Easter

What a glorious morning we have had!  The weather is typical March with the sun playing cat & mouse with the thick fluff (cumulus) clouds.  Around town you can find jonquils and daffodils blooming.  The goldfinch are indeed turning gold.  The robins are singing.   Oh yes, the March winds are blowing, too.

When Easter arrives in March, it sometimes seems more like winter.  The news has flood reports, snow reports, and who knows what else.  But in our household Spring has arrived and Easter proves once again that there is new life.

This morning in the Sunday School class I taught, I was trying to bring together two different sets of materials but emphasizing Easter.  My class is traditional, but the materials I was blending was not.  I get so excited when I can bring something new together and they say it makes sense.

Today the Bishop’s fifth practice for a fruitful congregation  was extravagant generosity.  Now talking about tithing on Easter Sunday is not simple.  The traditional Sunday School material was not much easier–Solomon dedicating the new temple.  But, as God has a way of doing things, I found the common ground and was able to add to it three songs I have wanted to share for some time.  I used the Message version of the Easter story and these three songs/hymns from  I Can Only Imagine.  God sure did make it work.

Sometimes when I get frustrated during the week, I do not always remember that my problems are so small compared to others.  Sometimes I think I am making a sacrifice and it is ignored.  But when I listen to the hymns on that CD and read the words from the Message, I am reminded that Jesus did indeed die for our sins.  His sacrifice was the ultimate one, and with that gift, I have hope.

One question in the traditional materials was “What is the most significant gift of your faith?”  I realize that it is love.  The love God has for us surpasses anything we can possibly offer to anyone else.  That love gave us grace, hope, and eternal life.  Thanks to my class, this Easter Sunday made the New Covenant real.  I hope each one of them felt that love today as they left.