After Easter Living

Did you experience the “after-Easter letdown” that so many encounter following the Holy Week climax we call Resurrection Day?  I don’t know if I would use the word “letdown,” but I was worn out yesterday, the Monday after Easter.  Sunday was a celebration like no other, but I didn’t have the energy to celebrate anything yesterday.

It brings to mind the question I shared with you in my last post.  How do we go forward? Many Christians spent the forty days of Lent preparing for the Resurrection Celebration.  We came to church.  We sang wonderful songs that lifted our hearts.  Many of us heard choir anthems that enhanced our celebration.  Preachers did their best to exalt the risen Lord and encourage people to live in the power of that resurrection.  Then came Monday.

How do we continue the growth that came through the Lenten practices?  We have seven months until Advent, another preparation time for Jesus-followers.  Do we just float along, waiting for another focused time of intense preparation?  I don’t think Jesus’ teachings allow us to float.  Floating is similar to drifting, and we learned the danger of drifting during the Lenten journey.  (Hebrews 2:1)

Choosing to continue some of the disciplines that prepared us for Resurrection Sunday offers us a better option.  Remember, the practices of prayer, Scripture reading, self-denial, and doing acts of compassion are rooted in Scripture.  They aren’t seasonal activities; they provide a way of life for Jesus’ disciples.

I’ve been thinking about Paul’s words in Philippians: that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, (Philippians 3:10 ESV).   I want to share Paul’s consuming passion to know Jesus.  I desperately need the power of Jesus’ resurrection.  Some of what I need only comes through sharing in Jesus’ sufferings.

What do I do?  What do you do?  We choose the path of Jesus.  We choose the path of joyful discipline.  We choose the way of expectant self-denial.  We choose to focus on that which is eternal.  During the forty days that brought us to Resurrection Sunday, our focus was rather short-term.  Our after-Easter practices call us to a longer journey—the journey from earth to heaven.

We’re still preparing.  We’re still anticipating.  We’ll still practice reflection.  We’ll still choose repentance.  We’ll still pursue renewal.  Until we get to heaven.

I used “we” six times in that last paragraph, and I did so with intent.  I don’t want to take the journey from earth to heaven alone.  I hope you don’t, either.