Stir It Up!

I was telling my cousin the other day, that in my mind, there is nothing more inspiring than the pageantry of an Easter morning service at a Catholic church!  As a kid growing up in a devout Catholic family, Easter Sunday was the culmination of the 40-day fasting period of Lent.  It was an honored day that we looked forward to and celebrated with great pomp and circumstance.

As a kid I was always at awe when the air was filled with the sweet fragrance of incense as the priests, wearing their colorful ceremonial robes, altar boys and other servers proceeded slowly down the center aisle of the big church, holding banners, palm branches and the sacramental elements. 

I admit that it was one of the things that I missed when I left the Catholic church and became a member in good standing of my wife’s Baptist denomination.  Although… her church did have a wonderful music department who presented many excellent performances and/or choral processions down the center aisle of our church on Palm Sunday and/or Easter, that definitely riveled that of my former Catholic Cathedral.

One difference that I did notice between the Catholic and Protestant Easter Sunday services… and especially in the Pentecostal churches in which we served… was the environment of the worship service.  In the Catholic church there was a strong sense of deep reverence and quiet, worshipful respect for the momentous accomplishment of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead that happened over 2000 years ago and is remembered and celebrated on Easter Sunday.

The Protestant/Pentecostal services emanated a totally different atmosphere, permeated by loud and joyful celebration and cheerful glee at the revelation of what Jesus accomplished for mankind by stepping out from that tomb in the country side of Jerusalem.  From my own experience and viewpoint, the Pentecostal celebration is more of a personal expression of the life changing and empowering event that continues to be a vital part of the individual Christian’s daily expression and ever-growing adventure of their faith.

In the last church that Piper and I served in before heading off to Bible School, Easter Sunday was usually celebrated as a family service, which meant the kids were in the main service with their parents and that Piper and I got to play with the music team.  There was always one special song that our worship leader liked to lead off with on Easter.  It told the story of Jesus’ resurrection and had a distinct rhythm that was very joyful and fast moving!  It was one that I had to repeatedly practice before the service as it was filled with rapid and unusual chord progressions… that I didn’t normally play in Children’s Church.

I have fond memories of me deeply concentrating on the movement of my left hand as it manipulated up and down the neck of my 12-string guitar… at the same time that I was joyfully singing (thank God I had a head mic on) and awe-fully observing the way my fingers seem to magically fly during that song!  Following the fast-paced music service and the encouraging and rousing message from the Pastor, my family and I were definitely STIRRED UP in our Christian walk… and also highly anticipating the candy and delicious extended family dinner that awaited us that afternoon!

The Apostle Paul wrote his many letters or “epistles” to the Christian church as a means of instruction for the Gospel message of Jesus Christ and also to STIR UP their faith and thereby cause them to hunger for more of God in the daily adventures of their personal Christian walk.  In his second letter to his protégé Timothy, Paul wrote to remind Timothy of his Christian roots and to STIR UP and rekindle his faith and the personal gifts that he had in operation in his life and ministry.  In a favorite ‘kind of Easter’ verse of mine found in 2 Timothy 1:6, Paul encouraged his young friend saying,

“Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou STIR UP the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.” (KJV) 

Hopefully you are just like me when it comes to being STIRRED UP in my personal Chrisitan faith whenever I read about the story of Holy Week in the Gospel books of Matthew (21:1-11), Luke (19:29-44), and John (12:12-19).  And then my personal faith can’t help but to be re-kindled and set aflame when I attend Easter morning services.

The Apostle Peter was also keen at knowing the importance of keeping the Gospel message concerning the truth of Jesus Christ present and alive in the hearts of the early church.  He encouraged his readers by stating,

“I think it only right for me to STIR UP your memory of these matters as long as I am still alive.” (2 Peter 1:13 – Good News Bible) 

So you see that the message of what Jesus accomplished for us on the first Easter Sunday many years ago… isn’t just something that we remember and honor once a year… but is a message and a way of love, of faith, of power and of life that we should STIR UP every single day.

I think that it is one of the first things that we should call to remembrance and STIR UP inside of us every morning when we first open our eyes and before we take our first steps of the day!  It is a simple 3-word message that should STIR UP within us the excitement that we always feel at an Easter Sunday service.  Why do you think that Easter Sunday is the most attended church service of the entire year?

It is because people want to feel the hope of the Good News of Jesus Christ in their lives and then share it with a hurting world.  It is because something deep inside of us longs to hear the words that the angel spoke in the tomb, early on the first Easter Sunday morning when he declared,

“He is Risen!”*

Has He risen in your life today?  If so… STIR UP the hope that is in you and rejoice and celebrate what HE has done for you and me!  And if not... catch the footnote below!**

Have a glorious EASTER celebration at church and with family and friends… and keep the fire burning in you!

 

*Mark 16:6

**If Not… Romans 10:9 gives us the recipe (or instructions) on how to become a Christian.  Simply follow God’s plan of salvation, find an easy (for you to understand) Bible, start reading it (most people say that the book of John is a good place to start) and search out a good Bible believing church… and then… STIR UP what is now growing inside of you!