Sermons

A lot of people see Easter as a one-day event, but like many other holidays on the church calendar, it is actually a season. This season, Eastertide, begins on Easter Sunday, marking the culmination of Lent and continues for 50 days, ending on Pentecost. There are several other church holidays that will make an appearance during Eastertide, but what most caught my attention was that unlike 40 days of Lent, this celebration is 50 days, the number of Jubilee.

In Jewish traditions, people were given six days to work, and then, on the seventh day, they were to rest. Similarly, they were to work the land for six years, and on the seventh year, they were to let it rest. But the most wonderful tradition occurred after seven sevens. Seven seven-year periods. Year fifty was the year of Jubilee. The year of new beginnings and glorious resets and second chances. Eastertide is similar. In a series of seven weeks, we rejoice in not just what God did on the cross and through the empty tomb, but the sending of the Holy Spirit to all of us on Pentecost. This is the church's Jubilee.

As we count down the days and the weeks, let us continue the celebration that begun on Easter. May we be different as a result of all that God has done and is doing, and may we remember that we have been invited to usher in new world of God's kingdom here on earth through the life of the church.