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Easter

One sign of the approach of Easter is the rows and rows of Easter eggs in the shops. As someone who enjoys chocolate this is a very tempting sight. However with my accountant’s head on I have of course worked out that you get far more chocolate for your money if you simply buy a bar, than if you buy a highly packaged Easter egg! Nowadays you can buy fairly traded chocolate eggs as well as the usual bars, so there is the possibility of feeling less guilty about self-indulgence with the knowledge that the cocoa bean growers are getting a fairer share of the money we pay.

Other signs may include hot cross buns in the shops and spring flowers in gardens, parks and on grass verges. As the people of God we can enjoy all of these things, but perhaps we should also hear a challenge at the same time. Surely people should be also able to see signs of Easter in us. And this shouldn’t be limited to this time of year either. Easter is the time when we celebrate the central message of the Christian faith and this should affect the way we are all the year round. If we are followers of Jesus Christ what does Easter teach us about the way we should follow Jesus Christ?

I am going to suggest three ways (and you may well think of others):

• Easter is about Sacrifice. In a world where individualism and selfishness seem to dictate so many of the choices people make, followers of Jesus Christ shouldn’t take the easy comfortable route, but instead choose the way that helps others even if it is difficult.

• Easter is about Love. In a world where “love” is a throw-away word that seems to stand for very little that is lasting and faithful, followers of Jesus Christ should demonstrate a love for others that is loyal, determined and ready to take all the knocks.

• Easter is about Life. In a world where life often seems to be cheap and human beings are exploited by those with power in so many different ways, followers of Jesus Christ should value others, no matter who they are, and help them to live their lives to the full.

Jesus demonstrated his love, his sacrifice and lived his life in such a way that those who didn’t or wouldn’t understand decided they had to stop him. However not even his death on the cross could end the love or the life that was in him, and we are given hope because of Easter Day.

(Revd.) Kevin Jones

Beliefs of the United Reformed Church