Human nature never ceases to amaze me. It is as if people desire a conflict. We thrive on controversy. We are all “line drawers” and “side pickers” when it comes to some of the things of God. Even within the body of Christ, we engage one another in vocal assaults. We will talk, and argue for days about things that we are certain will change the course of history, that I am not even sure God cares about. It seems like, as Christians, we are always looking for something with which to quarrel.
This time of year it all boils down to eggs. (Pun intended).
I am not going to lie to you and tell you that my kids are too holy to get a basket. Every year they have seen Peter Cottontail. I even make arrangements to get a chocolate bunny Easter morning. Who says I can’t acquire some chocolate out of the deal?
The Easter Bunny always came to my house as a child, so I did it with my kids. Like most of us, I never really thought about it until now.
I have seen over the last few years an increase in this debate. It is as if we have drawn lines in the sand and said, “Take a side. You can’t have both.”
I have never entered the debate about the Bunny vs. Jesus that surrounds Christians and Easter. I never stepped into the arena because I wasn’t prepared. The premise of “Well, it didn’t kill me, doesn’t seem to suffice as justification.
In my classroom, I encourage questions with one small caveat. My students know if they are willing to ask the question, they must be willing to find the answer. “Never stop learning” is something I herald daily.
This time I took my own advice.
Here is what I found: (I am going to try to shorten it for you)
Easter started as a pagan holiday. It was called Eastre. Eastre was the goddess of the dawn and the spring. She was a fertility goddess who brought the end of winter. The rabbit was Eastre’s sacred animal, due to the animals fertility and ability to rapidly reproduce. Eggs were used as a symbol of fertility and new chicks were a representation of new growth. They were an expression of Eastre’s gift of abundance.
In 325 AD, the early church used this already instituted festival of EASTRE to spread the gospel. It would have been ludicrous, a death sentence, to begin a Christian holiday in opposition to the highly celebrated pagan one.
Was I getting anywhere, or was this a futile attempt to justify something? The only thing that I knew for sure was that pagans didn’t take our religious holiday and dumb it down. I have always heard that “They” took our Holy day and made it about bunnies and eggs.
All evidence to the contrary….
The early church (Christians) used something normal to that culture, and people of that day, to spread the message of Jesus. Sound familiar?
THAT IS WHAT JESUS DID!
So many times in Scripture, we see Jesus use farming, shepherding, money or common things to reveal his truths to people. We call them parables. It was usually the manner in which Jesus taught.
The early church used a pagan holiday, and turned it into something good. It was a festival of Spring, and idol worship. It had only been 325 years since Jesus walked among them. There was no official HOLY day. The church itself was infantile, but their evangelism strategy was genius. Modeled by the young believers after Jesus, they used what they had, to share what they knew.
The festival of Eastre was used so that we could one day celebrate our Holy day, EASTER.
Just another example of Satan meant it for evil, but God turned it for good.
Just another example of Satan meant it for evil, but God turned it for good.
As I read all of this, I just smiled and laughed. I bet HE sat up there in Heaven and said, “Watch what I do with your little festival here.” Isn’t that just like our God? As a matter of fact, isn’t that the definition of Redemption?
Totally mixed up, and messed up, and then Jesus shows up?
That…. is the real Story of Easter.
Honestly, after my search, I found myself humbled. I take my faith and my freedom for granted. I sat there, and realized that the 325 A.D. Celebration of New Life and New Birth ultimately perpetrated MY new life and new birth. You see, the early church was allowed to spread the gospel through this festival…. Eggs, bunnies, and all, until it reached me!
We have taken something that God used to spread HIS story through history and made it sacrilegious. Ultimately, I can sing “Because He Lives,” and “Arise” because someone long ago used the ordinary to encounter the HOLY.
So, with all of my new knowledge, did the bunny show up here?
The answer is…….Yes!
It is yes, because I have a voice.
We talked about gifts today. They shared what they were given. We explained that we give gifts to remind us of the ultimate gift was Jesus giving up Himself for us. We discussed eggs, new life, empty tombs, and salvation.
I used these things, and followed Jesus’s example. I did what HE showed me to do. Further the Kingdom within my own home, by using my own voice. Using the things that they understand, to reveal God ‘s truth to them.
There is a song that was on the radio long ago. My grandmother said that it was playing when she ran off to marry my grandfather. It is called, “I am putting all of my eggs in one basket.” She always talked about how appropriate that song was for the situation. Any time I had to make a decision, she would counter with that question. “Are you putting all of your eggs in one basket?” Meaning: Are you willing to do this? Are you prepared? Have you done your research? Are you willing to go all the way? ( because if you do go all in, there is no out.)
Knowledge is a powerful thing. Wisdom is even more. I pray that God will lead me to apply it carefully. I am so thankful that while I may, on occasion, claim lazy, I can no longer claim uninformed.
As far as my decision: “ I will choose…. not to choose”.
Jesus, eggs, and all is my answer.
I have found what the early church found: The key to it all is in the presentation.
Yes, I am putting all of our eggs in one basket.
I am going to trust that the God that created, and loves a child’s heart, also knows when that heart is ready to hear. Until then, I am going to keep on talking. I am going to use everything I am given to open the door. Just like the early church, and Jesus’s method, I plan on using the things they understand to show them the God I love.
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