We spend so much time preparing for Easter. We spend 40 days during Lent preparing our hearts and minds. We plan Easter egg hunts, Easter family dinners, and fill Easter baskets for kids or grandkids. There is so much to do and celebrate. And rightly so! 1 Corinthians 15:57 tells us, “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We have the victory and we celebrate at Easter.
Personally, there is always a strange lull that comes over me after Easter. There is a slowing down in the time period between Easter and the large number of summer activities. I’m not the type of person for whom taking a breather is natural. I struggle to take a break. I’m sure I’m not alone. There always feels like there is something more we can do, even when there’s not. But maybe finding busy work is not what God wants for us during this time. What if God intends this time after the Christmas and Easter seasons to be a time of “Sabbath” rest, growing closer to him. What if all we are intended to do during this time is regroup, reflect and rejoice in all that He is and all that He has done for us.
Maybe this “post-Easter lull” is also a time to reconnect with Christ, reconnect with others and connecting others to Christ. Paul seems to emphasize this idea in Philemon 1:6 saying, “I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.” Paul uses the word “koinonia” for “sharing your faith”; another translation would be fellowship, caring for those close to you. Paul is suggesting here that by engaging in this “postEaster” fellowship we are putting the Easter experiences we have had to their proper use: fellowship with one another for our good and for Christ’s sake. Therefore, let us use this upcoming time “postEaster”, this celebratory victory lap, as a way to practically demonstrate how Christ has worked in us. Not by busying ourselves, but by taking time to regroup and rejoice in this world he redeemed and the people he has placed in our lives.
God’s Blessings,
Pastor Nyck