Reporter’s Corner: An Easter sacrifice

An Easter sacrifice

This Sunday, it will be Easter.
From many people on my social media feeds (since I haven’t been doing much face-to-face connecting since this virus happened), I’ve heard grumblings and frustrations on what the current crisis over COVID-19 has done to church services - and I definitely understand.
Hebrews 10:25 (Geneva Bible - my preferred translation), says “Not forsaking the fellowship that we have among ourselves,” and the writer - Paul - encourages the church to gather together, worship together, praise and extort together.
Togetherness is a crucial part of what Christianity is; we are a body, a family and a single unit of togetherness.
So I definitely understand the frustration that is being felt by those whose special Easter church services are being canceled or changed to adhere to the new social-distancing rules.
That same chapter of Hebrews (Hebrews 10:24), however, says another crucial aspect that I think is often overlooked, which is: “Let us consider one another, to provoke unto love, and to good works.”
It is the “let us consider one another” that strikes me as important during these times.
For, like a body, we should function as one group with equal concern for our weakest parts - for example, if you have an injured leg, you don’t tell it to “trust” that is is strong enough to withhold use and then continue to walk on it as though nothing has changed.
When we are sick, we protect our body from illness - much the same, we should consider those in our congregation who are especially susceptible to this current illness.
It’s a sacrifice, yes. It means that so many are being disrupted from their Easter worship and traditions; I heard someone joke that the Easter Bunny has his work cut out for him this year.
Typically, there would be plans in the works for Easter egg hunts, family dinners, sunrise worship services and special Easter celebration plays and productions.
Right now, there is none of that and it is fully acceptable to grieve the loss of what we miss - but I don’t feel it is right to be angry, lash out and demand everything back.
Currently, there is a health crisis going on in our world, country and state - as of last weekend, it officially reached the Jefferson County borders and began impacting us locally.
While many are making recoveries, it is not a 100 percent survival rate - thousands have died alone, without their families to hold their hand (as visits to hospitals have been revoked) or a loved one by their side.
Rather than express frustration at the fact that COVID-19 is making us lose what we enjoy, we should be grieving with those who have lost those they love.
As Christians, we should be the first to protect our fellow Christians from this virus - especially the older and immune-compromised amongst us. It should be our desire that none in our body of believers become ill and forced to recover in a hospital bed far from those they love. We should gladly, willingly do whatever necessary to prevent our brothers and sisters from that fate.
Easter is an incredibly important time of the year for many Christians - it is the conclusion of a plan set in place long before mankind even knew we needed saving. It is the shining example of God’s love, Christ’s sacrifice for us and the eternal hope we now hold so dear.
But a holiday is never more important than our fellow brothers and sisters.
A holiday is a celebration, and there are plenty of ways to still honor Christ’s death and resurrection for us without putting our body of believers at risk.
What better way to show our appreciation than holding our own worship in our own homes, to continue honoring the ultimate price paid for saving humankind, and to continue to do so while protecting each other at the same time? When we do that, we are showing this ol’ world that we can take whatever it throws at us - that we hold tight enough to our beliefs and faithfulness to be able to worship, celebrate and honor while also protecting, shielding and loving our church-families enough to put them above tradition.
Easter hasn’t been canceled any more than Christ’s resurrection has been canceled.
Easter is a holiday, but the historical events, the deepest show of love, the triumph over death and the sacrifice made? Those are much more than a sunrise service, an egg hunt or springtime luncheon.
Remembering Christ’s sacrifice can be done anywhere, anytime and from any distance from one another.
Easter cannot ever be canceled, because the things that make this weekend’s holiday important lives on within us each and every day.
Christ made a sacrifice to give us eternal life, everlasting joy and hope after death - no virus, virtual sermon or private celebration can ever keep us from that.
Next year, we will have our celebrations back, our traditions will return, and everything will be back to normal - but by halting those things this year, we ensure that others will be alive, healthy and on earth to celebrate with us next year.