What I saw on Easter morning!

If you live in Minnesota you might guess one of the things I saw on Easter morning: Snow! I'm sure it has snowed on other Easter mornings here, but I don't remember any! I thought the snow, while not what we were expecting, was actually very appropriate for Easter. You see, what we celebrate on Easter is Jesus rising from His grave, and that resurrection proves that Jesus' Good Friday sacrifice on the cross did indeed make our sins "as white as snow." (see Isaiah 1:18)

But the really unusual thing that I saw - a scene that you would not likely guess - was twenty vehicles in our church parking lot. Now that would not be unusual at all on a normal Easter Sunday morning. But keep in mind, this is a year unlike any other! We are smack dab in the middle of the COVID-19 shutdown! As a result, we haven't been able to worship inside our church building for the last four weeks and won't be able to for at least another three Sundays. But forty people "congregated," (amidst swirling snow and howling winds) in their cars to watch on their smartphones a YouTube video of our Resurrection worship! In the message, I talked about how God has used this COVID situation as a "teachable" moment for us. One of the things He has taught us is, "You don't know what you got 'til its gone," (to quote an old song from the sixties). Not being able to gather to worship is something we have long taken for granted. Not any more!

But there's one other thing I saw that I won't soon forget. The elders and I (decked out in full COVID-19 combat gear - face masks and blue rubber gloves) distributed communion to those brave souls in their vehicles. I saw a gratitude that welled up from deep within their hearts. I witnessed, through my steamed up eyeglasses, a thankfulness expressed in smiles and tears as well as in comments.

Making this online worship (and communion in the snow!) happen was - like so many rewarding things in life - not easy, but it was good! Unforgettably good!