Years ago, after my sister was married and had purchased a home, she claimed the right to host Thanksgiving. Since my mom’s birthday is on Christmas, she had a trump card for hosting that celebration. Not wanting to be left out of the opportunity for my family to gather at my home, I tagged Easter. At the time, my hostessing skills were pretty minimalist, but God sent me help in the form of my husband who knows how to make even the most mundane things fun. Although his elaborate plans often cause me to question whether we are aiming too high, he always manages to pull them off. And the crowd of people who gather at our home, always end up having a good time.
Because of our history of hosting Easter, my kids have always known Easter celebrations filled with activities and people we love. It was quite a shock for them to realize that Easter this year would look considerably different. Our house would not contain any of their friends, and there would not be a photo scavenger hunt or a candy exchange for them to try to get their favorite treat. We wouldn’t be donning new clothes or taking pictures in front of our church’s floral cross. This Easter promises to be the quietest one that they have known.
As their disappointment became evident to me, I tried to think through how we could “make it up to them.” I pondered how we could still make the day special despite the lack of normal events. I considered whether an egg hunt with just our family was even worthwhile and what I should do about dinner for our considerably smaller group I wondered if it was even worth attempting to create special memories since things would be so different from what they have grown to expect. In a sense there was a feeling of futility as I contemplated the day. In all likelihood they will never again experience an Easter like this one. Is it even worth it to go through the effort of trying to replicate something that will never match what they hope it will be?
Yet as I thought about these things, I was reminded that whatever hindrances social isolation creates for our Easter celebrations, it cannot detract from what is most important about our time together – making Christ the focus of our day. Pondering His death on Good Friday and His subsequent resurrection on Easter morning is the real reason for the season. And while fancy new attire and hunts for eggs may normally distract us from this most important thing, this period of sequestering at home should renew our commitment to put our focus where it should be – on the saving work of Jesus Christ.
What are some practical ways that you can do this with your family? Here are
five ways:
1. Read – Each day of this week, read about what happened on the corresponding day during Passion Week. This is a helpful guide to help you know what to read. If you have younger kids, it may be beneficial to have them act out the various parts of the drama as it unfolds. This will not only keep them engage, but it will also help them personalize the historical events recorded in the Bible.
2. Sacrifice – Make it a goal this week that everyone in your household will make a sacrifice each day to serve someone else – just as Christ sacrificed for the sake of His children. Everyone in your family can participate in this and every night you can discuss how each individual’s sacrifice mirrored the sacrifice of Christ. Maybe a sibling extended forgiveness just as Christ did to those who put Him on the cross. Maybe Mom gave up rights to her “free time” to play the game that the kids have been longing to play – just as Christ gave up His rights to Heaven in order to come to this Earth. While sacrifice for the good of others is always commendable, in order for this sacrifice to deepen our commemoration of Easter, it is important that we think through how what we give up is parallel to what Christ gave up for us.
3. Give Thanks – In your prayers this week, thank God for one thing that you receive as a result of what Christ accomplished through His death and resurrection. We may be quick to think about what we have given up for Christ’s sake, but the truth is, what we gain because of what Christ gave up for our sake is far more significant. If you are struggling with coming up a list of things that Christians have gained because of the work of Christ -here are a few ideas:
- Eternal life -John 3:16,
- The promise of seeing the glory of God – John 11:4
- The assurance of being sealed by the Holy Spirit – Ephesians 1:13
- A lasting Inheritance – Acts 26:18
- Forgiveness of sins – Ephesians. 4:32
- Justification in the Sight of God – Galatians 2:16
- A new life in Christ – Galatians. 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:17
- Access to the Father – Ephesians. 2:18
- Being God’s son or daughter – Galatians.3:26
- A confident hope – Romans 15:13
4. Memorize His Word – If we want our minds to be fixed upon Christ, it is helpful for us to know what the Bible has to say about His death and resurrection. This is a good time to hide some verses in your heart – and to help your family do so too If you are wondering which verses to concentrate on, here are some suggestions (please note – I tried to pick verses that could be memorized by family members of all ages , and ordered them from based on difficulty for memorization)
- John 14:6 – “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
- Romans 5:8 – ” but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
- I John 4:10 – ” In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
- Ephesians 2:8 – ” For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
- Romans 10:9 -” that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”
- Romans 1:16 – ” For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
- Acts 2:38 – And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- I Corinthians 15:3 – ” For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,”
- I Peter 3:18 – ” For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,”
- Isaiah 53:5 – ” But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
Share the Gospel – There is no better way to commemorate what Christ has done for us than to share it with someone else. This may be someone in your household, or it may be someone who you check on to see how they are adjusting to this temporary norm. It may even be someone that you get to talk to in the grocery story? line, while you wait on your turn to enter. Can you imagine how much richer your Easter celebration will be if you get to play a role in helping to bring someone to repentance and faith in Jesus Chris?
As we face an Easter season that looks so different from what we are used to, it can be easy to put our thoughts on all that we have had to give up. And yet, in the quiet of our homes with minimal social obligations, this may be the perfect time to check our hearts and make sure that our Easter traditions are primarily about Christ. We can renew our commitment to put our focus on that which is most important and we can start new rituals that help our families, and ourselves more purposefully celebrate the events of Passion week. We may feel like we are missing a lot, that everything is “cancelled” to use the popular term, but if we are diligent, we can use this sequestering to gain a return that egg hunts will never provide. We can concentrate on that which is most important this Easter- and every Easter- by centering our hearts and our minds on Jesus Christ.
