I recently read a story about a young 23 year-old single mother. She had two sons by two different men. She lived alone and struggled to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. She was also a repeated victim of domestic violence. She lived in a community of about 40,000 people. Within this town there were 43 Christian churches.
The shocking thing about all of this is that this young mother knew nothing about God and the Christian church. She wanted to know if any Christian church would “allow” her to attend. Her perception of the church was that you needed to be baptized and pay dues of 10% of your income to be a member. She had this perception because other unbelievers were quick to tell her their perception of Christianity. Unfortunately no Christians had ever spoken to her about the true facts concerning Christianity. As a result she had never been told about Jesus dying on the cross for the sins of world and Him rising again from the grave. She never heard of Moses, Abraham, David, Peter, or Paul. She could not name one apostle or book of the Bible.
The irony of all this is that she lived right across the street from a Christian church. People went there to worship, but she never was told she was “allowed” to enter through the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ.
This true story led me to turn back to the story of the first Easter and view it in a new light. Women had gone to the burial site of Jesus early the day after the Sabbath to anoint Jesus’ dead body. They were in a sense making an offering to Jesus not yet knowing the great offering He had made for them. At the tomb they saw a young man dressed in a white robe who announced to them that they were not to be afraid. The body of Jesus was no longer there because He had risen from the dead just as He said He would. Then they were told to go back into town and tell the eleven disciples and all the others the message that Jesus had risen from the grave.
This led me to think about my Easter celebration and yours. It is good that we come to God’s house on Easter bringing our gifts and being refreshed with the truth that we have living and reigning Savior Who has conquered sin, Satan, and death for us. But what about the people in our communities who are like the mother of two in our opening story? Are we going to let the unbelieving world fill those people with false and distorted concepts of Christianity, or are we going to do the Lord’s bidding and “preach the Gospel to every creature?” We have been to Jesus’ tomb spiritually and seen the truth of His resurrection and its meaning for all people. Let us not only be Easter worshippers, but Easter proclaimers of God’s truth each and every day of our lives.