This season of the year is about Sharing. Our faith is actually about Sharing. We are not meant to keep it private. We are not meant to keep it to ourselves. Consider the following two examples:
Passover - This is the re-telling (yes, telling means sharing) of the story of how the Hebrew People left Egypt and gained their freedom. The Jews were slaves in the land of Egypt for 430 years. The Egyptians made life hard for them, and they cried out. God heard their cries, and sent a redeemer (Moses) to lead them out of Egypt. Jewish families gather each year to Share the story, passing it to the next generation. If there are not enough people in a home to eat a lamb, they are to meet as several families. If people are single, they go to a Sharing in the Synagogue.
"If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are." Exodus 12:4
Easter - This is the best holday of the entire Christian faith. It is our reason fro being. Jesus rose from the dead. What are we to do? Celebrate! Tell! That is the first thing the disciples did when they heard that Jesus rose from the dead. The first believers at the tomb were the women. They found the stone rolled away. They saw Angels who told them Jesus had arisen. Then the angels said: "But go, tell his disciples and Peter, `He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' " (Mt 28:7) They did. The disciples found the tomb empty. Mary Magdalene hung around after Peter and John left, and she saw Jesus. What did she do? "Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: 'I have seen the Lord!'" (John 20:18)
What were Jesus instructions to us about the Resurrecton - and the Good News? "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
THis season is made for Sharing, for Telling - for our world needs to know. Sharing and telling bring hope, changed lives, and many blessings.
Friday, April 10, 2009
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