was indeed crucified, buried and He rose again on the third day with all power and glory.

Remember today, no matter what circumstance you find yourself in, Jesus says, “I am always with you.”