Peeps And Floods

What are your memories of Easter?

Maybe you didn’t grow up going to church, so anything Easter-related is foreign to you. Your recollection may include searching for eggs at your grandparents, followed with baskets filled with chocolate, Peeps, and a huge brunch! (After all, it isn’t Easter without Peeps!)  It could be one of the few times you went to church (in your shiny, new Easter best outfit).

For my family, not just Easter, but the entire Holy Week was very important. Our church had a Maundy Thursday service, recreating the Last Supper - complete with foot washing, a light “supper,” and communion. In our town of 20,000, on Good Friday, businesses would close at noon so families could observe community-wide services. Easter Sunday morning always started with a Sunrise service, followed by a potluck breakfast. It didn’t end there! Regular worship services, followed by brunch, and those infamous egg hunts!

When The Church at RB was still meeting at the elementary school in Carmel Mountain Ranch, Easter was all about creating an experience that would help everyone attending experience the depth and breadth of what Jesus did for us on the cross. The Easter services were spectacular! You walked away feeling you had been at the empty tomb! And it almost always included a flood. Yes, you read that right!

Huge tents were brought in and set up on the playground for our children’s and student ministries services on Friday, prior to Easter. Saturday morning, a group of volunteers would join us to set up chairs, assemble stages and wire sound systems. We’d leave late Saturday afternoon so excited for the Easter experience, but inevitably, rain would begin that evening and continue throughout the night flooding the tents. We’d arrive at O dark hundred Easter Sunday morning, bailing water trying to make sure anyone using a microphone didn’t get electrocuted! (Yes, I may be exaggerating a little how many years that happened, but it was definitely many of those first ten years.)

Something transformational happened inside of me during those years that deepened my appreciation for and understanding of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. I’d leave Easter Sunday afternoon after the final chair and table had been put away with an immense feeling of gratitude. Gratitude for what Jesus did for me on the cross and that I get to live every day in the shadow of Easter!

You see, it’s easy to center around the Resurrection and celebration, but sometimes our gratitude gets lost in the midst of the excitement of an empty tomb.

In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus goes to a village and ten lepers come to Him: (vs 12-13)

As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

Wow! They were healed! But look what happened next: ( vs 15-16)

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

There was only one. If you’re a parent, think about when your children receive a gift. They’re elated and can’t wait to go play with it. They are totally lost in the emotion of what it is. And then, you hear yourself saying, “You need to say thank you!” Oh, yah, ‘thank you’ often gets lost in the excitement of the gift.

The question I’m challenging us all to wrestle with today is: “Do I celebrate Easter as a shiny new gift with Peeps and chocolate and move on? Or do I celebrate Easter, and every day, with enormous gratitude for Jesus rescuing me when I was flooded and drowning in sin, guilt and shame?” As we draw near to Holy Week, spend some time reflecting on what that truly means for you.

And don’t forget to come back and say “thanks!”

Pastor Pam

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