The Monday after

Easter is always a big day--three services, a brunch squeezed in-between, a wonderful evening with close friends--from 5:00 a.m.-until 11:00 p.m.--when we finally collapsed into an unmade bed (there was a two hour nap in the afternoon, a regular Sunday afternoon appointment).

Reflecting upon the day I want to be sure I didn't miss the point, obscure the focus, with all the seeming church "pomp and circumstance" that surround the holiday. Did I feel pressured to "perform"? Did I direct people to Jesus, as opposed to the temptation to enlist them at Grace Fellowship? Did I exhaust myself with liturgical organization as opposed to scriptural preparation?

I feel pretty good about my answers to those questions but it is hard to ignore the subliminal pressures of the holiday that would seek to drain my energy for the real task to which God has called me. John Piper's BROTHERS, WE ARE NOT PROFESSIONALS, is a healthy--sometimes uncomfortable--reminder of what God has called us as pastors to spend our lives doing.

It's the Monday after, and as I get ready to play racquetball with some friends--I hope they will take it easy on me--I feel energized by the message of the resurrection that still resonates within me.