Easter Sunday: COVID19 Edition

It’s Easter Sunday 2020.

I think it’s a day I will always remember. Not because of any great miracle, tragedy, or experience. Mostly because of the weirdness of it all. We are celebrating Easter Sunday at home.

We are leading worship from the Zoom platform. There is no opening song with drums and guitars. There are no streamers or tulips or white banners. Today is much more anti-climatic.

It’s closer to the first Easter.

Dawn was just breaking when Mary and the other women headed for the tomb. They wanted to finish what they started. Finish anointing the body of our Lord for proper burial. They had rushed him into the tomb before sundown which is the beginning of Sabbath.

They arrived at the tomb just after sunrise. Then it occurs to them that they need someone to move the gravestone. So many times I have been on my way somewhere when I realized I forgot an important element. I like to plan for worst-case scenarios. But sometimes I get distracted and miss a detail or two. They missed a big one. Maybe they could improvise. I like it when God takes care of the improvising for us.

Someone posted recently that the word for Easter this year is “empty”. I like it.

I think the word for Easter this year is also “quiet”. Just like on that first Easter. It was the first day of the week. Their Sunday was like our Monday. They were up getting ready for the week. The coffee was a little stronger. The kids were moving a little slower. They were making their to-do lists over breakfast. Except for the disciples.

The disciples were locked in their homes. They were mourning. They were probably angry and afraid. Then the women came and told them unbelievable news. And everything changed.

Everything has changed, friends. Not because of COVID19. But because of Jesus Christ. When this Stay at Home order lifts, it will feel like we have been born again. But I encourage you to let your soul be born again now. Be born again in Christ.

Let Him change everything!