{"id":20823,"date":"2020-04-08T18:06:20","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T01:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=20823"},"modified":"2020-04-08T18:06:26","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T01:06:26","slug":"the-real-easter-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/the-real-easter-is\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real Easter is…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cIn all this you greatly rejoice,\u00a0though now for a little while\u00a0you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.\u00a0These have come so that the proven genuineness\u00a0of your faith\u2014of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire\u2014may result in praise, glory and honor\u00a0when Jesus Christ is revealed.\u00a0Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him\u00a0and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,\u00a0for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.\u201d\u00a0<\/em> \u2014 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Peter 1:6-9\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

By Rev. Mike Graef <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

What is Easter? Lots of wonderful joy is spread around at Easter time. Colored eggs, chocolate bunnies, lots of fresh flowers, Easter lilies, Easter bonnets, dress up time, putting on your Sunday best, bright sunny Sunday morning, going off to church together. Maybe a big meal afterwards?\u00a0Some of that we’re not going to get to do this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0Are you bummed?\u00a0I sure am.\u00a0But I’m super proud that we’re doing everything we can to keep people safe, so that we can go on to have many more glorious Easters \u2014 and with no one dying before their time.\u00a0Easter says life.\u00a0Victorious, risen life.\u00a0So really what better way could there be to show the world we are Easter people than to stand for life \u2014 and be disciplined and courageous and stronger than this invisible enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real Easter is not dependent on any of the stuff of Easter. <\/strong>It inspired the stuff, but it doesn’t need the stuff.\u00a0Easter doesn’t need church buildings or our favorite Easter songs, choir, bell choir, or even a pancake breakfast.\u00a0\u201cEvery day to us is Easter with its resurrection song.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0(United Methodist Hymnal #304)\u00a0The real Easter comes direct from God to you and I. Potentially every day.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real Easter is a revelation.<\/strong> They came to the tomb and his body was not there. A witness was there instead: \u201che is not here, he is risen!\u201d\u00a0Easter for us is also our own witness, a personal witness that we have. Jesus Christ, God\u2019s Son, gently assists us to have a direct experience of God\u2019s presence.\u00a0The Holy Spirit and the Risen Son are the same person.\u00a0God speaks his presence, and it is the living Christ\u2019s presence.\u00a0He speaks through scripture, through nature, often times through silent prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a direct experience of God’s presence like?\u00a0It doesn’t come with information. It is simply the presence of Christ within your heart and mind and spirit.\u00a0And for that moment of God\u2019s speech within, you are not distracted.\u00a0You are not lost in thought, you are not unaware of God’s presence.\u00a0There is love, and joy, hope and peace.\u00a0That\u2019s Easter.\u00a0Christ is Risen and YOU are a witness.\u00a0Faith is not an effort, it is simply an acknowledgement: \u201cI’m being spoken to, yes I hear you Lord, yes I see you Lord.\u00a0Yes!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years ago, when I began to experience the risen Christ I wrote a song (text below). It quotes from: Luke 9:23, Romans 12:1-2, and Isaiah 9:1-4.\u00a0My way of experiencing the risen Christ had become the way of Luke 9:23: first self-denial, then picking up my cross daily, and finally walking with Jesus. Following him.\u00a0Putting this together with the dedication prayer from Romans 12, and the great good news of Isaiah 9 gave me a path to walk in those early years of my true commitment to follow Jesus.\u00a0It still blesses me today, it is still my path.\u00a0We\u2019ll sing it sometime.\u00a0It rocks, of course.\u00a0I used to break all manner of guitar strings playing it!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s so sad we can’t gather together on Sunday mornings right now.\u00a0But the very best of Easter will come to you right where you are! You will not be left out. \u201cYes I hear you Lord, yes I see you. Christ is risen, Christ is risen indeed!\u201d\u00a0Can’t wait till we get together again in person!\u00a0Until then, find your own witness. And be safe and well, and in touch, call, write!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLord Write This Prayer Upon My Heart\u201d <\/strong>by Mike Graef<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Refrain:
Lord write this prayer upon my heart:
\u201cThe cross gives me a place to start.
Accept me now oh Lord I pray, a sacrifice to you today.\u201d (Hey hey)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Land of Zebulun, the people in the dark, have seen a great light!
2. Land of Naphtali, death shadowed is a land, has seen a great light!
3. Thou hast increased joy. Thou hast made great joy. And burden\u2019s bar Thou breaks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Rev. Mike Graef<\/strong> serves as pastor of Spokane Valley United Methodist Church<\/a> in Spokane, Washington. This post originally appeared in the church’s April newsletter.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a letter to his church, Rev. Mike Graef names some of the disappointment many feel celebrating Easter in these COVID-19 times.
\nWhile sharing this disappointment, he reminds us that the true Easter experience doesn’t require these things.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":20824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[93,394],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20823","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-devotional","8":"category-local-church-2"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/easter-revelation.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-5pR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20823"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20826,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20823\/revisions\/20826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}