Dear Pastor,

Easter is the most important day of the church calendar.

Christmas is wonderful to be sure. But the apostle Paul says that without the Resurrection we Christians are to be pitied more than anyone (1 Corinthians 15.13-19). That is to say, the physical rise of Jesus’ body from the dead sets the Christian faith apart from every other religion. Jesus’ resurrection gives us hope unparalleled, for our Savior’s resurrection is a foretaste and foretelling of our own. In that day we will experience the fullness of Paul’s taunt, “Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?” (1 Cor 15.55).

The temptation I feel facing this Sunday is probably similar to your own, namely, how to spice up the Easter service. After all, faithful attenders have heard the story countless times, and those who come only at Easter and Christmas may hear the same two stories year after year. So how can we make it stand out?

When I was on staff at other churches, I would hear the same rallying cry each year regarding Easter: THIS IS OUR SUPER BOWL!!!! Meaning, this is the event of the year for our church. People need to experience something spectacular. At times I wondered if they really meant, this is our Super Bowl halftime show.

Since usually the day included a special opener for the service (song from the radio, custom video, etc.) and other elements that would enhance the worship experience. None of these churches preached weak messages about the Resurrection, but the excitement of the day tended to focus on those ‘special’ elements.

Hear me, I don’t care if you have someone painting a version of Jesus’ face on stage or a marching band playing as people walk in. I have seen things that make me shudder, but I’m no prude.

My encouragement would be to put all your eggs in the only basket we have–the Resurrection. Resist the path of least resistance, which is simply telling the story. Give people the why behind the what and what it means for now and evermore that the tomb is empty. And, please, resist diverting to a catchier angle than the clearly defined gospel one. This is the hope of the world–it doesn’t need help being relevant.

If people leave our churches this Sunday talking about the worship experience–songs, visuals, the clever opener–but can’t articulate why Jesus had to die and what it means that he rose, we’ve failed..even if our opener goes viral.

Right there with you,

Patrick