Not a Coincidence

     Last year as I planned for Lent, I came across an idea for this year. So, it was some time ago, long before the beginning of Lent, that I told the church secretary that I would need butterflies for Easter. She passed this information on to one of our gifted arts and crafts folks, who promptly volunteered to make butterflies, after she had determined in conversation with me that they could be of any type of material, and any colors. The only question was how many would I need. Not knowing how many I would need, I just gave her the first number that popped into my head. The number was forty.

     My idea was to use the cross, which had been made under the guidance of a previous pastor to hold communion bread. Instead of placing communion bread on the nails that were extended from the cross, it was my plan to place our sins, sorrows, and concerns on those nails. During a couple of different worship services during Lent, I gave those present the opportunity to write down a sin or sorrow on a piece of paper provided for them in the bulletin. As we sang hymns, they were invited forward to place the piece of paper on one of the nails of the cross. In this way we were nailing our sins to the cross, those sins that are forgiven because Jesus sacrificed himself for us on the cross.

     The cross was then kept before us, with the pieces of paper attached, throughout the remainder of Lent. It was also incorporated into the Holy Thursday worship where we began the evening with Holy Communion and then transitioned into the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. The cross with our sins and sorrows nailed to it was carried out of the sanctuary at the close of the service and placed where everyone passed by it as they exited the building.

     The Saturday before Easter, I returned to the church to prepare the cross for Easter worship. The cross had been returned to its place on the altar and I removed each of the slips of paper, the sins from the cross.

     As I started to cover the cross with the butterflies that had been given to me several weeks ago, I  decided I needed to know how many butterflies I had been given. I am not sure if it is my previous work experience or the methodical thinking of a Methodist, but I counted the stack of butterflies a couple of times. Both times I came up with the same number. Soon the butterflies in a variety of colors covered every part of the cross. Instead of the stark white of the papers that held a multitude of sins and sorrows, the cross was now covered with butterflies in different color combinations including yellow, orange, maroon, pink and green. The ugliness of our sins had been replaced with the beauty of forgiveness and new beginnings through new life in Jesus. Our sins have been forgiven. The cross is now a place of new possibilities and new creations. We have exited the darkness of the cocoon and entered into new life as new creations, represented by the beautiful butterflies.    

     The container that had held the butterflies was now empty, so I decided to pray for the sins and sorrows written on each of the pieces of paper and then place them in the empty container. As I came to the end of the stack of pieces of paper, I realized that the number of sins nailed to the cross over the course of two Sundays, and the number of butterflies prepared weeks in advance to place on the cross, was the exact same number. The number was fifty-seven. Fifty-seven butterflies had been placed on the cross, one for every sin or sorrow that had been removed from the cross.

     Coincidence, I do not believe so. Easter is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is the day that promises us new beginnings and new life as new creations when we commit to following Jesus. Every single one of the sins and sorrows that had been nailed to the cross throughout the season of Lent has been replaced with a butterfly, a sign of new life and the forgiveness of our sins. We are no longer people dwelling in darkness, but followers of the light and new life freely offered to us by our Resurrected Lord.  Hallelujah! He Is Risen!

Pastor Joan Purnell

Braceville UMC