Easter Preparations

“Are you ready for Easter?”

Last night, a woman asked me this question. I hear similar questions at Christmas, New Years, and before a vacation trip, and I am never certain of the best way to answer them.

Some people prepare for events with special food, decorations, and a guest list. Some prepare for a trip by packing two weeks ahead of time and make long, detailed decisions about everything they are taking and everything they plan on doing or seeing on their vacation. My husband and I do neither.

When we travel, we pack the night before. While living out of a suitcase is a must on vacation, I’ve no intention of doing it before I go. We know what we need to take, and just toss it in. I can’t recall ever forgetting anything important by leaving our preparations until the last day. Besides, my life is far too busy to spend two weeks of it packing.

When we prepare for a holiday event, I mentally choose a menu, might even write it down, and certainly buy the ingredients ahead of time. However, I do the same for most meals. We do put up decorations for Christmas and sometimes for birthday celebrations, but our focus is not on the decor or the food.

Perhaps that is why I’m so puzzled by the question. I really don’t understand what the person is asking. It seems that they are talking about externals, about the “ceremony” of celebration. I suppose that is very important to them.

I don’t condemn ceremony. Ceremony and festivities can be meaningful. The Bible is full of celebrations. In fact, “In the Old Testament, feasts and festivals were occasions of joy. They were times for thanking God for blessings and granting relief to the poor and oppressed. They were often accompanied by singing, instrumental music, dancing, elaborate meals, and sacrifices. Depending on the nature and the requirements of the occasion, they were celebrated either at a sanctuary or at a person’s home” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary).

Today, Christians do not celebrate those Old Testament feasts. Instead, as described in the New Testament, many of them take on new meaning. For instance, Jesus observed Jewish feasts yet He transformed Passover for his followers into a ritual remembrance of his death (1 Corinthians 11:24) that we call the Lord’s Supper or Communion.

Aside from that, there are few regulations about feasts or fasts or festivals. Any observed by Christians have grown out of traditions around of the life and practices of Jesus and the experiences of the church. For example, we observe Christmas to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Some denominations celebrated Epiphany, related to the appearance of the Magi, and Lent as a remembrance of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Ascension Day remembers His ascent into heaven, and Pentecost celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit. Because the cardinal event of the Christian faith, the resurrection of Jesus, occurred on a Sunday, right from the beginning Christians gathered together on that day to worship and celebrate, rather than the Sabbath, which was Saturday. (See Acts 20:7, etc.).

Regardless of denominational preferences, Easter is the most important date on the Christian calendar. While we celebrate communion more often at His command to “do this in remembrance” of Him, Easter is grand time of rejoicing that He died for our sins, then rose from the grave to conquer death. Without the reality of what Jesus has done, our faith is nothing. Easter is our celebration of the key element in what we believe.

For me, being ready for Easter obviously is far more spiritual than it is physical. I could put up decorations, but have no idea what Easter decorations look like. Baskets, eggs and bunnies? For Christians, those things do not represent anything about Easter. I could prepare some sort of traditional food. The same woman who asked if I was ready also asked if I will be serving turkey or ham. I could, mainly because the stores have them in stock and on sale, but this year we will likely have salmon. For me, the food is not particularly about Easter either.

As I ponder this question about being ready, I think of the instructions Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 11:28-32 for the Lord’s supper or communion. It says:

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

Here, the idea of preparation is not about the meal but the heart. Before I remember the death of Jesus Christ for my sin and participate in communion, I am supposed to examine my heart and my life. Is there unconfessed sin in me? Do I need to bring anything to God for forgiveness and cleansing? If so, I’m not to participate in the meal unless that is done.

The Bible says that those who try to celebrate Jesus’ death and His sacrifice for their sin without confessing and repenting of sin are not in a place of celebration, but of judgment. In fact, in the case of the church at Corinth, He had brought weakness, illness and even death to some who had not obeyed this prerequisite for communion.

In light of these verses, the way to be ready for Easter is by keeping short accounts with God. This is certainly not a once-a-year thing, but something I must do every day, and sometimes often each day. It doesn’t matter to me if my house looks like “Easter” (whatever that means), or that the food is perfect and fitting the occasion. What does matter is that my heart is right with God.

The best part is that because of Easter being right with God is totally possible. That being the case, and thanks to Jesus Christ, right now I am ready for Easter.