CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – I’m going to skip a regular Easter message about Jesus dying for your salvation.
Instead I’d like to talk about a poll that came out earlier this week. It was from the Pew Research Center about how often we attend church. Less than 1-in-3 American adults are regular church-goers. That’s even lower than before the COVID pandemic, when many churches were forced to close. Even among those who identify as members of organized religion: catholic, protestant, or evangelical – church attendance was down.
What does this have to do with Easter?
A lot, I think.
In John’s version of the Easter story, the resurrected Jesus appears before the apostles. What were they doing? They were in hiding, in a locked room fearing that they would be arrested by the Jewish leaders of the day. John’s gospel tells us that Jesus appeared to them a second time, on a beach after they’d been fishing. They’d been taught by and traveled with the Messiah – they knew who Jesus was; and they’d returned to the mundane things of everyday life.
And that’s the Easter message. The Easter message means nothing if it isn’t shared. God forbid, Jesus would have been forgotten to the sands of time if the disciples didn’t tell his story.
This Easter, remember you and I – believers – must do that. And part of being an effective evangelist is to be a church-goer. I’ve heard it all before: God is everywhere, I don’t need to be in church to experience God. Yes, and no. I hope you experience God in all the corners of your life, especially small quiet moments of prayer and reflection. But worship is intended to be a shared experience. When you are around other believers, your faith is strengthened. You learn more about Christianity. You will have more to share with others. And if you don’t, you’re like the apostles hiding in a locked room or doing the day-to-day things of life.
We say that the Easter story is Good News. Indeed it is. As Easter approaches, let’s make a solemn vow that we will share it. Don’t keep it to yourself.
Chris Conley
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