What Easter taught me about Christmas

I'm going to start this Christmas post by looking back at Easter 2017.

This past spring, I wanted to capture the Easter spirit - that spirit of peaceful, spiritual revival under the shadow of the cross and resurrection of my savior, Jesus. I desperately wanted to seek Jesus during Holy Week to prepare my heart for worship on Easter Sunday. And, if I know one thing is absolute for me and you, it's this:

If you seek Jesus . . .
. . . you will always find Him.
If you cry out, "I need you, Jesus," He will always respond with, "I am right here."
And, He will cut through all the religious ambiguity and confusing questions and Christian dysfunction that gets in the way of you finding Him. None of that will matter once you seek and find Him. After experiencing Him, you will be left in peace and in wonder. Your life won't - can't - be the same. Ever.

Around Easter, I was restless. I had wandered from Jesus, which can mean avoiding a spirit of love and service just as much as it can mean doing disappointing things. My faith life was stale. I missed a daily connection with my Savior. It happens to all of us. I decided to seek Him over the course of Holy Week.

So, beginning with Palm Sunday, I set aside some kind of meaningful Spiritual activity for each day of the week leading up to Easter Sunday. For a few of my deeply theological friends in their lofty places this may all sound a bit rote, but for a broken old pirate with life's battle scars up and down my back, this day-by-day orderly schedule was what I needed.

On Palm Sunday, I went to church and worshiped. Throughout the week, each day, I read through the Gospel of John. One afternoon, I watched The Passion of the Christ movie, and on cue, I cried like a baby through most of it. (It's hard for me to get real with Jesus and not be left a blubbering mess.) I attended a Maundy Thursday service and a Good Friday service at churches other than my own because sometimes it helps to worship where you don't know anyone but Jesus. Twice that week I went on long walks and listened to worship music and just prayed while I walked. One day, I wrote a letter to God and then I wrote letters to God every morning. Every single day, I took time to do something that turned my full attention toward Jesus and His love for me despite all the inconsistencies of my life.

On Easter Sunday, during church worship, I've never worshiped like that before - ever. It had nothing to do with the sermon or the music because I don't remember anything about them. I prepared for Easter worship, and God joined me right there. I cried almost all the way through it. You can't touch the hem of Jesus's garment and be left the same. You cannot do it. It's impossible.

So, now it's Christmas, and I'm going to do something very similar in the week leading up to Christmas Day. I want Christmas Day to be a celebration of newness for me because I prepared my heart for it in the week leading up to it.

Now, in full disclosure, let me tell you that Vicki and I go full throttle with all the cultural trappings of Christmas. We do the tree, the parties, Santa, gift-giving, mall shopping, carol-singing, and I may be the greatest Rankin-Bass addict on this planet. So, when you judge the secular at Christmas, you are judging people like me. Be very careful.

I plan to launch my Christmas week with a nice Christmas program at my church on Sunday night the 17th. Daily, I plan to read the Christmas story from both Matthew and Luke. I plan to engage my "walking worship" and scout out what local churches are doing during that week prior to Christmas. I'll attend a Christmas Eve service - maybe even two of them. The point is - every single day, I will take time out to prepare my heart for the worship of Christmas Day. It's not about leading my family to do it. It's about me doing it. If I do put my focus on the worship of my Savior, my family will be a beneficiary of it.

It may not be as emotional as Easter was, I don't know. But, for me, it's not about the emotion as much as it's about the preparation for worship on Christmas Eve / Christmas Morning. I plan to reach deep during the week leading up to Christmas. Easter taught me how to do it. I hope you will reach deep, too.

www.scottdvaughan.com


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