The Easter Bunny and The Cross

This Sunday we as Christians will celebrate the most important day in Christian history...the day our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, resurrected from the grave. Without the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus we would be a dying world with no hope of salvation. The resurrection is the foundation of everything we believe and it alone sets Christianity apart from any other beliefs and religions in all of history. If you go to the tombs of any of the prophets on whom these other religions were founded, you will find the decayed remains of those prophets. What would you find in the tomb of Jesus? Nothing! Because He left the tomb empty after three days. We serve a living Savior!

So, HOW do we celebrate? Undoubtedly, the majority of us will get up and go to church. Many will even brave the early morning hours of a sunrise service. After church...if you're like me...we'll get together with family, eat too much and then hide Easter eggs in the back yard for the kids. I think it's a great way to spend the day...well, all except the "hiding the eggs" part...my boys and two nieces expect the eggs to be hidden more than once...but I digress...

I've debated with myself about how much time to spend here talking about the origin of the Easter egg and the Easter Bunny. You probably know that in many cultures the egg represents fertility or new life. This metaphor fits well with Chrisianity. It could be symbolic of the resurrection or the new life that we have in Christ through the cross. The Easter Bunny - which also can represent new life due to the large number of offspring they produce - originated in Germany. The "Osterhase," or Easter Bunny, came at night and brought presents for children. There are many legends surrounding the merging of the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs, and even more about how both came to be associated with the celebration of the resurrection. I won't detail those. The bottom line is that the Easter Bunny and Easter baskets brimming with brightly-colored eggs have become synonymous with Easter.

I thought about what Easter looks like from the world's point of view. Time to get new outfits for the kids...Spring pictures for the kids and perhaps the whole family...Easter baskets...Easter Bunny...coloring Easter eggs...chocolate bunnies...Cadbury Creme Eggs...egg hunts...going to church with grandma...time together with family. It's all good. Right? Yes. All good.

Something very important is missing...Christ.

Yes. I mentioned church. There are many, many people who go to church on Easter Sunday because "it's what you're supposed to do." And, pastors who are sensitive to that do a great job in presenting a strong Gospel message Easter morning. These people - quite literally - may only hear the message of salvation once a year when they go to church on Easter Sunday. It should be our prayer that the Holy Spirit would prick hearts so that they will be open to hearing.

But, let's look a little closer at how many Christians celebrate Easter.

Time to get new outfits for the kids...Spring pictures for the kids and perhaps the whole family...Easter baskets...Easter Bunny...coloring Easter eggs...chocolate bunnies...Cadbury Creme Eggs...egg hunts...going to church with grandma...time together with family. And, yes, it's all good. But, many times we - myself included - get so caught up in all of the preparations...cleaning the house for company, cooking lunch, selecting the perfect basket and prizes for the kids...that we fail to take time to remember and focus on why we...Christians...are celebrating to begin with.

The Cross. The Resurrection.

The world has done an excellent job of distracting us. Honestly, we don't need much help. Our attention is easily redirected...at least I know that's how I am. And Satan knows that. He will use anything to get our attention off of the Truth. Has he used the Easter Bunny to distract us? Certainly. Easter eggs? Absolutely. Satan has used the trivial things we associate with Easter to desensitize us to Main Thing that Easter should be all about.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Hell has used something as "warm and fuzzy" as the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs to take our focus off of the cross. Satan wants people to think, "Oh, yes, Jesus died on the cross. It wasn't THAT bad, right?" And even we have trivialized the cross. We wear cross pendants around our necks, hanging from our ears, adorned to our Bibles, clothing, cars...I'm not saying that's a bad thing...not at all. But, I think when the average person - including the average Christian - thinks about the cross, he thinks about a picture he's seen hanging somewhere in a bookstore with Jesus in the middle of two thieves, and that's as far as it goes. The cross was brutal. If you've seen the movie "The Passion of the Christ" I don't have to paint the picture for you. The suffering and agony that Christ endured for our sin was savage and inhumane. What better way to get the focus off of this fact than with an innocent bunny and beautifully colored eggs.

Okay. Having said that...yes, I am trying to "select the perfect basket" for my boys. Luckily, I don't have to worry about cleaning my house for company because we are going to my parents' house for lunch Sunday. We will most certainly hide eggs in the back yard...several times, I'm sure. But, my prayer is that I can convey to my boys that the fun side of Easter is not what it's all about. I want them to know exactly what was involved in the payment of their sin. I want to ingrain it into their minds in such a way that...in many years to come...they are able to do the same for their children.

So, Sunday morning, as you sit in church and sing praises to God the Father, I pray that you will sing a little louder, pray a bit harder and thank Him for sending His Son to the Cross. When you are spending time with your family Sunday afternoon...after you've eaten too much and you're fussing over whose turn it is to hide the eggs...keep the Cross in the forefront of your mind. Because without our faith in it...without our faith in the Resurrected Savior...nothing else matters.

Happy Easter!

"Gleanings from Gladys"

Gleanings from Gladys. Gladys? Gleanings? Gleanings. Glean. Does anyone really EVER use that word anymore? And...Gladys? Who IS Gladys? Why "Gleanings from Gladys?"

I'll start with Gladys.

Gladys is very special. She is a well dressed lady (if only in her own mind), highly esteemed friend (at least she thinks a lot of herself), submissive wife (just don't ask her husband, Gus, about that) and she carries a big Bible (King James Version, of course). She grew up in the Baptist church. She was saved and baptized at the very young age of 6 (although she secretly doubts her salvation). She can tell you about every Old Testament Sunday School story that has ever been taught and lecture for hours about New Testament parables. She has perfect attendance Sunday School pins that date back to 1970. Gladys loves gospel music. She even has the page numbers in the Baptist hymnal memorized! She thinks the new "praise and worship" songs are okay, but they shouldn't be used too often. (The Baptist hymnal is almost as sacred as the Bible.) Besides, it's just TRADITION to use the hymnal. She reads her Bible ALMOST everyday (nobody can be perfect, after all). She has been president of the WMU for 14 years (because no one would dare ask her to step down). She can quote from Robert's Rules of Order. She believes in keeping things the same year after year to maintain traditions and to avoid bickering. Gladys is, indeed, a SPECIAL lady.

Of course, Gladys is a fictitious character. In fact, you probably know that I played the role of Gladys on more than one occasion, the most prominent being during a Christmas Pageant at church. It was fun...mostly. I think it was more fun for the folks watching than it was for me. To say that I was out of my comfort zone would be an understatement. More about Gladys in a few minutes.

Gleanings. According to merriam-webster.com the definition of glean is 1: to gather grain or other produce left by reapers or 2: to gather information or material bit by bit; to pick over in search of relevant material.

Take a look at the first definition: to gather grain or other produce left by reapers. When I first started thinking about this blog - and my desire to explain the name - I thought more about the "gleanings" part than I did the "Gladys" part. The Old Testament story of Ruth teaches many lessons - my favorite is a picture of Christ as our Kinsman Redeemer...but that's another blog for another day.

In those days, according to God's command, when a farmer harvested his field he was to leave any grain that fell. He was to leave it there for poor people to come behind the reapers and pick up so they would have food for their family. (The reapers were also not to harvest all the way to the edges of the fields in order to leave some more for the poor.) Gathering of the left-over grain was called "gleaning." Ruth gleaned in the field of a man named Boaz. She gathered grain to feed herself and Naomi. Again, another blog...

So...the reapers come in and...well...reap...they harvest the grain. They may miss some and they will drop some. Ruth comes along behind them and gathers anything left on the ground. She also examines each stalk. She searches - bit by bit - to see if there is anything she can gather...or glean.

This leads to the second part of the definition: to gather information or material bit by bit; to pick over in search of relevant material. Now, go back to the title of my blog.

Gleanings from Gladys.

"Gathering information" or "relevant material" from Gladys.

Seriously? Gathering relevant material - learning - from Gladys. A self-absorbed, legalistic church member.

Absolutely.

I didn't consider myself to be legalistic. Not me. I mean...I grew up as a preacher's daughter. I could spot a legalist in a heartbeat. The only problem was I couldn't see the plank in my own eye.

It was a piece of cake to write lines for Gladys. The words came easy (well...somewhat...). The more I thought of lines for her, the more I realized that it came easy for a reason:

I. Was. Gladys.

Me? A legalist? Really, God? Are you sure? I slowly came to the realization that I was "judgmental, bound to the law and tradition." I was much like a Pharisee. No, I don't THINK I did things - served in the church - just to be seen and to make a name for myself. But, I was judgmental (wow...that's still hard to admit). And, it was usually over petty issues. For example, should a person...a Christian...be allowed to sing in the choir if he is not a church member? How about play in the band? Take up the offering? Okay...maybe, maybe not. Gladys would say absolutely not. Should a person wear jeans to church on Sunday night? How about Sunday morning? Gladys would say that you should wear your "Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes" if you're going to church. Yes, I believe a person should put his best foot forward at all times. If you are going to church...especially Sunday morning...you should look your best and be dressed modestly and appropriately. But, God sees the heart. Why should it REALLY matter what we wear - within reason - if He is only concerned with the inside, not the outside.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. Gladys taught me more about myself than I ever cared to learn. I will explore some of these lessons in future posts. I haven't "arrived." I still have many...too many...Gladys tendencies. It's an on-going struggle. But, I know that I am not the same person I was three years ago - a year ago - even just a few months ago. And, I pray that I will continue to glean from Gladys. But more importantly, I pray that I will continue to learn from the Holy Spirit. I pray that He will fashion me into His likeness.

"Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6

Salt of the Earth

I started a blog. I've contemplated it...and procrastinated. But I finally did it. I don't really know what I expect to accomplish. And, I don't anticipate many followers. But, I have lots to say and this is the best avenue I know to do so.

Today marks two weeks since my family "left" our church of nearly 14 years. It has been an eye-opening experience. Last week we were heathens and didn't go to church or have church on our own. We needed the break. But, this morning we woke up (not at 5am!), had breakfast together as a family, then decided to "have church." We sat around the piano and sang for nearly an hour. When we had enough of that we got out one of Dylan's Bibles, The Honey Word Bible. Deric read from Matthew 5 - Jesus has called us to be the salt of the earth. He's counting on us to be "salt shakers" to the people around us...to give them a taste of what life could really be like with Him.

As I thought about this, I kept coming back to "what life could really be like with Him," and couldn't help thinking about what life "shouldn't be with Him." Too often Christians get caught up in staying busy in the church. Sunday School, Worship, choir practice, visitation, children's programs, youth programs, programs for married couples, programs for single adults, men's programs, women's programs...the modern church offers a smorgasbord of programs to keep us busy. But, is it enough to be busy? Is that what God wants? Does He want us to be busy...so busy that our families suffer...so busy that we neglect the very Reason we go to church? I have spent my entire life involved in one church program or another. And, I like to think that my family and I are better for it. But, we had gone over the edge, I think. We were so involved - so busy - that our family was beginning to be adversely affected. We all started dreading Sunday morning by mid-afternoon on Saturday. That cannot be the way God intended church to be.

"A taste of what life could really be like with Him." I'd like to think that my family got a good taste of the adundant life today. We came together as a family, worshipped our Sovereign Lord, studied His Word, and enjoyed spending time together. Will we continue in our home church endeavor? I hope so...whether we eventually land in a traditional church or not, times of worship spent together as a family are absolutely priceless.