Monday in The Week of The Resurrection of Our Lord (04/13/09)

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

--1 Corinthians 15:3-5

The plain milk chocolate Easter M&Ms were tasty. Of course, I would have preferred the peanut version. To the rescue comes Reese's with their milk chocolate/peanut butter bunny. Earlier in the day, the family gathered around the table for honey-baked ham and all the trimmings.

In our neck of the woods, it rained early in the morning and I wondered if outdoor Easter egg hunt organizers had to go to Plan B. But at the end of the day, by and large, it did seem that Easter managed to hold up under the pressure of every attempt to transform it into another Hallmark holiday.

There was little positive evidence for this from the media. Earlier in Holy Week, just in time for Easter, Newsweek magazine's John Meacham heralded "The End of Christian America". But on Sunday, we did receive word of a successful military operation and noted that the president's daughters now have their new puppy. Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods played brilliantly, but it wasn't quite enough to capture another green jacket at the Masters golf tournament.

Now it's Monday, and it brings a peaceful, not-so-easy feeling; it's back to wondering when "the other shoe will fall," as they say. Saint Paul, author of our reading above, was not given to nervous sentiment, feverish speculation, or rampant editorializing on world affairs. Instead, he simply said what he was given to say. The facts of the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ are of "first importance," he declares. Both of them are "in accordance" with the Scriptures, he proclaims. There they are: the facts on the ground!

Already, the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh are tempting us to treat this as yesterday's news. Today, the matter of "first importance" is how we may or may not be feeling.

More sure than our best or worst feelings is the message of the Gospel. At the heart of it is the death and the resurrection of our Lord. We live our Mondays -- all our Mondays and all our days! -- in the confidence that it gives. It is the confidence which my pastor described in his sermon yesterday. Easter is God saying "I'm here, and I love you."

Lord, we believe. Help, Thou, our unbelief. Amen.

PD