Praise God for an ordinary Easter

I had no expectations of attending an Easter service where anyone would be firing t-shirt cannons, performing backflips with cars, or giving away dinosaurs. This should surprise exactly no one who knows me or reads this blog. (Although, giving away a dinosaur would be pretty rad.)

But even so, I had no idea what to expect of an Easter worship gathering. Would it be a bit more of a grander to-do than the typical Sunday? This is what I anticipated because it’s what I’ve always experienced. Easter was an opportunity to not so much do things entirely differently, but to up the ante a little. That’s what I expected, and I wouldn’t have been disappointed if I had gotten it. But it’s not. Instead, the service at the church we visited this weekend was, more or less, exactly like any other time we’ve visited. My Easter was an “ordinary” Sunday, and praise God for it.

That might seem strange, but hear me out. Easter is an important day for all Christians. It’s an opportunity for us to invite non-Christian friends and family to join us (and sometimes they even come). Some choose to be baptized on this day.It’s a remembrance of a historic event—that on this specific day according to the Jewish calendar roughly 2000 years ago, Jesus’ tomb was empty, and it remains so. So please don’t hear me trying to diminish it’s importance. We should treat Easter Sunday with great care. But we should be just as eager to remember it next Sunday, too.

Each time God’s people gather, we’re to be celebrating this truth. We’re remembering that the tomb is empty and remains so. We’re remembering that death is dead in Christ. That sin has been defeated. That Jesus is the king of the universe, and someday soon, all things will be made new. This is good news—the good news. And good news that we can’t limit to one day a year.

That’s what my “ordinary” Easter reminded me of. And that’s what I want to remember every time my family and I gather with a body of faithful believers. Next Sunday, Jesus is risen. The Sunday after, the tomb is still empty. And the same is true of the next and the next and the next, right up until the moment Jesus returns.

Posted by Aaron Armstrong

Aaron is the author of several books for adults and children, as well as multiple documentaries and Bible studies. His latest book, I'm a Christian—Now What?: A Guide to Your New Life with Christ is available now.