I don’t know what your Easter weekend was like, but I can bet it was a busy one. And if you serve at a church in some capacity, then I can bet you had a really busy one.
Easter is one of the biggest weekends of the year for the Church. There is typically a much higher attendance and therefore a larger need for volunteers to accommodate the amount of guests. Hours and hours are spent getting ready for the weekend celebration.
On Easter weekend pastors, greeters, nursery workers, parking teams, hospitality members, media teams and many other volunteers get to experience the fulfillment of investing their time into an eternally valuable effort. It’s an incredible experience and a weekend filled to the brim with meaning and significance.
However, after the final Easter service is over and as all the volunteers, staff members and guests leave – we all head for the same destination – Monday morning.
Everything is harder on Monday mornings – especially when that Monday follows Easter (and a 3 day weekend because of Good Friday).
As we wake up and begin our normal routine, things begin to be a struggle. After a weekend of so much excitement, so much meaning, so much significance and so much encouragement – it’s easy to become discouraged when you step away from that.
For the volunteer or staff member – he or she may begin to question the time that was invested – “Was it really worth it?”… “Did I even make a difference?”
For the guest – he or she may begin to wonder if the whole Jesus thing will really make any difference – “Did anything even change?” … “Was it for real?”
Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection answers loud and clear.
Jesus’ sacrifice brings eternal significance to every aspect of our life.
Every sermon, every handshake, every smile and every effort made at introducing people to the Gospel has eternal implications.
Jesus’ death brought new life and meaning to everything that we do-not just on Easter, not just on Sunday’s and not just in a church.
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives on and now lives in us. (Romans 8:11)
Because of His sacrifice we don’t have to be in a church to make an eternal difference, because of His sacrifice we are the Church.
Through His blood that was poured out He bridged the gap, freed us from sin and now calls us a son or daughter.
Through His blood we are sons instead of slaves.
Through His blood we can cry out, “Abba Father”.
Through His blood we can pronounce, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
Through His blood we can fearlessly and boldly proclaim the Gospel – full of faith, full of love and full of hope.
Because of His sacrifice, all that we do – whether in word or in deed can now be done in His name.
Without His sacrifice, nothing we do would matter eternally.
With His sacrifice, everything we do matters eternally.