Love Won

Easter. For some people, it is the one Sunday a year that they will attend church. For others, it is a day to dress in their new fancy clothes as they attend church and brunch afterward. For some people, it is about Easter egg hunts and chocolate bunnies. No matter what the day is for “some” people, the reality is that the day celebrates the act that Jesus did for ALL people. We celebrate this day because of the reason that Jesus died. He took our place with our sinful lives and died so we could live with him. That is true love. That is love that is amazing. That is the kind of love that wins.

For some people, they recognize that Easter, or the celebration of a holiday, began as a pagan holiday. They are correct but look at the irony. Passover is celebrated once a year with the Jews. The night Jesus was arrested was Passover. He was crucified the next day (Good Friday), and then rose from the dead on Sunday morning, which we now see as Easter. The pagans knew it was the resurrection Sunday, so they tried to distract, but the Christians did not let a small distraction take from the real celebration.

Jesus died to give us life. The only way we could receive the life is through the resurrection. Once Jesus came back to life, he proved he is God and that his power is over all others. When people ask me why I believe in what I cannot see, I remind them of all the concepts and truths that we cannot see today and yet we believe in them. This whole last year was based on a faith principle with science, scientists, experts, and human beings doing the right thing. We all lived by faith in 2020. It just may have been a different kind of faith that many are not used to understanding, but we lived in faith.

Now that I understand why Jesus had to die and coming back to life gives me life, it not only strengthens my faith, but gives me a reason to live the way I do. When someone does a sacrificial act of love, my response is not what I say but what I do. That is faith with works that reveals if my faith is alive or dead. For the past few years, I have discovered that my works cannot be just “good behaviors,” but actual works of love and kindness.

The church needs to be the leader in creating a loving and kind world. We are seeing the results of being mean, following rituals, regulations, and having “good behaviors.” It has backfired and cruelty is leading the way. With Jesus, love wins. True love wins. We can and must show the world this true love.

First, we need to put Jesus first. It needs to be about Jesus and not our country or our issues of what we see as fair or free. Jesus must be first in our lives in order to share him in the lives of the people in the community. Jesus fed people. He didn’t ask what their political beliefs were or if they even believed in him. When they came to hear him teach, he fed them, both physically and spiritually. Jesus took care of and still takes care of human’s physical needs.

Jesus loved without reservation and without judgement. He loved us before we ever loved him. He does not demand that we love him. He asks us to love him. Jesus does not force us to follow any rituals or rules because that is not love.

Love is patient. Love is kind. It is not rude. Love does not keep a record of wrongs. Jesus is patient. Jesus is kind. He is not rude. He does not keep a record of wrongs. We would have a much better society if we would follow the love of Jesus. Love sacrifices.

Love is patient. Jesus is patient with us when we sin and with all our flaws. We need to be patient with others. Patience means we have understanding. We need to be patient with those who believe politically and spiritually differently than us. We need to allow them to have their beliefs without thinking that our own lives are destroyed. Patience means we bear the sufferings that are upon us, but we do not give up on in defeat because we continue to move forward and do not allow humans to destroy our souls.

Love is kind. Jesus is kind to us and provides for us. Jesus provided for people on earth with physical needs and spiritual needs. He gave food to those who came to hear his teaching. He healed people. We need to be kind. We need to give sacrificially so that our community can see our love and kindness. We need to respond to events in the world that bother us with kindness and thoughtfulness with putting ourselves in the shoes of other people instead of being rude, crude, selfish, and thoughtless.

Love is not rude. Dear church, let us stop being rude to one another on social media. We do not have to prove that we are right. Let that happen. Our society needs so much encouragement and empowerment. For every rude comment that we make to others, let us make ten encouraging or empowering words for others to succeed. It may never change them, but it will change us. The world is watching the church closely right now. Are we going to be rude or kind? If we are rude, we are not love. We are not showing the love of Jesus because Jesus is never rude.

Love does not keep a record of wrongs. In our society, people want to remind others of what they did twenty years ago. I hope and pray we have all changed in the last twenty years. Jesus does not keep a record of our wrongs. Jesus gives grace. We need to give grace to others and ourselves. We need to stop bringing our past wrongs into our current lives. We need to stop bring the past in others’ lives. We need to live in the present in order to create a better future.

On the day that Jesus died, love won. On the day that Jesus came back from the dead, that love was meant for all people and to continue to win. Let us give the love of Jesus. Easter is not about bunnies, chocolate, pretty clothes, or productions at a church building. Easter is a reminder that when all is said and done, love has won. Let us keep that love and give it to others.