Why does Refuge Church celebrate Easter?
At first glance, that seems like an easy question. Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave after his death on the cross. So, it’s obvious why Christians would celebrate such a day. But, someone may rightly wonder why we would set apart one day of the year to focus on and celebrate something that we as Christians should celebrate every day of our lives. Furthermore, others may feel that Easter has been overrun with hidden eggs, bunnies, baby chicks, and chocolate and, therefore, the church should pull back from the secular observance of the Easter holiday. So, the question may not be as simple as it seems.
Why set apart one day to celebrate something we ought to be celebrating on a daily basis?
While we ought to strive to remember the power of Christ’s resurrection every day, setting aside one Sunday a year is a powerful corporate reminder of Christ’s victory over death. In fact, in the Old Testament God gave Israel multiple annual events to remind them of his accomplishments on their behalf. He gave them the Passover as an annual remembrance of his gracious and powerful deliverance of his people from slavery in Egypt. But, God would have never said that his people should only remember their deliverance once a year. The prophets and Psalms are full of places where they look back on the Exodus for confidence in God’s present provision for them. So, on both a practical and biblical level, an annual remembrance of Christ’s resurrection is a healthy and good practice for the church today.
Easter on another Sunday?
The other question we need to answer is whether we should pick another Sunday to remember the resurrection in order to separate the core of Easter from what has become a fluffy observance of the beginning of Spring. While there is no doubt that the Christian origins of Easter has begun to fade for much of America, the church shouldn’t let go. Easter continues to give Christians opportunities to have conversations about Jesus by simply asking their neighbors questions about what they’re doing for Easter. Regardless of what the world does with Easter, the church should continue to point people to the reality of the resurrection. Having said that, there’s nothing biblical about what day of the year we should celebrate the resurrection. In fact, the Bible doesn’t say we have to have an annual celebration at all. But, it seems like a wise practice that is helpful for believers to look to the cross and the resurrection, while at the same time giving numerous opportunities for the proclamation of the gospel.
Be sure and check out our other blogs in this Easter series: