When we think of the upcoming holiday, we do not often think of danger. Obviously it is one of the most critical events on the Christian calendar - the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is the motivation for our life eternal - the reason that we worship. Obviously it is a critical moment - so where is the danger? The danger is a danger present in all of the days we celebrate as important - a disconnect between what is celebrated and the how we celebrate.
Allow me to demonstrate. We are celebrating the resurrection of our Savior. And so we put out candy and eggs for our children to find and fill their baskets with goodies. I am not saying that Easter baskets are intrinsically bad. But they have little to nothing to do with the Savior. So what do our kids look forward to? Is is the candy - or the meaning of the resurrection?
Allow me to demonstrate. We are celebrating the pivotal moment in history when Jesus rose from the dead. And so we gather together as a family and have a meal. Again the meal is not bad in itself, but is it just another opportunity to get together or are we focusing our attention on Jesus?
And therein lies the danger. We can take these moments of worship and focus them on us and what we want and what we like to do and make them moments about us instead of moments about what they are really about. So as you celebrate in whatever ways you are used to celebrating, would you take a moment to stop and consider the danger and take some intentional time to explain what and why we are celebrating to each other, to our kids?
