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This is OUR EASTER….Christianity’s finest hour…and its time for us to reclaim it. And we need courage to do it! Pascha-Easter is not meant to be cute like those stuffed animals that are jumping off the shelf… Pascha is about Christ Jesus who stretched His arms in embracing the world… Pascha is His victory over Death and Evil…. Pascha is the path to eternity.
I’d like to use this term to describe the following thought – It seems today that everybody is coming out of the closet. It has become fashionable to talk in those terms. Everyone is demanding their rights. People are now out in the streets demanding “rights for this and that.” There is practically no one left in the closet any more except ….except a large group still hiding in the shadowy darkness. Who are they? Christians!
They are practically the only people left in the closet. They are afraid to let the world know that they are followers of Jesus. They hide their faith in the shadow of the closet. While the Christians are in the closet, the atheists and the secular humanists are out turning the world upside down. Joseph of Arimathea was a closet Christian, but he took courage to leave the closet and declare himself publicly for Jesus, asking Pilate for the body of Jesus. The Christian belongs in the closet only for prayer. Then he or she must leave the closet to confess Christ and work for Him in the world.
Were the early apostles closet Christians when they died for what they preached? Was John the Baptist a closet Christian when he denounced the immorality and corruption of a royal court, even though he knew it must cost him his head?
We can have courage in the midst of suffering if we invite Jesus to be with us. There is nothing like a relationship with Jesus Christ to give us courage. If He is your Friend, you can know that when the darkness begins to come, it will lead to a brighter morning more glorious than ever…”
