Be Easter People

April 25, 2011 Easter Season

Did you know that Easter is a season, more than one day? If you think about it, this makes sense. We need time to integrate the life of the Risen Lord into our lives. We need time to celebrate this newness. It calls for our attention. It deserves our devotion.

The church calendar is helpful in this regard. This calendar designates 50 days for the Easter season. Easter season begins on Easter Sunday and continues through Pentecost. 50 days of Easter is 10 days longer than the 40 days of Lent. Which is to say we should spend more time celebrating Easter than we are to spend preparing for it.

The 50 days of the Easter season is known as The Great Fifty Days. 50 days is 1/7 of the entire year, just like Sunday is 1/7 of the entire week. So the Easter season is to the church calendar in the same way Sunday is to the week. The Easter season gives us the framework for living the rest of the year.

In church we will be celebrating Easter all the way until June 12. We will hear scriptures such as these: “Peace be with you.” “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road?” “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” “Because I live, you also will live.” “And they were continually in the temple blessing God.”

I encourage you to give as much devotion to Easter as you do to Lent. Make church a priority. I know many are pulled away during May for obligations. So if you can’t be “continually in the temple blessing God,” I encourage you to take the Easter story with you.

Look for signs of life around you. Be a presence of peace and comfort. Listen generously. Do something for someone else. Overcome guilt with grace. Practice resurrection.

Reverently, David