Daring to be Thoughtful About Easter

I got banned from commenting on the Huffington Post today. That’s an online source for articles and news with a definite uh…. viewpoint. Ok, they are generally liberal or progressive. I’m not sure how they would define themselves, but let’s just say, Fox News they aren’t…

Which is fine. That’s not the problem or the point.

See today, they banned me evidentally because of a comment I tried to post about the latest article by Spencer Green where he made incredibly crude attempts at humor concerning various body parts belonging to Jesus. Well, he kept calling him Mr. Christ. Obviously Spencer isn’t a…follower of Christ? Nah. Not so much really.

Besides claiming that Jesus would be hawking souveniers in a little shop if He hadn’t been crucified, Spencer also painted images of various other methods Jesus could have died from and the crude ways that might have changed the story and our celebration of it.

If you’re an atheist I’m sure it’s a riot. If you worship Jesus, it’s hard to imagine a more offensive article. So it was surprisingly ironic that they would worry so much about my comment which was tame in comparison. I mean, there’s no way EVER they would print something like that about Mohammad. It would cause an international incident.

Ah well. It DID get me to thinking. Perhaps I shouldn’t have worried so much about it, just as I wish Mr. Green hadn’t decided it was so necessary to mock the story. After all, it IS Easter. Maybe it’s time to, for a moment, appreciate and focus on the meaning of it all.

Easter commemorates the most central event in the Bible -the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible itself says:

..if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. -I Corinthians 15:14

This event is the crux of the Christian faith, and without it, Christianity doesn’t exist.

We can thus attack it, debate it, make fun of it, dismiss it, celebrate it, etc… And we do all these things. National media are doing articles and reports citing various claims one way or another.

But can we for a moment, just reflect on the story itself -on the Man Himself?

Churches and Organized Religion have added to His teaches at times. At various times in history and in various places, people have committed horrible atrocities in the name of this Man -Jesus Christ. Yet no matter what those churches, those religious leaders, and those various groups might have done or said, we have the words of the Man in nearly every motel, nearly every bookcase, and nearly every bookstore. Very few coffee tables have existed that have not at one time or another, had His words laying on top of them.

So regardless of what the Pope said in 1409 A.D., we can all easily discover for ourselves what Jesus said and taught. Men have distorted His teachings, but His teachings are not hidden. We can still read them if we are so inclined. We can listen to a sermon and check the references! And those words, and the story, are still awfully powerful.

Those words, and the story of Christ, have inspired sacrifice, the building of hospitals, orphanages, feeding centers, and enormous amounts of giving from those who have, to those in need. Just today, I handed a large check to a family with a child suffering from a rare disease. Those funds came from others who do indeed follow Jesus Christ. Our youth are planning a mission trip to (among other options) build a home for a needy family. Giving. Helping. Sacrificing. Words that describe the daily life of someone who has heard the message of Christ, listened to His teachings, and put his or her faith in Him.

According to Matthew 25, giving, helping and sacrifice defines a person who follows Christ.

This Man and this story have inspired people to give their lives in service of others, to step out of their comfort zones into the muck of poverty, disease, and pain. And this Man has inspired people in times of great personal crisis and despair, offering hope that this life is not all there is.

Many other religions have influenced this holiday, as well as marketing schemes from retailers. Yet despite those things too, the words of this Man -Christ- and His story are worth taking note of on this day.

Mankind has rarely lived up to the ideals He set, and often we are too busy scoffing at the story to notice just how much it has changed this world for the better, and challenged people to believe in a God who gave everything for the world.

Maybe we can pause just a moment from the debates and give a tip of the cap to the story and the Man Himself.

It would seem a more productive and thoughtful use of our time.

For God so loved the world He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.-John 3:16-17