Short Stories

An Easter Encounter

by Stephen Wong
01/16/21
Not For Sale
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It was another scorching day. Jonah scanned the faces of each passer-by. There were children running around with balloons blown up in the shapes of dogs and rabbits. A couple were eating hot dogs and holding hands. A group of people were clapping for a trio of jugglers in colourful costumes. A woman was shouting out raffle ticket numbers through a loudspeaker. Normally Jonah would be joining in with the festivities, but today he needed to stay focussed. He was on a mission. Every minute was going to count. He watched as a group of teenagers slowly approached. Perhaps they were the right people he was looking for. He could feel his heart beating faster. He needed to wait until the boys were in range before he could make his move. As soon as they passed the lemonade stand, that was when he would act.

“Hi, have you…”

Before he could finish the sentence, the boys had quickly turned in a different direction. That seemed to be the usual pattern. Most people who walked past pretended not to see him. For those who were nice enough to glance in Jonah’s direction, they either smiled awkwardly and kept walking or politely refused.  

He wiped away the thick layer of sweat from his forehead. It felt like he had just come out of the pool, except there was no towel around to dry him off. Jonah had always enjoyed signing up for this task every year, but this year was harder than usual. Apart from the fact that the sun was continuously beating down on him, there had been nobody else who had put their hand up this year. All of the regular helpers had either gone on holidays or called in sick, leaving Jonah to tend the stand by himself. Although he had been reluctant to become a one man team, pastor Steve had encouraged him to still go ahead.

God can still work through one soldier. Somewhere out there, someone is searching. 

Jonah looked around. People were lining up for different stands and taking selfies with each other. People were searching all right, although they were more interested in hot dogs and winning game prizes.

“Want a lemonade? You look like you’ve been running a marathon.”

Jonah turned around. Theresa was holding out a glass. It certainly felt like he was in a marathon.

“Uh… no thanks. I’ll take a break in a moment.”

“You’re a persistent one, I’ll give you that. Just don’t come crying to me later when you get a heatstroke.”

Theresa walked back to her stand where children were eagerly lining up by the second. Jonah clutched the pen and clipboard in one hand, a bunch of flyers in the other. A bunch of Easter eggs were also laid out in a basket on the stand. In his head, he repeated the lines he had learnt off by heart.

Hi I’m Jonah, what’s your name?

It’s nice to meet you. I am from Hope Valley Church and today we want to ask people about what Easter means to them. Do you have a few minutes to go through a quick survey?

The plan was that hopefully the survey would then lead onto deeper conversations about the gospel. Each person would also get an Easter egg and flyer, inviting them along to the Hope Valley Good Friday and Easter services.

An elderly couple strolled within distance.

“Hi I’m Jonah, what are your na…?”

“Sorry, we’re not interested.”

A young lady and her son approached.

“Hi I’m Dennis, what’s…?”

They both kept walking at a fast pace without even a glance.

Nearby a young man wearing a sweater and baseball cap was sitting on a bench, eating an ice cream without a care in the world. As soon as he saw Jonah walking towards him, he quickly took out his mobile phone and pretended that he was taking an important call. It was amazing what lengths some people went to just to avoid having a conversation.

Jonah wiped the drops from his forehead. If he kept sweating like this, he was going to scare everyone else away. The festival would soon be finished, and he hadn’t even managed to complete one survey yet. The Easter eggs had probably become a bowl of chocolate soup by now. He watched as another group of people walked past without even a glance in his direction. Jonah recalled the words of advice that pastor Steve had given him earlier in the week.

Don’t take the rejections personally. It’s normal to be afraid, but our God is mighty. He can used scared people. Even if one person is brought closer to Jesus by our efforts, it will all be worth it…

Jonah had never considered himself a particularly gifted evangelist, but he had the heart. Whenever there was an opportunity to talk about Jesus, he was there. He figured that if God had gifted him with a tongue, he might as well use it to tell people about the greatest news they could ever hear. If only one person heard his words and believed, it would all be worth the effort.

Lord God,

I know that someone out there is searching. Please help me to find them so that they may come to know Jesus and believe in him. If it is your will, I also pray that the Easter eggs won’t all turn into brown mush before the end of the day. Amen.

Suddenly, Jonah spotted a man a few metres away. He was strolling back and forth, occasionally taking out his phone from his pocket as if he was checking the time or looking at a new message. He didn’t look like someone particularly interested in searching for the meaning of life, but nobody else was around. Perhaps he was the answer to Jonah’s prayer.

“Hi I’m Jonah, what’s your name?”

The man gave an inquisitive look. This was a good start.

“Hi I’m Bert, what’s up?” Finally, someone had responded with their name.

“Nice to meet you, Bert. I’m part of Hope Valley Church and we’re asking people about what Easter means to them. I know it’s nearly the end of the day, but would you have a few minutes to spare for a quick survey?”

“Um… sure, why not? The wife and kids are still lining up for hot dogs, so I can spare some time.” 

“Great!” Jonah kept a cool composure, but on the inside,  he was ecstatic. He quickly directed the man to a bench where they could sit, fearful that his family could still show up at any minute and drag him away.

“So let’s jump right in then. The first question is what do you and your family like to do for Easter?”

The first few questions of the survey were good for breaking the ice. The two men exchanged a few laughs as Bert shared how his family liked to spend Easter Sunday at his sister’s house, and how it was his yearly duty to wear a giant Easter bunny costume for the young ones. He also shared how he loved to eat dark chocolate, even though everyone else in the house would complain whenever he bought it. Then it was onto the more important questions.

“So what do you think is the meaning of Easter?”

Although Bert hadn’t grown up in a particularly religious family, he had once been invited to an Easter church service by a high school friend. Although he had barely understood anything at that service, he remembered that he had been intrigued to hear about a man who had willingly died for his enemies.

“I know this Jesus figure is a big part of why you guys celebrate Easter. Except I never really heard much about him growing up, apart from the usual stories of him healing people and dying on the cross and stuff.”

Jonah saw his opportunity. He could feel his hearting beating faster and faster.

“Would you be happy for me to share what Easter means for Christians?”

Bert accepted and Jonah immediately launched into the gospel presentation that he had been rehearsing for weeks. He started off by explaining how God had created everything good in the beginning, but this all changed when humans chose to turn away from him and follow their own will, introducing evil and brokenness into the world. Although humanity was deserving of God’s punishment, God loved them too much to leave them in their condemnation. Instead he sent his only Son Jesus, who was born as a human, lived in perfect obedience to God, and ultimately died on the cross for the sins of all people. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus opened the way for the relationship between God and humanity to be restored. Jonah then finished the presentation by explaining the free offer of salvation for all those who would put their faith in Jesus.

Bert was silent. Perhaps the presentation had made some impact. Jonah pretended to organise his pile of flyers as he waited for him to respond.

“Hhmm… that was interesting. This Jesus was a pretty remarkable figure. I can see why so many people still follow him, but it’s not for me.”

“Why is that?" 

“Well, my minds pretty made up on all this religious stuff. I think I’ve lived pretty happily without God in my life so far. Don’t really see a need to change now.”

“Well, can I ask…”

Before Jonah could finish a teenage girl with a hot dog in one hand came up and tapped Bert on the arm.

“Can we go home now? Mum’s finished?”

“Well, that’s my cue then. Nice meeting you Jonah. Thanks for the interesting discussion.”

Bert stood up and gave a big stretch.

“Would you like a flyer? It has some info about our Easter service coming up?”

“No thanks, think I’ll pass. See you.”

Just like that, Bert walked off before Jonah could respond. He couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed with the timing of the girl’s return. Why couldn’t the hot dog line have been a little longer? At least Bert wasn’t going to be disappointed for missing out on an Easter egg. There was only milk chocolate. Hopefully some small seed had still been planted.

Lord, please work in Bert’s heart. I pray that he would be open to seeking you more. Please bring someone else into his life who can tell him about Jesus. Amen.

Jonah watched as a group of men were packing up the nearby ice cream stand. Perhaps it was time to get out of this heat too. Jonah stared at the pile of flyers in his hand. There were exactly twenty of them, the same number that he had been holding at the start of the festival. At least he had been faithful to the task he had been given. Now it was in the Master’s hands to do what he wanted with his efforts from today.

“Hey, how did it go with your survey?”

Jonah turned around. Theresa was holding a glass of lemonade in her hand.

“Think I’ll take up that drink offer now, thanks. It was good, but we didn’t quite finish our chat. The guy had to head off early.” Jonah placed his stuff down on the stand and reached for the drink.

“Ah that’s a shame. Sounded like an interesting discussion. Couldn’t help but overhear you guys. I hadn’t heard anyone explain Christianity the way you did though. Pretty impressive.”

“Do you have a particular belief yourself?” Jonah could feel his cheeks turning slightly red.

“Not really, but I do think something bigger is out there. I just don’t know what it is. Guess that kind of makes me a spiritual person.”

“Have you explored the Bible much before?”

“Can’t say I have. Never gave it much thought, but all your talk about Jesus has made me curious now.”

“Well my church is running an Easter service on Sunday morning if you are interested? It will be a good way to learn more about Jesus and why we think he’s so important. You’re welcome to join if you’re free?”

“That actually sounds pretty cool. Haven’t been to church in a long while. I might give it a shot.” Theresa took one of the flyers.

“Well, I better finish packing. Guess I’ll probably bump into you on Sunday then. Cya.”

Jonah waved back as Theresa headed back to the lemonade stand. Pastor Steve had been right. There were people searching, and Jonah was going to keep taking every opportunity available to speak about Jesus. He never knew who would be out there listening.