Take a day to think
There is not a parent of teenagers anywhere who hasn’t at one time or another responded to their teen’s behaviour with this question: “What in the world were you thinking?” The assumption, of course, is that the behavior included little, if any thought. It was stimulated by hormones, peer pressure or alcohol, or perhaps all of the above.
Not all thoughtless behaviour fits that category. Sometimes we do things for no good reason other than that we have always done them. They are part of our ritual or tradition and we can no more explain the reason than can a teenager explain jumping off the bridge in the dark of midnight.
The celebration of Easter is one of those practices that merits questioning. Why is Good Friday a national holiday? Why do thousands of people who attend church at no other time make their way to packed church auditoriums this weekend? Is it mindless ritual or is there something more behind it?
There are various explanations for Easter celebrations and various levels at which one might engage in them. Level 1 is simply the observation of Easter as a nice Spring holiday. It’s an extra day or two off work, an opportunity for a nice family dinner, and since it is Spring, perhaps a time to enjoy nature a bit more than was possible in the past few months.
Level 2 takes the observance a step further and recognizes that Easter is also a religious event, a “holy day” for Christians. Many at this level will include a church service into the activities listed above because it just seems right to do so. Attending church at Easter is as much a part of some personal traditions as Easter egg hunts, chocolate bunnies and baked ham.
A Level 3 observance of Easter occurs when one questions why, and chooses to celebrate Easter on purpose. It is often not an easy celebration since Level 3 individuals discover Easter forces them to think about deep, life-altering questions. At all churches on Easter Sunday texts are read that declare of Jesus, “He is not here— He is Risen!” Anyone thoughtfully hearing that declaration is forced to ask, “Really?” and “If this is true, what does it mean for me?” A Level 3 observance of Easter becomes a time to seriously question what one’s relationship to the God Who’s behind Easter is. If one truly believes that Jesus Christ Who was crucified, is the Son of God, that His death on the Cross has some connection to the forgiveness of my sins, and that He rose from the grave defeating death, then Easter is hardly just a nice observance one can happily skip over. It requires deep thought merits serious attention.
Many people will greet you this weekend with a warm smile and wish you a Happy Easter. There is nothing wrong with that. On the other hand, I hope you have some encounters this weekend that force you to wonder to yourself, “Why am I doing this? What does it all mean and what do I really think and believe about it?”
Tim Schroeder is pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in Kelowna. This column appears weekly in Okanagan Weekend.