We work hard for Easter, those of us who work for churches.

We plan extra services. We make services extra special. We worry about signage and supplies. We get all consumed.

We schedule Good Friday off. And then many of us work. The day that even public schools cancel classes as a religious holiday, those who are on church staff work.

I understand the pressure. I have spent years being very active for Easter services, long before I was on church staff. And I understand the anxiety of not getting right, the fear that it (whatever it is) won’t be perfect enough for all the people who are coming expecting to be amazed. And the fear that if we don’t get it right, all those people who come to church just on Christmas and Easter will be offended or won’t be impressed. And then God will be disappointed.

I was thinking through this while driving home on the Thursday of Easter week. We’ve worked hard. Things are ready. And I was feeling a little hollow, a little empty.

And then I started to think about Easter. The point of Easter, the reason for Jesus dying and rising again, is that we can’t get good enough. We just can’t quite measure up. We always fall short when left to ourselves.

And Jesus says, “come on, little weak one, and I will give you rest.” It’s not going to be through hard work that God is pleased, but through relationship.

And Jesus says, “You can’t get to the Father except through me.”  It’s not going to be how perfectly we fit the service together, but whether we make the introductions, “Jesus, I’d like you to meet my good friend Dave. Dave, this is Jesus.”

Nothing wrong with hard work. Unless we’re addicted.