Easter in the Rear-View Mirror

Last Sunday was Easter.  It was the end of a wonderful week in the life of the church.  We had our last Wednesday Lent service of the year in Gettysburg.  We had Maundy Thursday services in both Onida and Gettysburg.  We had Good Friday service in Gettysburg and hosted the community Good Friday service in Onida.  And then, of course, we had Easter Sunday services in all Onida, Agar, and Gettysburg, as well as providing the ecumenical service at Oahe Manor.

It was quite a week.  It was a week in which we could all spend a lot of time think about the sacrifice Jesus made for us and about the incredible gift God gave us.  It was a week in which we could really think about the love God has for each one of us, a love so great that the divine Son was sent to earth to teach us, to help us, to die for us, and then to rise again, conquering death not just for himself, but for all of us.

But now it’s over.  Easter is in our rear-view mirror.  We’ve started to think about other things.  Spring is here.  There are track meets and golf tournaments and proms.  Soon it will be time for high school and college graduation.  Then it will be summer, with all the activities summer brings.  And Lent and Easter will be in our rear-view mirror, forgotten about until next year.

That’s not how it has to be.  But that’s how it will be if we’re not careful.  It’s not that we intend to forget about God.  It’s not that we deliberately forget about Jesus’ sacrificial love for us.  It’s just that it’s really easy for us to get distracted.  It’s really easy for us to occupy ourselves with other things.  It’s really easy for God to get crowded out.  And it’s especially easy for the message of Easter to get crowded out.

But as I said, it doesn’t have to be.  If we want it not to be, though, we need to be intentional about it.  We can do that in a lot of ways.  For me, though, one of the ways is taking some time every day to thank God for the forgiveness of our sins and for the sacrifice Jesus made for us.  It doesn’t have to be a long time.  Just a moment, every day, to pray a prayer of thanks.  For me, it’s better if I do it the same time every day, because that way I’ll remember it. 

If something different works for you, that’s fine.  But do something.  Let’s not put Easter in our rear-view mirror this year.  Let’s keep that spirit of Easter going into the spring, the summer, and beyond.