Last week I had the wonderful opportunity of taking part in an interview for a podcast called The Jesus Files hosted by Lara Helmling in the United States. We covered a wide territory discussing some of the best and most challenging experiences of being a follower of Jesus. I was asked about my favourite verse of Scripture and decided to go with this one:

‘For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died’ 2 Corinthians 5:14

Here’s the link to the full podcast: The Jesus Files with Lara Helmling and Stephen Shearsby

I have to say, this may not have immediately come across as a ‘go to verse’ of inspiration for The Jesus Files listeners. Plus it got me thinking about what I want to call the second deadly sin of parenting, forgetting Easter Sunday.

Before we get there folks, we need to first recap Good Friday because that’s where this verse launches from. It was this verse that I heard taught at a university student conference that made me rethink life’s purpose and direction. It says that Jesus’ death determines the future of all human beings: ‘One died for all’. So where did that place me? ‘Therefore all died’. Dead! Ok, so…how is that a verse to inspire others?

It’s Friday but Sunday’s comin’
When I was a teenager I went along to my church’s Easter camps. One year we had a speaker from the United States join us called, Tony Campolo who was a passionate and engaging speaker. One of his famous sermons is titled “It’s Friday but Sunday’s comin’”. It’s a wonderful, powerful message that bridged the devastation of Good Friday with the joy and relief of Easter Sunday. Sin was punished in Jesus’ body on Friday and the resurrection showed that judgment was over and forgiveness available to all on Sunday.

However, as we saw in my last post, it’s common for parents not to think of the kids as sinners. We are discouraged from such antiquated, Victorian sentiments that could damage their self esteem. Instead we should see that our children just need better education, guidance and encouragement. But the story of Peter’s journey with Jesus shows the opposite. As can be seen from Anton’s Biggest Easter (Home) Video that I shared with you, no matter what Peter did, who he spent time with, what he learned or what he gave up, he had a personal problem that was intrinsic to his character. The Bible calls this flaw sin. Sin is inescapable, unstoppable; in fact we don’t really want to stop it anyway. Mention the name of Jesus and see people’s reaction…Jesus stinks. Why? Most people can’t honestly give an answer. We just do. Rebels that cut of our noses to spite our faces.

One man, one future.
But one man dying for sin isn’t an Easter message. You need the resurrection to make any sense of it. It’s Friday but Sunday’s comin’. One of the short comings of the video I shared with you is there is no mention of the resurrection, empty tomb, or ascension. One person who rang up ordering some of Anton’s sticker stories for their Easter services asked me to make sure I chose a set that included ‘Jesus off the cross’. You see, they didn’t want to leave kids with Jesus hanging there. I understand where they are coming from, that’s why we have a range of stories that focus on the death, the empty tomb, the resurrection and forgiveness. Now this is going to sound defensive but it’s actually a well considered answer. Here’s a lesson for all preachers, teachers and parents: if you try and say everything, your kids will hear nothing.  So I don’t recommend you try and cover all your bases, it’s OK to not preach every aspect of the Easter story in one go!

Having said that, the full live show of Peter’s story (The Biggest aka ‘Fame’) that I’ve been performing this Easter includes his discovery of the empty tomb and what that means. So what does it mean? Take a look at the next verse of my favourite text I shared in the interview:

“And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” 2 Corinthians 5:15

Jesus is the representative man who fulfils all God’s requirements, yet takes the punishment we deserve for our sin on Good Friday. Sunday comes and he is raised from the dead, showing that his death was both unjust but fully did the job of paying for sin.

I knew at the time I heard this verse that Jesus had died for me, I just hadn’t considered how that meant I had died. But the other new thing that struck me was how it applied to my future. It meant I only had one life to live, one direction that was meaningful. I could stay dead and as Lara Helmling called it in our interview, ‘live the zombie apocalypse’ so to speak, or I could get on with true life, that is living for the one who died for me and was raised for me and in whom the future of the world depended.

Now as parents we might be all over Good Friday but commit the second deadly sin of parenting: forgetting Easter Sunday.

How? We know all too well our kids are sinners that need disciplining. But we forget Jesus died not for only for our judgment but for our mercy. A home where constant judgment, unrealistic expectations, rules and stricture to religious habit rule the roost runs contrary to the Easter journey. Plus we can as parents give the impression we are not sinners, it’s just our kids. We can run the deadly parenting pattern that we are immune to sin and that sin is something you grow out of. Instead we need to model our own need to seek forgiveness, our own humility and admission of fault, our own joyfulness at God’s mercy that triumphs over His judgment.

Practically this could mean helping kids to say sorry to each other and move on; teaching our kids to not hold grudges. Parents too perhaps need to be confessing their sins or apologising to their kids or each other. It could mean praying together regularly to thank God for his grace and admit wrong we have done. It could mean letting your kids start a fresh each day, not continuing the ‘war’.

It was Friday, but Sunday is here. Let’s not forget Good Friday; but let's also make sure we live in Easter Sunday.

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