Easter Comes Every Sunday Morning

If we were surrounded by our Puritan forbearers this morning they would find our worship service fairly peculiar. We have taken this morning to focus on Easter, now a little more subdued than most churches but we have focused on Easter in our liturgy. Our Puritan fathers would tell us to repent, that to have Easter as a day on the calendar is something that you do not do. Those dour Puritans. But it is not because they are dour, it’s not for the reason you might think. Common wisdom is that the Purtians believed that Easter should be downplayed, it was simply a human tradition, a day on the calendar, it should be swept aside. But that would be the exact opposite of what the Puritans actually said. In calling us to repent, they are not trying to get us to downplay Easter; they are trying to get us to play it up much, much, much more than we actually do. The Puritans were absolutely set on the idea that every Sabbath is Easter, it is the Lord’s Day and that Easter should be the focused of every gathered Sunday. Dour? Not at all. Let the joyful message of Easter be heard every one day in seven. Let it be focused on one day in seven because there is so much to the message of Easter that we need to hear Easter’s message every one day in seven. That must be some message. The message of Easter is so multiplex in the things that could be brought out of it that all four of the gospel writers are influenced by the Holy Spirit to bring their own particular emphases to the end of each of their books. They are called to emphasize different parts of the Easter story. This morning we are going to look at Luke’s major ieas that can be taken out of twelve verses. Easter has a lot to say.