Easter dawn found us sitting on metal folding chairs in the church parking lot wearing jeans and sweatshirts in the chilly air. What a contrast! The previous Easter our church in Chicago had heralded Easter with a brilliant burst of trumpets and brass, rumbling tympani, melodic cello, and the magnificent swell of a pipe organ. The ornate chancel was abloom with tulips, daffodils, and iris, while the choir sang from Handel’s joyous Messiah.
Now we were stiffly seated on our flowerless, black-topped parking lot. Suddenly, as the sun broke through the clouds, our small family of faith sat in a pool of light. My rock hard heart that had been focusing on the differences softened. Greetings of “Christ is risen; He is risen indeed” were exchanged. We heard the Gospel of Christ’s victory over death. We sang songs of joy; we shared our Lord’s Supper. Everything important was present in that parking lot.
Throughout the world today church bells ring, choirs sing, and smiles reign as we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. While it is a joy to celebrate with brassy bold trumpets and robed processionals, we can know the joy of salvation in whatever form our worship of the risen Christ takes around the world, in remote villages or dense forests, in anonymous cities or desert battlefields. I know, because the Holy Spirit has no limits! At Easter sunrise, the Spirit visited a plain parking lot, filling our hearts with resurrection joy.
Prayer: Now is the time of God’s favor; now is the day of salvation. Turn us again, O God of our salvation, that the light of Your face may shine on us. May Your justice shine like the sun; and may the poor be lifted up. Amen.
Response: Celebrate Christ wherever you are!
(Devotions from “Cross of Ashes” by Christine Weerts, a Lenten devotional provided by Lutheran Hour Ministries. Copyright 2005, Int’l LLL. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time emailing of this link to a friend.)