By Pastor Paul Hauschild
Chatfield and Root Prairie
Lutheran Churches
Pastor Phil Callaway tells of driving his 5-year-old son past a local cemetery. Of course, 5-year-olds sometimes have an interesting perspective on things. Noticing a large pile of dirt beside a newly excavated grave, the boy pointed and said, “Look, Dad, one got out!!!” Calloway laughed at the time. But he writes, “… every time I pass a graveyard, I’m reminded of the One who got out.”
This One is Jesus Christ our Lord! He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Perhaps this Easter season you are feeling some despair. If death has taken someone you love, you wish in this Easter season that you might be sure, absolutely sure, that they have eternal life. Or if advanced age or some illness is laying hard claim on your body, you may want to know with profound certainty that this is not the end. Whatever struggle we might be going through, we need more than bunnies and spring flowers. We want to be sure of the risen Christ. We want to look at the grave and know that “One got out!”
Before Jesus died, he told his disciples of a new commandment: Love one another. However, this isn’t so new, is it? But when we are facing death, struggle, illness and the like, this commandment to love takes on a new meaning. We could despair, but Jesus tells us to love. We could complain, but Jesus tells us to love. We could shut ourselves off, but Jesus tells us to love. I think LOVE and RESURRECTION equate. I think LOVE and HOPE are synonyms. When life is a whirlwind, simply respond by loving those around you to the best of your ability with the love of Jesus.
What do I mean by loving those around you? Doing something for someone, giving encouragement or a compliment, calling someone you haven’t in a while, giving a surprise gift, praying for someone’s well-being, empathizing instead of judging. The list could go on. Loving someone the way Christ would means we get out of our heads and seek to affirm someone’s day, someone’s life.
And then you, too, will smile and say: “One got out!”
Easter Blessings!