Scripture: Hosea 6: 1-3
Sermon: Easter Comes in the Spring
Topics: spring, easter date, resurrection
Preached: April 17, 2016
Rev. Mike Abma
6‘Come, let us return to the Lord;
for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck down, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
3 Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;
his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that water the earth.’
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
INTRODUCTION — CHANGING EASTER
Quietly church leaders are discussing the date of Easter.
Apparently it all began when Pope Tawadros,
the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church,
wrote a letter to Pope Francis, of the Roman Catholic Church,
suggesting that a fixed date for Easter be found.
The suggestion was that either the first or second Sunday of Easter be designated as Easter Sunday by all Christians in all places.
Now, rather quietly, leaders of the Coptic, the Catholic, the Orthodox, and the Anglican churches are all discussing this possibility.
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury,
the head of the Anglican Church,
is the only leader that I know of
who has spoken publicly about this.
He spoke very enthusiastically about the idea of a fixed date for Easter.
He hoped it could be achieved within the next 5 – 10 years.
He hoped he would see it in place before he retires.
He said that if this were to occur,
it would be the most momentous occasion of church cooperation
since the Council of Nicea in 325 AD when the present formula for
figuring out Easter was agreed upon.
FIXED DATE versus MOVEABLE DATE
To understand the change,
it is good to know what we have now and what is being suggested.
Presently Easter is not on a fixed date.
Presently Easter is a moveable holy Sunday
that can be anywhere between March 22 and April 25.
It all depends on the moon.
Right now, for all Christians,
Western Christians and Eastern Christians,
the starting point for figuring out when Easter will be
is the first full moon on or after the Spring Equinox on March 21.
Easter is the first Sunday after that first full moon,
which is why the earliest Easter can be is March 22.
Why did they decide on this method of picking Easter?
Well, it all coincided with how they believed the Jewish Passover was chosen.
Easter was chosen to coincide with how the Jewish Passover was chosen.
If the Easter date is tied to the Passover date,
which makes biblical and theological sense,
then why even suggest changing it?
Well, here are the complications.
The modern Jewish calendar is different than our calendar.
Every once in a while
the Jewish Passover is a full month later than our Easter.
For example, this year,
Easter for us was March 27.
but Passover for the Jews begins on April 22 this year.
In the year 2024 the same thing will happen.
We will have an early Easter on March 29.
but the Jews will have a late Passover on April 22.
Added to this,
even though all Christians use the same formula to determine the date of Easter,
because the Western church uses the Gregorian calendar
and the Eastern church uses the Julian calendar
the Western and Eastern Church rarely celebrate Easter on the same Sunday.
The Western Church and the Eastern Church are usually one week apart.
Sometimes we are even a month apart, like this year.
We celebrated Easter on March 27.
The Eastern Church will celebrate Easter on May 1.
Next year everything will be good, though.
Passover will start April 10,
and both the Western and Eastern churches
will celebrate Easter on the same day, Sunday, April 16.
Can you see how a fixed date for Easter for All Christians is somewhat attractive?
HOSEA 6
Why did we read from Hosea 6 this evening?
Because Hosea 6: 1-3 is actually one of the clearest Old Testament references
to both the resurrection,
and that the resurrection would be on the 3rd day.
Hosea makes these references
within an appeal for Israel to repent.
Return to the Lord, is his call.
Return to the Lord.
That word Return is very interesting.
Did you know that one of the Hebrew words for Spring,
is also their word for Return.
Why Return?
Because Spring was seen as the season
in which everything returned to the beginning.
It was the season
in which light returned to overtake darkness.
It was the season
in which life returned to overtake the slumbering death of winter.
It was the season
in which warmth returned to overtake cold.
It was the season
in which the rains returned to overtake the dry season.
So here, in Hosea,
returning to the Lord
comes with all the promises
of being revived,
of being raised up,
of being refreshed,
like the spring rains watering the earth
and allowing it to burst forth in life.
From this passage,
we sense that resurrection and springtime are closely connected.
EASTER IN THE SPRINGTIME
Whether Easter remains a moveable holy day,
or whether it eventually becomes a fixed holy day,
we, here in the northern hemisphere,
have the blessing of experiencing Easter
the same way it is described in Hosea 6.
We have the blessing of experiencing Easter in the context of Springtime
with the rains coming
the earth awakening
and life bursting forth.
Andy Kuyvenhoven wrote in his Go for the Goal devotional
that when we observe Easter,
we should observe this feast of new life in the season of Spring,
with all the enthusiasm of Psalm 96.
With the emerging tulips,
and the budding trees
and the returning birds
and the greening grass
we should sing that New Song:
The Lord Lives!
The Lord Reigns!
The Lord is King!
Let the heavens be glad;
Let the earth rejoice;
Let the seas roar;
Let the fields exult;
Let the trees of the forest sing for joy.
Andy then told of how he, personally, joined in that new song.
How he rejoiced in
the miracle of the resurrection,
the springtime of all our hopes.
He writes that when he worked in an office in the denominational building —
the one at the corner of 28th street and Kalamazoo –
he lived in the Alger Heights neighborhood.
All winter long
he loaded his briefcase in the car
and battled snow and ice to get the mile or two
to and from work.
But in the Springtime
he liked to walk to and from work.
He cut through the cemetery –
the cemetery at Alger and Kalamazoo,
a cemetery where hundreds of people are buried.
He admits that sometimes cutting through the cemetery in the autumn
made him somber.
But in the Springtime
when life was bursting forth
and all creation seemed to be affirming the
reality and promise of the resurrection,
Andy couldn’t help but join in.
He would walk ten steps,
then say in his preacher’s voice, “Soon, the trumpet will sound!”
He would walk another 10 steps, “Life is stronger than death!”
Another 10 steps, “Christ the Lord is Risen.”
Another 10 steps, “let the heavens rejoice!”
Another 10 steps, “Let the earth be glad.
Andy writes that if anyone saw him or heard him,
they would think, “Look at him, spring has gone to his head.”
But no,
it was that the resurrection had given life to his soul.
Amen
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