Because when we speak with Tyler, when we have been able to have a conversation as equals (not preachy judgmental forced participation which often happens at these religious family gatherings) one thing he often points out is how mixed up Christianity is with paganism and how he believes Christianity is just the latest myth that people accept as fact. He seems better educated about why modern Christians celebrate and what their celebrations mean than most Christians!
Are we so in love with the idea of chocolate bunnies that we embrace them and make the excuse 'It doesn't mean that to me' or ' We are no longer under the law' even to the detriment of the lost? Are our hearts so hardened with greed and lust that we can turn a blind eye to the harm we are causing, the harm we are perpetuating, and say - "It's their own fault they don't know the truth!"
I love the Lord. I want to serve him and show my love for him in all that I do. I am the humbled, lowly, honored that he loves me. I am unworthy of such love and could never do anything to earn it - so I rejoice in a love that came and found me, pursued me, and rescued me.
In the face of all that love, when I stand before the Lord will I say - "Yes, I loved you, but I also loved the world so much that I embraced every commercialized pagan fertility symbol in the name of my own pleasure and enjoyment to the detriment of one soul or maybe hundreds of souls because Jesus died for me and I was no longer under the law."
God so loved the world that he sent his Son to die for me. Jesus loved me so much that he hung on a cross and suffered to death for me - he took my place to save me. Will I now celebrate His sacrificial love with pagan fertility symbols? When God said we should have no other God's before him is this not what he meant? And when I see this celebration through the eyes of love -His love for me - my desire for more of Him - this secular idea of fun, fades to nothing.
So we will celebrate the FULFILLMENT of the feasts through Jesus, without mocking His sacrifice or placing ourselves under the law, but as an acting out of our love for Him, as an acknowledgement of the fact that it is finished and Jesus has overcome!
1 Corinthians 15
20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
50I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”h
55“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”i
So please forgive me, but you will not hear me saying the e***** word.
Rather, I wish you a Happy Resurrection Day (which is tomorrow by the way if anyone is counting 3 days from the Passover - Jesus our Passover Lamb) or a Happy feast of First Fruits - which really is very happy since Jesus was the first to raise from the dead among many - us!
So please forgive me, but you will not hear me saying the e***** word.
Rather, I wish you a Happy Resurrection Day (which is tomorrow by the way if anyone is counting 3 days from the Passover - Jesus our Passover Lamb) or a Happy feast of First Fruits - which really is very happy since Jesus was the first to raise from the dead among many - us!
Blessings,
You may think this is a long shot, that any old excuse will do for someone who wants to reject Christ, but here is a secular writer - making my point for me. You'll notice she compares these religions as equals and sees Christianity as a cult looking for converts....
The Pagan Roots of Easter, by Heather McDougall originally published in The Guardian, Religion section April 3rd, 2010
"Easter is a pagan festival. If Easter isn't really about Jesus, then what is it about? Today, we see a secular culture celebrating the spring equinox, whilst religious culture celebrates the resurrection. However, early Christianity made a pragmatic acceptance of ancient pagan practices, most of which we enjoy today at Easter. The general symbolic story of the death of the son (sun) on a cross (the constellation of the Southern Cross) and his rebirth, overcoming the powers of darkness, was a well worn story in the ancient world. There were plenty of parallel, rival resurrected saviors too.
The Sumerian goddess Inanna, or Ishtar, was hung naked on a stake, and was subsequently resurrected and ascended from the underworld. One of the oldest resurrection myths is Egyptian Horus. Born on 25 December, Horus and his damaged eye became symbols of life and rebirth. Mithras was born on what we now call Christmas day, and his followers celebrated the spring equinox. Even as late as the 4th century AD, the sol invictus, associated with Mithras, was the last great pagan cult the church had to overcome. Dionysus was a divine child, resurrected by his grandmother. Dionysus also brought his mum, Semele, back to life.
In an ironic twist, the Cybele cult flourished on today's Vatican Hill. Cybele's lover Attis, was born of a virgin, died and was reborn annually. This spring festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday, rising to a crescendo after three days, in rejoicing over the resurrection. There was violent conflict on Vatican Hill in the early days of Christianity between the Jesus worshippers and pagans who quarreled over whose God was the true, and whose the imitation. What is interesting to note here is that in the ancient world, wherever you had popular resurrected god myths, Christianity found lots of converts. So, eventually Christianity came to an accommodation with the pagan Spring festival. Although we see no celebration of Easter in the New Testament, early church fathers celebrated it, and today many churches are offering "sunrise services" at Easter – an obvious pagan solar celebration. The date of Easter is not fixed, but instead is governed by the phases of the moon – how pagan is that?
All the fun things about Easter are pagan. Bunnies are a leftover from the pagan festival of Eostre, a great northern goddess whose symbol was a rabbit or hare. Exchange of eggs is an ancient custom, celebrated by many cultures. Hot cross buns are very ancient too. In the Old Testament we see the Israelites baking sweet buns for an idol, and religious leaders trying to put a stop to it. The early church clergy also tried to put a stop to sacred cakes being baked at Easter. In the end, in the face of defiant cake-baking pagan women, they gave up and blessed the cake instead.
Easter is essentially a pagan festival which is celebrated with cards, gifts and novelty Easter products, because it's fun and the ancient symbolism still works. It's always struck me that the power of nature and the longer days are often most felt in modern towns and cities, where we set off to work without putting on our car headlights and when our alarm clock goes off in the mornings, the streetlights outside are not still on because of the darkness.
What better way to celebrate, than to bite the head off the bunny goddess, go to a "sunrise service", get yourself a sticky-footed fluffy chick and stick it on your TV, whilst helping yourself to a hefty slice of pagan simnel cake? Happy Easter everyone!"
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