Easter Egg Hunt Reveals God’s Love! (4/16/22)

After two years of cancelled or curtailed (“drive Thru”) Easter Egg Hunts, the pandemic loosened its grip and allowed us to invite the community and throw a full-out Easter Egg Hunt!  On April 16, the day before Easter, the parking lot was filled with cars and the sanctuary was filled with joyful families.  The Easter Egg Hunt had returned!

It is always great to spend some time with our neighbors, but if you search closely enough, there are also some spiritual lessons hidden along with the eggs…

 

Egg Hunt Returns!

Over 300 of our neighbors came to PUMC to hunt eggs, and many of them gathered in the sanctuary as we kicked off Egg Hunt 2022.  Each Egg hunter was given a bag that would be used to hold their treasures.  Stef Kier, our Christian Education leader, got things started with some songs, and then she introduced our upcoming Vacation Bible School.  The theme of  year’s Vacation Bible School is “Monumental: Celebrating God’s Greatness” and it will be held during the week of June 27 to July 1 (6-8 PM).

 

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves:  It’s time to hunt some eggs!!!

 

After the brief presentation indoors, we grabbed our specially decorated Egg Hunt bags and headed outdoors.  Thousands of plastic eggs had been scattered across the lawn, and it was our mission to gather them up (end to enjoy the chocolate goodies that were inside each egg).  Age grouped areas were marked off so that the big kids wouldn’t trip over the little kids.  Each group was called one by one, and the Hunt was on!

Here’s a taste of the excitement:

 

 

Looking for Jesus

As mentioned in the introduction to this post, there is a spiritual connection to the Easter Egg Hunt.  As we watch the kids (and adults!) scramble across the lawn to gather the plastic eggs, we can catch glimpses of how God wants to have a relationship with us, and how He looks for us as hidden treasure. 

 

Go to Where the Broken Eggs Are…

In the morning, the lawn was green, open, and clear.  And the parking lot was empty.  But a few hours later, the lawn was littered with plastic eggs which had been scattered over the grass.  Some of the eggs broke open during the process, and their contents spilled into the dirt.  And, the parking lot was nearly full.

Perhaps this is a lesson more for the church than for the overall community.  But the cluttered lawn and full parking lot is a reminder that the church should be outside where the “eggs” are.  The church is part of the community.  Yes, there are “broken eggs” inside the church, but broken and needful people are to be found outside of the church’s “walls” too.   Jesus preached on mountainsides, along the roads, and He healed the sick wherever He encountered them.  He didn’t stay inside the synagogue. God is calling His church to be outside.

 

Broken Eggs….

These plastic eggs are used year after year, and the seal that holds them together wears out.  When the eggs are dumped on the ground, they frequently break open, spilling their sweet treasure on to the ground.  The wrapped candy doesn’t look so hot when it’s on the grass, but they still have value and it’s worth picking them up (if they’re wrapped). 

Likewise, our bodies wear out and we may not look so hot after the years have taken their toll.  Even the younger among us have gone through some difficult times and may have done some bad things.  And yet- God still wants to “pick us up.”  The story of Easter is that God loves us enough that He wants to put us back together and gather us up- if we’re willing. 

 

All Are Important…

Jesus told a parable about a shepherd who left 99 of his sheep behind in the sheepfold to go out and look for the 1 sheep who was missing.  Take a look at Luke 15:1-7.  The shepherd had 99 out of 100; that’s a pretty good average.  Imagine if the Phillies’ Bryce Harper had a bating average of .999.  Would any of the Philly fans boo him for not hitting 1.000???  

But God isn’t satisfied with 99 out of 100.  If there’s any chance of bringing that person “home,” of changing that person’s priorities so that he/she puts God above all else, then God is going to look for that person.  He loves each of us that much.

 

Gather and Protect…

Sometimes there are so many eggs that you just reach out your arms and scoop up as many as your arms can hold.  Then you carefully let them flow into your bag; you don’t want any of them to fall back on to the ground.

Watching egg hunters scoop up piles of eggs reminds us of how God wants to bring us back into the safety of His arms.  Jesus compared the children of Jerusalem to chicks that God wanted to gather together and shelter under His wings (Luke13:34-35).

 

Seeking takes Effort…

To pick up an egg, you’ve got to get on your hands and knees and scoop the egg out of the dirt.  If the egg is broken, you need to pick up the two halves of the egg and then gather up its contents before dropping them into your bag. 

To bring each of us into His fold, Jesus had to get on His knees in Gethesemane and then climb the hill to the cross. Salvation is free to us, but it cost God a lot.

 

Keep Seeking…

There are a lot of eggs scattered across the lawn.  At first it’s easy to find them; some of them are dumped together in large piles.  But after a while, the green space between each egg widens, and it gets harder and harder to find them. At first it’s easy, but later it takes more effort.  To be a successful egg hunter, you need to be persistent. 

The egg hunt reminds us of another parable that Jesus told (in Luke 15:8-10).  In this story, a woman had lost a gold coin which was part of a wedding gift.  This coin was like a diamond in her wedding ring. It was really important to her and its loss left a painful gap in her “ring.”   If you’ve ever lost your keys, you don’t give up easily.  The woman in this story didn’t give up either.  She turned on all of the lights, swept the house and kept looking and looking until she found it.

 

Joy in Heaven…

When you pick up an egg and drop it in your bag, there’s an instant of joy; you found an egg, bent down, scooped it up and dropped it safely into your bag.  Success.  You quickly move on to find another egg, but you’re happy about the egg you just retrieved.

The smiles, laughter, and excitement of the kids scrambling across the lawn remind us of the joy that Jesus spoke about in these Luke 15 stories.  There was rejoicing in heaven when the lost sheep was returned to the fold (Luke 15:7).  The angels threw a party when the woman found her lost coin (Luke 15:10). At the end of this chapter, a father had a big feast when his “prodigal son” came home (Luke 15:23).  As we watch the joy of the Easter egg hunt, we’re reminded that God values each of us and wants nothing more than for each of us to love Him back.

 

The Party Continues!

On the morning after the Easter Egg hunt, the church held another celebration: Easter!  The resurrection is proof that we can hold on to the hope of eternal life.  And this hope makes us want to celebrate throughout the year and to blur the line between the “church” and the “community.”  The church is part of the community, so let’s continue to celebrate together.  During the rest of the year, we will have many chances to see God together:  Vacation Bible School, Preschool, Trunk or Treat, food pantry, CROP Walk, Blood Drives, and on and on. 

The eggs are all gathered, the lawn is cleared.  But thank God that we can continue to seek for Him and to enjoy His presence whenever and wherever we can.

 

To learn more about our Easter Egg Hunt, here’s the announcement post:

 

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The Easter Egg Hunt is organized by the PUMC “Christian Education” team.  To learn more about our Sunday School and other learning opportunities (for kids and adults), click this button:   Sunday School