Beyond the Bunnies!

Visit a convenience store of your choice.  Target, WalMart, CVS, whatever.  Look for the Easter merchandise.  You'll find that most of it is now deeply discounted.  The chocolate bunnies and Cadbury creme eggs that were so hot, so seasonal a few short days ago?  They're remaindered items today.  The bottom line:  Easter is over.

But is Easter really over?  Well, yes--if you're living in HST (Hallmark Standard Time).  But if you're living in gospel-shaped, Christian time, Easter has indeed come; but it hasn't gone.  Resurrected life has only just begun...

So where are we in the story?  It's helpful to focus our minds on a few milestones, high points in the plot of the Greatest Story Ever Told (the story that you and I live in right now):

• After Jesus rose from the dead, he stuck around for a full 40 days and nights, proving to his disciples that he had risen, indeed, and speaking to them  "about the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3).

• After those 40 days, Jesus gathered his inner circle, blessed them, and told them to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He then amazed everyone by ascending into heaven before their very eyes (Acts 1:9). 

• Next, the disciples did what Jesus told them.  They returned to Jerusalem, where they gathered and waited together.  They prayed. (See Acts 1:14.)

• After something like ten days, during the Feast of Pentecost, the disciples experienced exactly what Jesus had promised -- the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4).  

• The early church burst into being.  Full of energy, zeal, passion, overflowing with the love of the Holy Spirit, that first community of believers grew rapidly.  They embarked on the mission Jesus had given them -- proclaiming the gospel to all the world, Jews and Gentiles alike (Acts 1:8).  

Now, the folks at Hallmark would have you believe that it's time to pack up the trappings of Easter, to store them away in plastic boxes until next year.  It's time to move on to other holidays, they'll tell you.  But we know better than that.  It only takes a glance at the Scriptures (and a quick look inside our very own hearts) to know the truth.  The Easter story has only just begun.

* * * * * * *

Lord--open my eyes!  I want to  begin to see better and better what you're up to in the here-and-now.  Show me how to keep in step with your dynamic, ever-active Spirit.  How can I live out Jesus' resurrection life?  How can I begin today?