Skipping Church

 Image by Michael Gaida at Pixabay

I received a kind email the other day, closing with “Blessed Easter to you!”

“This will be a strange Easter,” I thought. “No dressing up in our Sunday best. No rousing rendition of ‘Up from the grave He arose,’ sung in harmony with my whole church family. Will the day be a dud?”

But then I thought of Good Friday and the moment the veil in the temple was rent in two. The curtain that kept people out of the Holy of Holies, that kept them away from the overwhelming presence of God, was destroyed. God would never again live in the temple.

Jesus’s sacrifice paid the price to wash me clean. God says, “Accept My gift, and I will make you the Holy of Holies.”

We long to praise Him for this on Easter, but the church is locked up tight. Can skipping church be an act of worship? It is when we remember God doesn’t live in the church building. He lives in us. All because of Easter.

Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27

Jesus's Identity and Mine

I’ve been reading John in preparation for Easter, and I found Jesus’s worldview beautifully pictured in John 13:3-5 (ESV):

Image by falco from Pixabay

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 

Jesus knew who He was, the Son of God and possessor of all things. He knew where He came from and where He was going, and He acted on this truth by serving His disciples. Then in the greatest act of love, He died for us.

His death and resurrection are the ultimate declaration of His identity. He is the Righteous Judge who won’t ignore the tangled mess of my sin. He is the Merciful Savior who paid the penalty for me. And He is God incarnate, life itself, so He couldn’t stay in the grave.

Now He invites me to find my identity in Him. He tells me where I came from, from His loving heart (Psalm 139:13-14). He guarantees my destiny in heaven if I accept His gift by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). And He offers to remake me in the moment, taking away my sin and filth and giving me His holy, blameless heart (Colossians 1:22).

Then He calls me to go out and serve like He did.

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. John 13:14-15 ESV