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In the Gildersleeve home, Marjorie and Leroy plan on wearing their Sunday finest to the upcoming Easter celebration. Though Unkie Mort balks at the thought of getting up at 4AM to see the sunrise, Birdie gets involved, and he changes his mind. She is to sing in the choir, and needs Gildy to take her there. Gildy then heads to chat with Peavey about the early morning Easter festivities, and learn about the Spring fashions that MrsPeavey plans to wear. Judge Hooker even passes by to share his plans for that morning.
Will it be the early service, or the one held at the lazy hour of 11 O’Clock? There’s final plans to make, and the excitement builds in everyone, except Gildersleeve. Will he leap into action when that 4 O’Clock alarm rings?
Taking a flashlight in hand, the family park the car, and trudge through the woods to the location of the outdoor service. Will they get lost? Will time run out before dawn breaks? Though they have a slight misconnection, Birdie still breaks out in song. She does justice to that old spiritual, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?
PS: Though Gildy tries to put in his own words the meaning of Easter, and the epilog message is a little more detailed, they don’t exactly nail it well. It certainly is a message of hope, but the writers of the show more or less leave it there. Any religious holiday can be said to be a day of hope, but Easter is more than that.
For the Christian, Easter is the gospel message, and defining event in who they are. The gospel being that God came to earth in the form of Jesus. That he lived on earth. He died on a cross, then was resurrected from the grave.
What is the hope behind the Easter message? That all of us sin, and sin keeps us from having a close relationship with God. He already planned it out that the death on the cross would pay for sins once and for all. But Easter goes a step further. Jesus was risen from the grave, breaking free even from the sin and death he took on for us. That amazing feat is the hope we have, that by trusting in those details as truth, we have the assurance that we’re part of his kingdom.
Now there’s a choice to be made. The default condition is to be outside the kingdom of god. You don’t have to believe in God, that’s your choice. To make no choice is to stay in that default condition.
The second choice is to believe that the gospel message, the death, burial, and reserrection, is true. If that makes sense to you, then you understand the hope that a future in God’s kingdom means. The kingdom starts now, so keep on living in a way that represents kingdom life. Need more help in figuring that kind of life out? Participate in the Christian church of your choice, keep seeking after God. Read, and engage in what’s in the pages of the Bible.
Sorry about the preaching, but that’s what Easter is. The most defining of all Christian holidays. Enjoy the show, and I hope you take time to consider the gospel message.
Wether you love it, or hate it leave me a comment, I’d like to know what you have to say about it.
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