EASTER CUSTOMS: "Bunnies and Eggs"

EASTER CUSTOMS: "Bunnies and Eggs"    

"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied."

1 Corinthians 15:19(NIV)

Preface: The following is the text of the last Easter sermon which I preached as pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Lewisville, Minnesota and Trinity Lutheran Church - Fieldon (rural Lewisville, Minnesota) on Sunday, 30 March 1997. 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

      Christ is risen!

             He is risen indeed!

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father, and from His Son ─ our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen

At our joint Midweek Lenten services over the past several weeks, we have been looking at the various customs of Lent: ashes, fasting, penitence, foot washing, and the veil.  This Easter morning, we will look briefly at two of the customs of Easter: bunnies and eggs.  In the text, St. Paul says, "If only fort this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."  This morning, we might paraphrase these words: "If it is in bunnies and eggs that Easter consists, we ─ and all other people ─ are to be most pitied."  The fact is that Satan loves to sidetrack and pervert all the good gifts of God.

Most of us probably do not know what the word Easter means, or where it comes from.  Easter is the name of the Teutonic fertility goddess of spring.  Those ancient fertility cults were all over the world.  Their goddess was called "Astarte" in Babylon and "Oster" in Germany.  Since the day of Jesus' resurrection came at the same time of year as these pagan festivals, the church sought to switch the people's thoughts from the pagan celebrations to Jesus and His resurrection.

Similarly, some of the customs of these ancient festivals of spring remained.  As far back as Old Testament times, God's people had been caught up in fertility cults with their temple prostitutes.  Only by participating in immoral rituals could people hope for an abundant harvest and springtime renewal.  Rabbits were a symbol of this fertility─ anyone who has raised them knows why.  They really know how to multiply.  Eggs were also fitting symbols.  The ancient Druids, Hindus, Japanese, Chinese, and Babylonians celebrated the arrival of spring with sacred eggs.

On the one hand, these customs can be viewed as harmless leftovers from long-forgotten cults.  Now they are just "fun."  As we know, Satan works non-stop to pervert all the gifts of God.  Take, for example, our celebration of Christmas or of Sunday, the Lord's Day.  For many, Christmas had little or nothing to do with Christ, the world's Savior and Redeemer.  Many people view Sunday as "my day," day to sleep in, relax, and do whatever "I" want for once.  It's not a day to honor the Lord.

On Easter, Satan tries to get us so absorbed in bunnies and eggs and celebrations of spring that our "hope in Christ" is in danger.  That's his whole goal in your life; to leave you with no hope, no faith, no confidence, no strength, no forgiveness, no purpose in living.

  

By ourselves, you and I are hopeless.  We have no strength or confidence to overcome our greatest problem: sin.  We are alienated from God by our rebellious hearts, adrift from His kindness and compassion because of our disobedience.  Apart from God, human beings have no lasting goal; we have no purpose for living and no reason for hope in the future.

These treasures are exactly what God wants to give you.  That is why He came at Christmas, to bring you "good news of great joy that will be for all people....A Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord."  That's also why He invites you to His house every Lord's Day ─ not just on major religious and secular holidays.  Your problems and worries and temptations and guilt build up.  God wants to reconnect with you as His dear child.  He wants it to be His day with you so He can renew in you all the riches of His kingdom.

Why do we celebrate Sunday as the Lord's Day?  It's because the resurrection took place on Sunday.  Sunday is to be a weekly "resurrection day," a "mini-Easter."  The worship service is our weekly "feast of victory," our weekly reminder of all the promises God has given us by His grace.  That's why Easter is the decisive day in world history and in your history.  St. Paul reminds us: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith [and mine] is futile; you are still in your sins."  We heard it in the text: "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."

      That's why Satan works so hard to pervert all the great celebrations of the church year.  The evil one wants us to feel that we are still in our sins.  He wants us to feel that you and I are still in our sins.  He wants us to feel that faith is futile.  Satan wants us to have no hope in Christ.  He wants us to remain in the darkness and despair and aimlessness of the disciples that first Easter morning.  Our adversary wants us to live as if Christ is not risen.  He wants us to be shrouded in gloom. 

Do you know that Christ is risen?  Do you know that your Redeemer lives, and that because He lives so shall you?  Our "Christianity" does us no good unless we know this, unless we know Him.  Knowing Him is the whole point of the Christian faith.  If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you "are to be pitied more than all men."  You are to be pitied even more than those who live and die as Hindus and Buddhists and Muslims.  They may never have had the opportunity to hear of Christ.  They may never have know of the feast the Lord has prepared for all peoples, as Isaiah describes it in the Old Testament reading.  They may never have known that death has been swallowed up forever because Christ is risen.

They die in ignorance.  You and I would die in rebellious contempt.  We heard, but we didn't care.  We turned our backs on to His outstretched hand.  We preferred bunnies and eggs and Sunday morning naps.  We enjoyed wallowing in our pity bag.  We enjoyed having an excuse to feel sorry for ourselves.  We enjoyed doing as we want with all the time, talent, and treasure our Lord has entrusted to us for His service.  Think of what could be done in the church if all the Christmas and Easter Christians ─ in fact, all who call themselves Christians ─ would commit their entire lives to serving the Lord with their whole heart, mind, soul, and body ─ talents, abilities, and treasures.  There would always be enough teachers in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School.  The youth of our church would never be wanting for a leader or a counselor.  Members of the church would care about their church ─ enough to attend meetings and serve in one of the leadership positions available.  Church properties would be cared for as well as our homes.  Offerings and gifts would far exceed the needs for home purposes and the mission fields of the church would grow in leaps and bounds.  But we enjoyed imagining that we would never have to give an account.

Do you know that Christ is risen?  Is Easter and every mini-Easter your day to reconnect with the Lord and His good purposes for your life?  Do you want strength and confidence and hope and direction and forgiveness in all the ups and downs of life on earth?  Do you know yourself as a child of God?  Do you know that your Heavenly Father has the "riches of His grace" to give to you?  If not, you are to be pitied more than all people.  God's gift is in your hand.  Will you receive it?  It is at this altar through Christ's Body and Blood "given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."

Do you know that Christ is risen, risen for you?  Do you know that the price for all your sins has been paid?  Do know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  Do you know "the peace of God which transcends all human understanding," and believe that your living Lord is with you all the time?  DO you know that death has been conquered?  Do you know you belong to the Lord?  Will you walk with Him and one day rise with Him?  If so, all the riches of His kingdom are yours now and forever.

The apostle Paul expresses our confidence in Christ: "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins....We were by nature objects of wrath.  But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in [our] transgressions ─ it is by grace you have been saved."  Your resurrected Lord stands before you on this, His victory day.  He invites you to "cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."  He wants you to be filled with renewed joy and confidence and strength and purpose in your heart.

One pair of rabbits produces many more.  Your Lord will produce a bountiful harvest from the riches of His grace.  A chick emerges from the captivity of its egg to light and life.  By God's grace, you and I are able to captivity of sin and death.  The season of spring renews the fertility of the earth.  By grace through faith, in Christ emerge from the, your life [and mine] is renewed.

That's what Easter can mean for you and me.  That's what every mini-Easter can mean for us ─ throughout our lives and into eternity.  We dare not let Satan pervert the grace of God shown to us.  Too much in life and death depends on it.  Isaiah said: "This is the Lord, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation."  This is the day for you and me to say: "Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us."

      Christ is risen!

            He is risen indeed!  Amen