Another Easter is in the books. Call it a wrap.

We woke early, we ate well, we sang hymns we don’t sing nearly often enough, and we welcomed in the C & E crowd (Christmas and Easter for the uninitiated). And by “we,” I mean churches everywhere.

But that’s all ho-hum, doesn’t matter, who cares.

Let’s be clear, we celebrated the truth Paul knew, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,” from I Corinthians 15:20. We know intellectually that it’s true if we believe it, or that we feel it if we’ve bought in.

But if we wake up on Easter+1, for the sake of the argument Monday morning, and nothing has changed, then it’s more of a “who cares?”

If we don’t let things go that we would’ve held onto before…

If we don’t move past our shame for the things we shouldn’t have done…

If we don’t sacrifice our safety and security (emotionally, mentally, physically, financially) for the good of others…

Then Easter doesn’t matter at all.

Whoa.

Paul said in I Corinthians again, “More than that [if Christ was not raised], we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.” But let’s take it a step further: if we don’t live like we believe in Easter, we’re found to be false witnesses. We’ve failed to deliver on the promise of our faith in Jesus.

Double whoa.

So, get out there, this Easter Monday, the first day of our new Easter year, and live like you mean it. Live like Jesus really was raised from the dead, and not like it’s just a historical fact or a theological posit.

Live like you mean it.