Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The "Afterlife"

Easter is over. The chocolate bunnies are gone, or mostly gone. The colored eggs are either devoured or beginning to smell bad. The green and pink plastic grass has mysteriously scattered itself in the strangest places and our pleasantly full sanctuaries are likely to be sparsely populated again soon. Easter Sunday is over and now we live in the "after-Easter-life". How do we live in this "afterlife"? Has anything changed because of our Easter experience? Do we just return to life as usual? If so, then is it any wonder that our sanctuaries return to their pre-Easter state, with the same faithful few sitting in their same pews?
It is true that Easter Sunday has past, but the church calendar for Easter has only begun. The church celebrates 50 days of Easter, leading up to Pentecost. For 50 days we are to experience the joy of Easter and the surprise of resurrection. We are called to transform our lives, to burst forth from our winter cocoons into our butterfly days of spring. Sounds beautiful doesn't it? So why do we find ourselves like those early disciples, locked up in the same old routine, hiding behind the comfort of our church doors, afraid to wander out into unchartered territory, into new ministry opportunities? Why hasn't anything changed? I have my hypotheses, but before I share them, I would like to hear your thoughts. Has Easter changed you, your life, your church in any small way? If not, why?