Our reflection series is a collection of writings from members of Liberty Church. This piece was written by Gina Ryder.
I still don’t fully understand Easter. I believe in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus but I still can’t grasp what it all means. Not knowing exactly how to describe that the wages of sin is death or the depth of which Jesus paid that price, I’m bothered because I’m supposed to be a writer who puts everything together in a well-worded package.
Instead of trying to pretend, I will tell you what I do understand about Easter. It’s what it means to me most. For me, Easter is proof that life can dramatically change in a weekend. You can be dead on Friday and alive by Monday. You can feel ashamed on Saturday and set free on Sunday. Jesus was performing miracles for people one day and dying for people the next. For me, what the Easter story reveals is that God’s plan is unfolding rapidly everyday. With or without this understanding, His plans for Jesus have unfolded and are still unfolding.
Easter didn’t always mean something to me. Sure, it had some nice associations. I like the color lilac so I appreciated the pastels in seasonal decorations. Plus, it’s the last holiday before spring and summer, my two favorite seasons. The strongest connection I have with Easter is found in my childhood memories. This time of year reminds me of the neighborhood Easter egg hunts in Northeast Philadelphia where I was born. Then my parents moved to the suburbs to a less community-oriented area on a not quite egg-hunt type of block. I remember how the pile of plastic pastel-colored Easter eggs were always stacked in our suburban storage closet, proof of a fun, commercialized tradition and no more. As I got older and Easter baskets and egg hunts began to fade, it became more and more of a date on the calendar instead of a meaningful experience.
As a young teen, I once remember leaving an Easter church service with mascara stains on my cheeks. Easter brought tears to my eyes for the first time. The pastor was explaining that the holiday commemorates the events that are the foundation of my faith. I was fairly happy as a kid although I often was made fun in grade school and middle school. It was at this time when I fully gave my heart to God and started attending church with a friend’s family. My life had gone from rejected to accepted.
That memory was the last time Easter had a personal significance for me because I stopped following God for the next decade, a chapter of life I lived with themes of sin and selfishness. Everything changed when I could feel God’s presence with me during a dark time as a young twenty-something in New York City where I had recently moved to pursue a career in writing. I accepted Jesus into my heart again then found Liberty Church. My life had gone from heartbroken to healed.
Liberty played a significant role in how God healed me. I recently read in Rick Warren’s A Purpose Driven Life that, “The entire Bible story is one of God building a family.” I learned that in the Bible it says that God adopts us into His family through Jesus. I feel like I belong to a family at Liberty – we are being and building our spiritual family every day. Whether it’s over coffee with a friend from church or inviting a coworker to church to visit for the first time, there is real love in this city life through Liberty.
In attending connect groups or serving on a Sunday, I don’t have to fully understand everything. I don’t have to be perfect. I can be myself. Reflecting on the spiritual family God has given me through Liberty this Easter, I realize it is because of what happened on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday that even makes this family possible in the first place. It’s because of Easter, because of Jesus and our faith in Him that connects us together forever.
As Easter approaches this weekend, I look forward to being one year closer to grasping the fullness of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and to experience the passion of Christ that far outweighs any passion of my own. No matter what happens in my life, being an active part of Liberty and believing in Jesus makes life better.
Some Easter memories are happy. Some are empty. No matter what Easter has or hasn’t meant to us in the past, it can mean something now. We’re forming new memories now. I choose for mine to be full of joy and about Jesus. One day, He was dead. The next, He rose again. That’s how life is with Him by your side whether it makes perfect sense or not. At least that’s how I see it.
You’re invited to join us for Good Friday and Easter services this weekend. Click for more details here.
