Easter Hope

The continuing story dominating the news is the COVID-19 virus and its impact upon the physical, emotional, mental, and financial health of people around the globe.  Hundreds of thousands have suffered the symptoms of this virus, with tens of thousands having died.  Millions of people have lost their jobs or had their work load decreased significantly.  Children have been out of school for weeks and, in most cases, they are trying to do school work via online learning.  That works for some, but not for others.  Many parks are closed - tennis nets are down, basketball rims have been removed.  In some states, swimming pools and beaches have already been closed for the summer.  I keep wondering what these kids are supposed to do all summer.  Staying inside is certainly not the best option.  I can see trouble brewing on the horizon for many of them.  Churches continue to discuss how to live with a new reality - that of social distancing.  What is that going to look like when we can meet together for worship one again? 


Oh the questions that remain unanswered.  If one listens to the media, there really are no answers - just the magnification of what is wrong and the death and destruction that lies ahead.  Is this a virus that we simply will need to live with, just like we have done with the influenza virus for centuries?  You have to remember that it has only been recently that we have had a vaccine for the flu.  Yet, in spite of that vaccine, hundreds of thousands of people around the globe die of the flu each year - and yet we do not go into a panic, complete lock-down mode.  Perhaps it is because we have come to understand the flu and we have yet to come to understand COVID-19.  But I believe we will.  And I believe that someone or someones will create a vaccine for it.  And life will go on.


Here is what I find so exciting: God is using this time to awaken people to their own mortality and the need to be ready to enter into eternity.  People are asking the right questions: Where is God?  How can I have peace in the midst of this pandemic?  How can I find Jesus?  Perhaps God is using this pandemic to awaken His Church for the final great thrust toward revival before Christ returns.


This is Holy Week - a Holy Week unlike any I have witnessed in all my years.  Good Friday services, if held at all, will come via live-streaming.  Easter Sunday will find worship centers and sanctuaries as empty as the tomb of Christ itself.  "He is risen!  He is risen indeed!" will be echoed, not by throngs, but by families gathered in front of television, computer, and iphone screens.  Yes, Easter will be different this year at least in the way it is celebrated. 


But, the message of Easter has not changed.  The tomb is still empty.  Our Savior has risen from the dead.  The grave simply could not hold him!  He burst those chains of death defeating death for all time.  No, friends, the message of Easter is the same as it has always been.  It is that message of hope.  It is that message of change within a person's life.  It is that message of challenge to reach out to those who have not experienced that resurrection power of Jesus Christ.  As the Apostle Paul proclaimed, "If Jesus Christ is not raised from the dead, then we are still in our sins."  We have believed a lie - the second greatest lie ever to be foisted upon the human race. (The greatest lie was that of the serpent to Eve in the Garden of Eden).  But Jesus Christ lives!  As the hymn writer proclaimed, "You ask me how I know He lives; He lives within my heart." 


So as you sing those great Easter hymns on Sunday, or as some of us will do - make a joyful noise unto the Lord - celebrate with joy the glorious news that Jesus is alive! 


I was awakened this morning with a hymn upon my heart.  It is one of my favorite hymns - I think I must have over 200 of those favorites.  But, as I reflected upon the words, I was reminded that, even in the midst of uncertainties and apprehensions of our time, God is still faithful.  Perhaps you will want to sing those words as you finish this blog posting.


"Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father!  There is no shadow of turning with thee;
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not: As thou hast been thou forever wilt be"


"Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love."


"Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow - blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!"


"Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed they hand hath provided - great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!"


Have a wonderfully blessed Easter.  "He is risen!  Yes, He is risen indeed!"