Easter About The Cross, Not Bunnies
CREWE, Va. -- As with many other things, I may be wrong about religion and the Cross and Easter, but I want to think out loud a little about all three topics this week.
I really was moved by a Cross I saw in the yard of Crewe Christian Church as I drove by the other afternoon. Anyone who doubts the power of symbols in our life only needs to pass by that scene at the corner of West Maryland Avenue and Carter Street. The Cross on the church's lawn says more than 1,000 sermons could, at least it does for me. But I bet you that not as many folks as you might think could really tell you the significance of Easter.
For crying out loud, Easter is not about the Bunny Rabbit, Easter egg hunts, and hams with a glaze, and new dresses. Easter is about the Resurrection and the Cross. It is about Christ dying on that old rugged Cross for our sins. Did I say sins? How dare a broken-down newspaperman utter the word" sins" in 10-point type! What has the Fourth Estate come to these days?
I feel closer to Christ than I ever have, perhaps it large part because I have witnessed so many of my friends (and some of my adversaries) pass across the river in recent months. There is no way any of us can handle these situations without a strong religious faith.
A relative asked me recently if I believed in heaven."Yes," I answered without hesitation. "And I also believe there is a Hell and an accounting."
Some of my very best friends in the past did not believe in Heaven. They viewed it as a charade. These were smart folks in the ways of the world, too. Some current friends do believe in the Resurrection, either. For them, it is dust to dust. Maybe they are right. But as a matter of faith, my house and I put our belief in Christ and believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is more to this worldly existence than to be born, to live a few years, and depart. Christianity, in large part, has survived all these years because it says, in effect, that there is victory over the grave. It preaches that there is victory over sin and hatred and intolerance because Christ died on that Cross to wash away all the brutalities and intolerances and inhumanities that the human race is too capable of perpetuating.
I am the last and probably the worst person among you to bring this message. I do not in any way do the message -- which is the message of the ages, by the way -- justice. I just believe that we need to stay focused on what Easter really means and not diminish its significance by wrapping the cloth of the season around the Bunny Rabbit when we should instead place the cloth on the Cross as those good people did at Crewe Christian Church. It is not my intention to diminish the fellowship and happy times that can be Easter. But let's not forget that this is a powerful occasion, so powerful, in fact, that not even death itself can undo the message of the Resurrection. Amen.
I really was moved by a Cross I saw in the yard of Crewe Christian Church as I drove by the other afternoon. Anyone who doubts the power of symbols in our life only needs to pass by that scene at the corner of West Maryland Avenue and Carter Street. The Cross on the church's lawn says more than 1,000 sermons could, at least it does for me. But I bet you that not as many folks as you might think could really tell you the significance of Easter.
For crying out loud, Easter is not about the Bunny Rabbit, Easter egg hunts, and hams with a glaze, and new dresses. Easter is about the Resurrection and the Cross. It is about Christ dying on that old rugged Cross for our sins. Did I say sins? How dare a broken-down newspaperman utter the word" sins" in 10-point type! What has the Fourth Estate come to these days?
I feel closer to Christ than I ever have, perhaps it large part because I have witnessed so many of my friends (and some of my adversaries) pass across the river in recent months. There is no way any of us can handle these situations without a strong religious faith.
A relative asked me recently if I believed in heaven."Yes," I answered without hesitation. "And I also believe there is a Hell and an accounting."
Some of my very best friends in the past did not believe in Heaven. They viewed it as a charade. These were smart folks in the ways of the world, too. Some current friends do believe in the Resurrection, either. For them, it is dust to dust. Maybe they are right. But as a matter of faith, my house and I put our belief in Christ and believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is more to this worldly existence than to be born, to live a few years, and depart. Christianity, in large part, has survived all these years because it says, in effect, that there is victory over the grave. It preaches that there is victory over sin and hatred and intolerance because Christ died on that Cross to wash away all the brutalities and intolerances and inhumanities that the human race is too capable of perpetuating.
I am the last and probably the worst person among you to bring this message. I do not in any way do the message -- which is the message of the ages, by the way -- justice. I just believe that we need to stay focused on what Easter really means and not diminish its significance by wrapping the cloth of the season around the Bunny Rabbit when we should instead place the cloth on the Cross as those good people did at Crewe Christian Church. It is not my intention to diminish the fellowship and happy times that can be Easter. But let's not forget that this is a powerful occasion, so powerful, in fact, that not even death itself can undo the message of the Resurrection. Amen.
posted by Rick Gunter at Sunday, April 09, 2006
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