Easter vs Pandemic

Can you celebrate Easter in the midst of a global pandemic? Can you celebrate life and joy and worship an all-powerful, all-knowing, fully-good God when there is so much wrong in the world? How can someone even believe in such a God during the dark moments of life? 

It’s precisely these moments that often turn us toward God. Sadly, I remember reading a blog that read: “We returned to church after 9-11 only to remember why we left.” That saddens me on so many levels but mostly because it tells a story that God’s people did not represent Him well to the author of that blog. 

We are the salt of the world, and if we lose our saltiness then what happens to the world around us? Salt flavors and preserves, and those who bear His name are called to flavor this world with His truth and love. We are the light of world, but what happens to the world when we hide the light that burns within us? 

Easter is a celebration of Life and Joy in God’s Victory! Death has no sting for those who reside in Yahweh’s shadow. As Paul wrote: to live is Christ and to die is gain! In other words, we can represent Christ, be the salt and light for this world until we finally go home to be with Him. I long to hear Him say “Well done, good and faithful servant!”, knowing that all my efforts and all my failings don’t factor into either His love or His promises for me. I can love because He first loved me; I know that love is a giving of myself and not just a feeling that is sometimes there and sometimes absent. Love is a decision that can burn through the darkest night, flavor a despairing world, and bring a hope that is based not upon our finite strength but upon the infinite power of a God Who has never let us down, a God Who continues to work all things together for good for those who love Him because He first loved us. 

So how can we be silent on this joyous day? Death has no victory for those who have been blessed with God’s grace! So long as there is life there is hope, and with eternal life comes eternal joy! So on Good Friday, God’s Passover Lamb was sacrificed and the blood covered us so that death could never have victory over us. And on the 3rd Day, Christ rose from the dead to demonstrate His victory over death. It’s not just figurative or theoretical. He has given us a tangible promise to save us from our enemies: death, disease (pandemics), poverty, etc. 

So rejoice and celebrate this Easter in whatever way you can think to glorify God! 

Hallelujah, Christ has risen! 
The Lord is risen indeed, Hallelujah! 

copyright ©2020 Mitchell Malloy (http://mitchellmalloyblogspot.com/)

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