Easter

I love Christmas. I love the warm feeling of the house when cookies are baking. I love reading the "Christmas story" from the Bible. I love watching Elf, and being with family, and having a Christmas tree up. I really do love it.
But ahhh, Easter. We have no decorations. We don't always meet with family, and besides the small Easter baskets I make for Aaron and Bryton yearly, there's no hustle and bustle or gifts. I think the lack of the hustle and bustle adds to the celebration. There's little confusing, in our family, what the 'holiday' is about. I cringe at even calling it a "holiday". Easter is not just a day off work. It's not a vacation... it's a celebration. It is the day that our savior was raised from the dead! I think we look past it sometimes. Think about it. A man died and raised from the dead. That is NOT normal! When's the last time you saw it happen? Yeah, it doesn't. It's a big deal. It' so easy when we celebrate "church" and "faith" to overlook the pillars of it... and let's face it -- without Resurrection Sunday, we are, well, nothing. True, Christ's blood cleanses us from sin, but it's His resurrection that allows us to live eternally. It's His resurrection that gives us life. It's a big deal.
You know, I wish we threw huge parties at church on Easter Sunday. We let the Easter bunny own the holiday. Me, I want to be jumping up and down in the aisles praising God for His Son and for His Son's resurrection on Easter Sunday. I mean, it's Jesus, He's what it's really about. It really brings tears to me eyes. I can't understand how people don't get it.
Here's a little something I wrote recently. I really don't want to post it, it's meant to be heard, not read... but here it is anyway:

Can you see them?
They are moving, darting, running, racing
Chasing after one another to a tomb
Not just any tomb, but the Jesus tomb
The tomb that sat empty before three days ago
Now has been rumored to be empty again
But where did He go?
Where has He gone,
Can it be true that this man of no sin
Could rise from the grave and live once again?
A man, just a baby three decades ago,
Could love and could live
Could serve and could die
And now is it true that he could again be alive?
Is it so?
The man that fed thousands with a few fish and some bread
Could die on a cross and then rise from the dead?
That this man, what a man, could wash feet and speak truth
Could grow and speak and please and heal
Could pray and work and prepare a meal
But not just any meal – the Last Supper
His body, His blood
Poured out for us.
That this sin scarred on me could be washed away clean,
By his wounds we are healed, on that tree where He died
Could wash on the out and heal the inside.
Is it true?
That in John 3:16 that says God loves the world,
That Jesus knew what this love would cost –
for His life to be slain for all who are lost.
A man, what a man –
Selfless, Sinless, Love that’s endless,
Caring beyond comparing
Would lay Himself down – guilty, charged
Bearing the weight of my lust...
Of my greed...
Of my lies...
And deceit...
Of my gossip and hate
That this man who’s so great could humble Himself,
And offer such grace.
And Jesus cried out, “Oh my God, why hath thou forsaken me?”
The rejection He felt,
The anguish of nails,
The weight of the sin,
All to hang there and die for us men.
But Jesus didn’t just die.
He wasn’t a martyr.
Yes He died on that day and was taken away
To a tomb where a stone locked in the dark,
Locked in the death
And a guard, He stood watch.
Day 1, Day 2 both passed away,
But on Day 3 was the race.
Word had spread quickly
the stone had been rolled,
The tomb was not closed,
The body was gone!
And racing to see was Peter and John
who got to the tomb to see folded grave clothes.
And the Jesus we love – No, he didn’t just die
He rose from the grave and gave US new life.
Without resurrection it’s just a hero’s death.
It would be blood to cleanse us but no life within us.
His rising was vital
Death could not win
He was God Himself.
He was perfect,
True,
Faithful,
Wonderful.
So that morning in folding the clothes as he left
He dusted his hands of death and it’s sting
Not just for Him, but for you and for me,
That we can be saved from ourselves and from the anguish of Hell
But that we could live –
That we too could be raised!
That when our lives here are done
the people can race because though our bodies will lie
We can live once again, away from the weight and the hurt of our sin,
We can live with the one who died in His love
We can dwell at His feet
Stare at His face
Sing
Shout
Love
Praise
Because this God who loved us
Knew His wrath was so great –
That His son came to live
And die
And be raised.