When I was growing up, Easter was a day full of traditions. Weeks in advance, we would head to the store to choose the pattern and fabric for our new dresses. Mom and grandma would spend several Saturdays, measuring, cutting and sewing. I can still hear their conversations as they worked. We always woke up on Sunday morning to find a new Easter basket filled with goodies. There was always a big Easter egg hunt with everyone searching for that one special egg – the one that held the dollar bill. It was the grand prize of Easter eggs!
I always felt so proud headed off to church in my new Easter dress with my brand new patent leather shoes. They could not be worn until Easter morning so there were no scuff marks, and I would be so careful that day.
Even as we got older, the tradition of the Easter basket continued. We were too old to hide eggs, but mom still wanted to give us gifts. I never asked her why.
Other than the Easter eggs, I do not remember what she put in our baskets. Except for the last Easter basket she gave me. The spring of 1994. I was just a couple of months away from getting married, and money was tight. When we had chosen the wedding invitations, I desperately wanted the matching napkins for the reception. Mom said it just wasn’t possible. There just wasn’t enough money for the napkins. I was disappointed; yet I understood.
Easter morning arrived, and I wasn’t expecting anything. After all, I was a grown woman about to get married, why would I have an Easter basket. But I did. And inside that basket were those beautiful napkins that I had wanted for the wedding reception. It was bittersweet. I was so excited to have them. I knew that she had sacrificed to buy those napkins. I knew that she had chosen to go without something for herself, so that I could have something extra special at my wedding.
Easter is about a sacrifice. It is about the Son of God coming to Earth as a human knowing that He was going to be beaten, flogged and die on a cross. He didn’t want to die on the cross, yet He did because He knew what His sacrifice meant for His creation.
Today Easter looks different for most of the nation. There won’t be any dressing up in new dresses and heading off to church. There won’t be any church Easter egg hunts or large family gatherings for lunch at Grandma’s house.
Sure, you could say that we are being asked to sacrifice for the health of our nation. Our sacrifice is nothing compared to what Jesus endured on that cross.
Maybe instead of feeling like we have had to give up something today, what if we choose to see what we have gained. Yes, church buildings will sit empty this morning. But so is the tomb. And because of that we have the promise of eternal salvation with our Creator and our Savior.
Instead of the busyness that usually comes with Easter, what if we spent today back at the tomb. Really going back there, to that first Easter. There wasn’t any pomp and circumstance. There weren’t any new dresses or Easter egg hunts. There were two women, who had just lived through the worst two days of their lives heading to the tomb. Why? The Bible doesn’t say. Maybe they just wanted to visit Jesus’ graveside while they mourned. But the stone had been rolled away and the grave was empty. Jesus was not there. They walked there with sadness and pain. They left with joy.
This has been a difficult 4 weeks for our nation. Maybe your life is full of sadness and pain right now due to circumstances that have been beyond your control. Maybe today is the day that you take your sadness and pain to the tomb and come away with some joy and hope.
Today is typically one of the most well-attended worship days of the year. This year, all of the distractions have been taken away – I pray we can spend some time reflecting on the ultimate sacrifice. That we spend some time talking to our children about what Jesus did for us and why. That we can focus on the true meaning of the gift that was given to us on that morning some two thousand years ago, when Jesus was raised from the dead and that tomb was found empty.
With Eyes on the Cross 