It is such a joy to celebrate Resurrection Sunday worshipping alongside fellow believers.  It is also a joy to know that there are believers around the area and around the world celebrating the same!  I expect that many of us stood with tears in our eyes as the Halleluiah Chorus filled the sanctuary!  What a glorious day in remembrance of a glorious day!

I was particularly challenged by our pastor yesterday as he shared the resurrection story from John’s gospel (chapter 20).   A focal point of the passage and a focal point of the message came from verse 15 when Jesus asked Mary, “WHOM ARE YOU SEEKING?”  We all know the story.  Mary was the first to the tomb and found it empty and began to cry.  Jesus appeared to her and she mistakenly thought she was speaking to the gardener.  Then, her eyes were opened to see Jesus and she ran back to the disciples claiming, “I have seen the Lord!”  Allow me to paraphrase my pastor, hoping to do his words justice:  “This passage reminds us that Christianity is the pursuit of a WHOM and not a WHAT!  Our society says that we should seek the things of this world for satisfaction.  But, no THING in this world will satisfy.  Every THING falls short of the ONE WHOM we are to seek!’

As I often do, my mind quickly went to my world of Christian education.  It struck me – harder than I expected – that this is why Christian education is so very important.  We have the privilege and the responsibility of teaching and training the next generation of children to seek HIM and enjoy complete satisfaction when we can claim, “I have seen the Lord!”  This is more than praying before class.  It is more than having a weekly chapel or even having a Bible class.  It is to teach our students to seek the WHOM when the world says that a WHAT will suffice.

I hope that you will see that the Jesus (Whom!) we celebrated yesterday can be the focal point of every lesson and every conversation and every relationship all day long in our Christian schools.  Actually, it is more than “can be” – Jesus “must be” the focal point – as the message of the world needs constant correction.  The last verse of John 20 encapsulates my hope and prayer for this next generation:  “…that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”  The WHY of Christian education is believing in the WHOM of Jesus Christ SO THAT they would have life!

Have you ever stopped to think of the many ways that God reminds us of the “old things have passed away and all things are becoming new” imagery in His creation?  Think about it.  Springtime.  Barren trees begin to bud.  Flowers appear from out of nowhere.  A forest that was brown and dull is filled again with color.  Eggs hatch (even those that we can watch via webcams!).  These are all wonderful, but they don’t happen often enough for me.  That is why I have a special affinity for the sunrise!  Every single day, God reminds ME that the old has passed and the new has come -and the future looks beautiful!

I was particularly blessed this week when a WCCS teacher (Tracey Denney)  sent me the picture to the right taken by a WCCS senior (Chris Cogan) of the sunrise over the school.  (Yes – this pic is now my desktop background on my computer!)  It is a great reminder of the past as well as the future, particularly with regards to the students.  Allow me to explain how this hit me this week.

One of the great blessings of our current technological age is the opportunity to stay connected with long-time friends through social media (although I do readily admit that not all of these advances are positive!).  For someone who has been engaged in Christian education for quite a few decades, it is a real joy to see how God is working through former students.  Just this week, I was scanning my Facebook and Twitter feeds and was reminded of one young man that I taught almost 25 years ago who is a pastor in South Florida.  His church will be opening up a church plant on Easter Sunday this year.  Another young lady that I coached many moons ago is a elementary school teacher who is clearly following God’s call as is evidenced by the love she has for her students as expressed through these social media outlets.  A third is a very profound thinker who posts quotes that often challenge me.  He posted the following quote by Martin Luther this week:  “A law-driver insists with threats and penalties; a preacher of grace lures and entices with Divine goodness and compassion shown to us, for he wants no unwilling works and reluctant services; he wants joyful and delightful services of God.”  If you are like me, you had to read that quote a few times to really allow it to sink in!  What a joy to see these “young” people from the past walking in the truth.

After pondering those “old” students, it didn’t take me long to think ahead and wonder how God will see fit to use MY “new” students at WCCS!  I will not have the privilege of knowing or working with Chris Cogan and the WCCS Class of 2014, but have heard wonderful things about them.  My first “class” will be the Class of 2015.  I can only imagine where those will be in 25 year – in 2040!  Who from that class will be a pastor or a teacher or a thinker – or a missionary or a mom or a banker or a graphic artist?  How will God call the next generation of WCCS students to impact HIS Kingdom???  What about the current 3K students who will be in the WCCS Class of 2028?  What do their futures hold?  While the details of these occupations will not be known for years, we do know the very end of the story – and it is VERY bright!  Jesus Christ will come again in the ultimate victory over sin and death and will reign forever and where we will live eternally in the presence of our Savior!

It is my hope and prayer that we all notice those reminders all around us of the past, the present, and the future – and that the dawning of every new day will bring us closer to that day when Jesus comes again in glory to take His children home!