Green Eggs and Ham | An Easter Thought

Dr. Seuss is one of the most recognizable children’s book authors of our modern age.  Among the many titles he has penned, “Green Eggs and Ham” stands out as a most familiar story for the young and the old.  Though word-for-word may escape us, we know almost instinctively the hilarity of a hard sell:  Green eggs and green ham eaten nearly anywhere one might imagine, along with several places we would never imagine.  Perhaps you’re reminded even know of a few of the wild places you might enjoy a hardy verde meal. 

For many Christians, the Easter story has become equally as familiar.  Though word-for-word may escape us, we know almost instinctively the story line.  Jesus enters Jerusalem to crowds cheering and celebrating.  Days later he’s pinned to a cross dying in the dark.  Then days later he’s alive and the whole lot of disciples can barely believe their eyes. 

Familiarity can be a funny thing.  No matter a top selling children’s book or the Easter story, our familiarity can lull us into missing the point among the details.  As zany as Sam-I-Am is while wielding his platter of visually unappealing culinary delights, we daren’t miss the point:  Our ability to judge is always tempered by our lack of experience.  All of a sudden the detailed rhythms and rhymes, along with the colorful eggs and ham somehow mean a bit less and our hearts and minds are caught up in learning a lesson for life. 

Similarly, as wiley and as jostled as the Easter story may feel, we daren’t miss the point: 

“That the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:46-47) 

All of a sudden the fancy dresses and family feasts, along with the colorful eggs and ham somehow mean a bit less and our hearts and minds are caught up in learning a lesson for life…real life in Christ.

This weekend I hope you’ll pause long enough to move beyond the familiar.  Go further than the details and deeper than the nostalgia that can so easily characterize our holidays (holy-days).  Pause long enough to catch the point again of the Easter story:  That Jesus Christ died and was raised to new life and that repentance and forgiveness of sins can be yours in his name.  

An empty tomb just outside Jerusalem