It took quite a bit of mental
strength to pull out the Easter decorations this year. I didn’t want to acknowledge
that Easter was coming. Despite the date on the calendar, it wouldn’t be Easter,
not without gathering in church. What was the point of the rest of the
charades? Church was talking about celebrating Easter once we were allowed to
gather again; I pondered if it would be best to put off our festivities at home
as well.
It all felt empty. Maybe you
are feeling it too. How can we celebrate Easter when all of the churches will
be empty? It is contrary to everything a Christian believes. We want
full churches with the fellowship of believers. We want our ears filled with
the cries of “He is risen! He is risen, indeed!” We want to fill our hearts with
the communion of saints and our souls with the breaking of the bread.
What can possibly be done
with this emptiness?! Our pastor asked for thoughts on how we should celebrate
Easter this year with an empty church and my mind drew a blank. Empty.
I’m a traditional kind of
girl. I like certain songs for certain seasons sung a certain kind of way. And I
like certain seasonal foods and certain routines of observances. I found myself
struggling with how one can possibly celebrate Easter without all of that. My
kids had begun voicing their expectations for the coming celebration and my
heart couldn’t respond to the demand.
During my morning prayer
walk, I cried out to God and asked Him how we were supposed to fill the
emptiness this year and softly, slowly I heard the response.
Empty is where I work
best. I fill empty. Empty is why we celebrate Easter.
Maybe empty churches this
year will fill us with the understanding that we ARE the church and we will
fill our homes with the rejoicing we sometimes reserve for the building.
Maybe the emptiness we feel
from unfulfilled traditions will turn our hearts to experiencing the lasting
joy of an Easter that remains outside of any tradition, for He IS risen; He is
risen, indeed!
Maybe the emptiness of our
schedules will allow us to fill our time with drawing near to God through reading
His Word and being devoted to prayer.
Maybe the longing for
fellowship and the freedom to worship collectively again, with fill us with the
reminder that throughout the world there are believers that can never meet and
rejoice openly without risking their lives.
Maybe the empty store shelves
that are preventing some of our traditional Easter spread, will fill us with
the desire to be satisfied with less and be grateful for simplicity.
Maybe empty is exactly what
we needed but the last thing we would have asked for, just like that very first
Easter. Maybe God is emptying the tombs of our hearts so they can be filled entirely
by Him.
May the God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may
abound in hope. Rom. 15:13
