Second Sunday of Easter
A Joyful Easter Day to You!
Umm, Ian (I hear you asking), did you forget to check your calendar again? Easter was last week.
Reflections about the historical development of the church calendar aside, it’s “the season of Easter.” The joy can’t be contained to one Sunday, no matter how moving . . . or chilly . . . your Easter dawn service was, or how powerful and hope-filled your regularly scheduled worship was. Sing hallelujah praise the Lord, let’s keep this going. Some congregations embrace this with a Holy Humor Sunday the week after Easter. Some say that was a big crescendo last week, so it’s okay to take our foot off the accelerator this week.
I wonder, what was the faithful gathering of disciples and followers feeling in those days immediately following the resurrection? Fearing the authority of powerful social systems, not knowing what the people outside their doors were thinking about what just happened, puzzling through this new reality and understanding . . . wait, the world just changed! Now what? Doubt, this just can’t be, I don’t believe it . . . we just went through all that last week. I was starting to think about getting back to the real world. Joy, “the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord”. . . I don’t know what is happening here, but Jesus is in our lives. Let’s keep the joy going.
Let’s keep the joy going . . . doubting, challenging, mystery-embracing, happy, struggling, overcoming . . . resurrection to new life joy. And so, yup, a joyful Easter Day to you, and a joyful Easter season too, Monday morning when you’re really back at it, a random Wednesday that feels a bit empty, a Saturday when you’re trying to fit everything in . . . Happy Easter!
Ian Edwards, pastor,
Schoeneck Moravian Church, Nazareth, PA