Not everyone celebrates Easter on Easter

 

The story of Peter and John approaching the gate and seeing the beggar is a great one. (Acts 3:1-10) How many times do we walk by the “beggars” in our lives?  Sometimes we do stop and give them a dollar or two but Peter and John gave so much more, not just the healing but the gift of our Lord.  The man entered the temple, “walking and jumping and praising God.”  How often do I forget the gifts that are mine because of Him?  How much of my life do I spend walking and jumping and praising God?  I saw a beautiful sunrise this morning, I walk, I talk, I am blessed with the most wonderful wife, children, and grandchild  – certainly enough to cause someone to jump and praise God  . . .   Do I show my gratitude enough – I do try – it is not lost on me that I am incredibly blessed.  That doesn’t mean everything goes my way – I’ve had my tragedies and disappointments.   I am always aware that no matter what, I am not alone.  I know that what I have is in the name of Jesus and is possible because of Him.

I love the story of the disciples’ meeting Christ on the road to Emmaus, obviously.  I was, after all, inspired to name my blog based on the event. (Luke 24:13-35) The symbolism is so layered to me.  The idea of meeting Jesus and not having “open eyes” is so telling of our everyday lives.  How often have we met “Jesus” and we just didn’t know it?  There are numerous stories in today’s media filled world circulating about such situations and only later when their “eyes are open” do the characters in the story realize they have indeed encountered Jesus. We are bombarded with so many things in our lives; it is so easy to walk with “unopened eyes,” to not see what is the most important around us.  We must learn to recognize when “our hearts burn within us.”  When the Holy Spirit makes His presence known to us through that burn it is essential that we embrace it and jump and praise God  . . . the best is yet to be!

Not everyone celebrates “Easter” on Easter. This is an important point of the gospel that often goes unnoticed, in my opinion.  We need to move deeper into the understanding of Easter. It is not merely the day where we celebrate the belief that today Jesus rose from the dead, but rather a more expansive celebration where we celebrate hope and the continuation of life. Easter is a season, a series of days where we continue acknowledging constantly the joys and pains of what it means to exist in this world and continue the hope that it is all worthwhile.

Most of us are probably like the two men walking down the road with an unrecognized Jesus. Life and Resurrection are right there beside us, but we still don’t realize we should celebrate. To some, the stress of Easter is more of a hassle than celebration. To others, they might be living in physical and social conditions that make it nearly impossible to believe in resurrection. They are still living the passion. And there are those who feel like they tried to participate in Easter, but didn’t really celebrate. They may not feel the boldness and life that comes from the Resurrection. That’s OK. There’s still time. Not everyone celebrates Easter on Easter Sunday. It took the two men on the road a bit of time actually physically staring at Jesus before they realized what was happening and took the time to celebrate. Why should we be any different?

So for any of us still struggling to live Easter, let’s hope we can be like Peter and John in their encounter with the beggar and help each other. Let’s pray for each other. Let’s physically help each other. And through all this, let’s find a space where we might be able to celebrate the hope and life that is the Resurrection. Alleluia.