Easter is late this year and as I write this we are not even to the half way point of Lent. Spring is everywhere nurtured by the amazing rains we have had this year. Thee dark rainy days have fed the lush grass and wildflowers we are all enjoying and if we will allow it the darker more thoughtful days of Lent will nurture the profusion of life that springs into our lives anew every Easter. Life itself has its periods of darkness and light, night and day, winter and summer. Even if it were possible life lived as one big celebration would take on a dull sameness that would drain us. It is the same way with Easter and Lent. Without the nourishing time spent in prayer and study that are so much a part of Lent, Easter would not seem as bright..
It is a harsh truth, without Jesus Crucifixion there is no Resurrection. Many denominations have moved away from the having services on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and as they have, Easter begins to loose part of its meaning as well. One of my responsibilities is working with the confirmation aged children of our congregation. It is a time when they are supposed to deepen their faith and make a commitment to the Body of Christ. The problem is that Christianity just does not make sense to most of them. Their whole life experience is like Easter with no Good Friday. Jesus does not help them to make sense of the difficulties they face in life because they have yet to experience them. The concept of hope, of a light shining in the darkness is pretty meaningless because most of them have everything they want and more. For them life is orderly and good. their needs are provided for and they don't even have to think about it. Their responsibilities are few and don't really involve anyone but themselves.
Most of them have yet to experience death, disillusionment, betrayal and shattered love and hope. Even the understanding of Jesus as savior does not make sense. What do they need to be saved from? Besides, when you know everything, inconvenient realities that contradict your world view are to be avoided. It is life with no death, Easter without Lent or Good Friday. Hope has no meaning if you already have everything you want. Even escalating your desires to things you could not possibly use or need will bring no relief from the boredom and sameness. Life looses its meaning and wonder. In studies of emotions it has been found that joy is experienced when long standing difficulties or negative stimuli cease. In other words, without difficulty there is no joy. Lent is not just the season before Easter it is what makes the Easter experience meaningful. It is the darkness that comes before the dawn. The truth is we should seek out difficulty and challenge if we want to really have a meaningful life. Centering your life around your needs and your desires is a sure fire recipe for an unhappy lackluster life. Lent leads us to Easter just as the night leads us to the dawn.
Encouraging people to join us for the Lenten services, to take part in the Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil Services that precede Easter is not a way to bring them down, it is instead a pathway that is designed to increase their joy. On the Thursday before he was crucified Jesus spent a lot of time trying to explain these things to his disciples. He ended by telling them "
I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete". (John 15:11) Take risks, face difficulties and challenge, our faith is as much about the darkness as it is about the light. Remember the words of the Psalmist; Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:5) Make your experience of Easter richer and more meaningful, join us for the Lenten services and make plans now to attend all the services of Holy week so that as Easter morning dawns "your joy may be complete".Pastor Jim Bliss
April 2011
RLC Courier
