Is Easter worth getting excited about?

Many years ago I was the associate minister under JF at First, South Miami. JF was a tremendous pastor, a caring administrator, but somewhat lacking when it came to the mastery of the pulpit. Oh, his sermons were well thought out, biblically based and well written … but they were read without much excitement. Our first Easter together he delivered one of his most exciting sermons of the entire year. After the service, as we were taking off our robes, I complimented him on a very exciting sermon. I will never forget his answer … “Well, Jim, Easter is almost worth getting excited about!”

Almost?

In Matthew’s story of the resurrection, chapter 28, Jesus appears before Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and said, “Greetings”. All scholars, writing a commentary on Matthew 28:1-17, shared that “greetings” is too weak for the word Jesus used. Rejoice would be much better, especially within the context of the situation. Rejoice! It is worth getting excited about!

Rejoice - REJOICE – with every fiber of your being. With all of your energy, all of your might, all of your imagination … Rejoice … Shout it from the mountain tops; declare it through the city; let everyone hear the great news … REJOICE … something has transpired that is worth getting excited about.

A question was asked on Sunday, as it is every year, as to why there are those who come to church only on Christmas and Easter. I am one who isn’t afraid of putting my foot in my mouth so, a couple of years ago, I turned to one of my regular “C-and-Eers” and asked him directly why he only bothered to attend church on these two occasions, especially since he was a member of the church and a rather good financial supporter of its ministry (he was in the top 3% of givers). His answer gave me pause.

“Well, preacher, if the Good News is all that exciting then why don’t we pull out all the stops EVERY Sunday instead of just on these two special occasions?” He went on to point out that next Sunday there wouldn’t be any trumpets, the altar will be returned to the “same-old-same-old” arrangements, the choir will be half the size it was on Easter, there would not be anything special for the children and youth. He declared with some authority, “The church service will become nothing more exciting that a TV re-run!”

He was correct ... painfully correct. We save up our rejoicing for one spectacular day and then turn down the volume for the rest of the year. Is it really worth getting excited about? And if it is worth it, shouldn’t it be worth it every time we gather in his name?

Rejoice … Rejoice … maybe if the energy that each of us bring to worship would change then those who lead us in worship would increase their energy output and rejoicing would actually take place! So … rejoice … with every ounce of your being. Paraphrasing an old Vince Lombardi instruction, “Act like you’ve been (here) before (and are excited about being here again)!”

Or as Bill and Gloria Gaither wrote in their song, “Get all excited”:

Get all excited go tell everybody that Jesus Christ is King,
I said get all excited go tell everybody that Jesus Christ is King,
Get all excited go tell everybody that Jesus Christ is King,
Jesus Christ is still the King of Kings

Or is Easter simply an “almost-worth-getting-excited-about” event?

Quote for today: Dr. Seamands tells of a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa. "Some of his friends asked him, 'Why have you become a Christian?' He answered, 'Well, its like this. Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions, and you didn't know which way to go, and there at the fork in the road were two men, one dead and one alive--which one would you ask which way to go?'" ~Warren Webster