Happy Holy Week Brothers and Sisters!
As this week begins many of us will be making plans for the coming Easter celebrations. Eggs will be decorated and hidden, baskets put together, lunches cooked and …of course….probably go to church. Most churches will be putting their best foot forward as families come together to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Children will be dressed up, pictures will be taken, just as it happens year after year. But here is my question for you, do you expect Jesus to show up?
Sitting on my desk at the church office is my great great grandfather’s bible. Its pages are worn and words are underlined with little notes. The spine shows some fading and several pages are dog-eared and creased. It is very clear that this old book has been opened and used many times; reflecting the man who used it. You see, my great great grandfather, Pat Thompson, was a Lay Leader. He taught a huge Sunday school class in Bay City Texas with numbers reaching as high as 500. The class started with just a few men who met at the Methodist Church in town. Granddaddy Pat eventually opened the bible study to all denominations. Over the years the class grew from a few dozen to over 500 on the roll! Eventually the class would get so large they would have to meet in an old movie theater. He started the class back in the 1920’s and it was still going strong when he passed in the 1970’s. I sometimes think of all those who attended his study, and all the different Christian traditions that united and shared their faith with each other in those study hours. Surely the presence of Christ was among them doing a mighty work in their community.
A book that remains upon the shelf unopened and unused is about the same value as a Christians’ faith that is not expressed or lived. As Christians we are called to live our faith not just in select moments but constantly in our lives both private and public. How useless in the message of God if it never crosses our lips or is written on our heart. Another thought, how good are all the Easter traditions if we don’t expect Christ to show up? Us good ol’ Christian folk need to pay attention not to overburden our Easter festivities with all the fluff and pageantry, only to neglect to expect the resurrected Christ to show up! Who knows who will be crossing the thresholds of our churches this Easter? We do not know that tradition they will come from, their views on the bible, or whether they even know who Jesus is! This is a perfect moment for the Fairfield Christian community to awake from their sleep and call upon Christ to be present in every single sanctuary in Freestone County. And then…we better expect Christ to show up! The book of Titus states, “Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
What does your faith look like? Is it time to dust off the cover of your relationship with God and spend a little more time in his presence? Perhaps it’s time that we as Christians pay more attention to the attention we are giving God? My prayer for us as a community of faith this Holy week is that we find time to open our hearts, open our bibles, and open our minds to God’s presence. Let’s dust off our faith and welcome Jesus into our lives this week in preparation for Easter Sunday, otherwise what are we even celebrating for if we don’t expect the risen Christ to show up! How much more authentic will our praise and worship be if we truly believe Christ is standing next to us in church this Easter Sunday. Because, well, HE WILL BE!
The book of Hebrew has this to say, “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Let’s be looking to Jesus this week brother and sisters, for Christ has risen just as He said He would! Let’s dust off our hearts for the presence of God and dust off our faith so that we may be a beacon of love for all those that will come seeking Jesus this Sunday.
Abundant Easter blessings upon you and your families.
Pastor Mike McVey
First United Methodist Church, Fairfield TX
ASC Chaplain – United States Coast Guard
Chaplain – Texas Game Warden Service
(P.S. If you would like to contact or receive Pastor Mike’s weekly newsletter simply email him at pastormike@fumcfairfield.org)
