Easter Tide 4.6.2023

     Easter tide is a kind of triple witching hour for ministry. I don’t want to bore you with an extensive definition, so I’ll keep this brief. In the financial markets, a triple witching hour is the last hour of the trading day on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December. Three kinds of traded securities expire at the same time creating a great deal of anxiety and potential market volatility. Metaphorically, triple witching hour can describe any brief inflection period of increased labor combining extraordinary opportunity and anxiety in any endeavor or industry.

    Virtually every area of life has at least an occasional triple witching hour. A time when opportunity and risk stand together and people must act with intelligence and industry to reduce the risk, seize the opportunity, and complete their mission. Unlike the financial markets ministry has two regular and seasonal triple witching hours rather than four: Christmas and Easter. It is good during Holy Week to consider how we should react to the stress and stimuli of Easter tide. 

    Many in vocational ministry carry a grudge against the so-called “Christmas and Easter” Christians. I admit that there was a time that I felt a little offended, on behalf of Jesus—of course, that some who thought of themselves as believers only thought enough of the Church to attend a couple of times a year. I’m not bothered by it anymore. Church attendance trends during the early 21st century have moved so far away from historical data that it is hard to even account for trends. Then the pandemic hit…I’m glad to see whoever comes whenever they do. Christmas and Easter should be opportunities to integrate, educate, and elevate the flock—not castigate those who have been absent—on the very day that they are present. 

Anxiety

    Extra worship means more stuff to do even when you are not the primary preacher. Easter tends to generate the appearance of a variety of different worshippers. Visitors, returnees, curious seekers. Etc. For many of us, Easter will also be the last sermon in a series. That means that this week and next are transitional as we move to a new sermon series. 

    Spring weather can be unpredictable. One day unseasonable warmth generates thunderstorms and the next the temperature falls, and it is sweatshirt weather. The weather is only one measure of seasonal change. School is ending and summer plans are being finalized. The relative holiday-free period from New Year’s Day to Memorial Day is rushing to a close. Throughout the rest of the year, there is for all intents and purposes a “shut down” holiday every month. This begins with the highly active spring season. 

    All this anxiety kind of peaks for the first time at Easter. Why? Because we are conditioned to think that extra activity brings anxiety. It does not have to be this way. It’s not like the date of Easter is a secret! If you have planned well and are working the plan you knew well in advance when you would need to put in extra work. You already scheduled the extra study time to prepare for a new sermon series. You are already reaping the compounding interest of working ahead of the curve so that you can relax in your role of pastor, preacher, theologian, and shepherd. 

Opportunity

    Rather than seeing the busyness of Easter as an anxiety-filled problem to be solved why not see it as an opportunity to be welcomed and worked?  During the Easter season, many devout Christians will exhibit a greater focus or even a renewed enthusiasm for their faith. Challenge those who crave a deeper resonance for their faith. Give guidance to those who are pursuing deeper discipleship. Comfort those who seek to find comfort for broken hearts beneath the cross. Some will display a curiosity that compels them to worship on Easter. provide insight and direction to help their wandering hearts find a home.  

    And do all of this from the pulpit! That’s the place for it. For far too long we have allowed vestigial programming, manipulative music, and emotional escapism to replace the exegetical work of the cure of souls. This is an opportunity to recalibrate the work of ministry around the preaching and teaching of scripture. Easter in all its powerful almost feral imagery is inherently theological. The Word, having become flesh, sacrificed His life to redeem us and because of His faithful obedience was resurrected. Theology in principle must be proclaimed from the pulpit. 

Clarity  

    The resurrection is the central defining doctrine of the Christian faith. Easter is the traditional focal point for celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Easter provides energy and alignment for the Spring and Summer. Just about the time our Easter boost has completely worn off we are into the Thanksgiving season and our work anticipates Advent and Christmas. And the cycle of anxiety, opportunity, and clarity repeats itself. This annual and cyclical approach to worship and theology has nourished the Church throughout the Millennia. There is no secret sauce, silver bullet, or innovative program that will bring greater clarity to ministry. Paul put it this way, “We preach Christ crucified.” That is as clear as it gets.