Category: Resurrection

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The Larger Story

This past summer, when the wildfires hit Colorado, John Eldredge and a friend were having a meal together. They were discussing the fires and the possibility of being directly affected. They talked about what they thought Jesus was saying through everything. They both said, “Trust the Larger Story.”

This is a good thing to do throughout life in general. We live in a world that is broken, and we deal with broken people. Not only that, we are broken ourselves. Stuff happens in our day-to-day lives and all around the world. Not a day goes by that we don’t hear or read about tragedy and death. Sometimes we are the ones experiencing those things. We get sick, jobs are lost, friends disappoint. Sometimes we just struggle with living. But, that is not the whole story.

The story is not about us. We are not the heroes. We are living in God’s story, the story of a Kingdom and the restoration of all creation. It is a much larger story that spans eternity. We are in that story, and we all have a part to play, whether big or small. It is that story that gives us hope and encouragement.. The thing we need to do is take our eyes off ourselves and focus on Jesus and what he is doing. That’s the hard part. We tend to be so wrapped up in what is happening to us in that moment that we forget that there is more going on than what we can see with our limited vision.

A few weeks ago, Dan Edelen at Cerulean Sanctum wrote a good post about Romans 8:28. In this post he spoke of the good for which God works all things, and the fact that the things that happen to us don’t always seem to fit into this verse. Dan asks,

“What if the Creator’s intention for ‘those who love God’ isn’t primarily for the individual crushed by circumstance? What if the ‘those’ consists of the greater mass of Christendom?”

 What if the intention is for the overall good of the Kingdom? The early church believed that the Kingdom spread through their suffering, just as it had been inaugurated in Jesus’ suffering on the cross and his resurrection. Believers who have suffered for Christ through the centuries have understood this. Here in the West we have a hard time grasping this concept. Our vision of our faith is extremely personal.

Remember that the Larger Story began long before any of us arrived, and it will continue to be played out long after this life is over. It is a story that is about the Creator and the love he has for his creation. That story will come to its climax. Perhaps then, we will look back at our part in the play and say, “Now I understand.”

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Resurrection and Unity

Rachel Held Evans is the force behind the Rally to Restore Unity. I am not really worthy to be in the company of some of the bloggers that are adding their voices to the effort this week, but I am chipping in my two cents anyway. As part of this, there is a a fundraising campaign going on for Charity: Water. Even if you think I’m full of hot air (or something worse) :), consider helping out this worthy charity.

Alan Knox wrote this post in April concerning the failure of the disciples to believe in the Resurrection until they had actually encountered the risen Christ. I immediately thought about the folks who came to faith during the first century. They also came to believe in the Resurrection because they encountered the risen Christ. Not in literal bodily form, but in the followers of Jesus they encountered in the day-to-day. It was the presence of Jesus in the “Christians” (little Christs) that cause those people to put their faith in Christ. Those early Christians lived a Resurrection life. They could not have done what they did had the Resurrection not have really happened.
Today, the world looks at the Church and sees a fractured, disunited body. They see us divided into camps based on anything from translations of Scripture to what styles of music. They see a group of people that are known more for what we are against than what we are for, and if we’re not busy fighting the culture war we are fighting each other over how to interpret prophecy or who is a “real Christian.” Is it any wonder the world doesn’t believe in the Resurrection when they don’t encounter the risen Christ? We celebrate Easter and put on a big show, but do we live in the power of that resurrection the other 364 days of the year?
The Resurrection of Jesus changed everything. It still does, if we realize that the same power that raised Jesus is now in us. Life as a follower of Jesus is not an easy one, especially when it comes to living in unity with those we disagree with. Our tendency is to hang out with those who we agree with. That extends to our gatherings as the church. We want to be comfortable and accepted, and I don’t believe there is anything wrong with wanting to be accepted. What we fail to remember is that because of the Resurrection, we are accepted by God. Because of the Resurrection, we are part of God’s family.
Because of the Resurrection, we have the power to live as brothers and sisters, as friends, as members of one another in the Body. We have the power to look past the differences, the disagreements, even the passionate (ahem) “discussions.” Because of the Resurrection, we can have Jesus’ prayer that we be one as he and the Father are one answered in and through us. When that happens, the world around us will be like the ancient Romans who said, “Behold how these Christians love one another.”
Then they will encounter the risen Christ. Then, maybe we’ll turn the world upside down.
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Why Easter?

Easter is one of the most important days of the year in some church traditions. In others, it’s a day when more folks come to church and fill the seats, providing a boost in the overall attendance figures. Some churches merely give the day a passing nod and go on about their regular business.

N.T. Wright, quoted here in this post on the internet monk site, states that we should celebrate Easter with enough wild abandon that the watching world wonders what in the world we are celebrating in such a manner. When I stop and think about what Easter really means, I’m inclined to agree with him.
The resurrection of Christ from the dead is his triumph over death. Jesus died for us, really died. He entered into something that has plagued humans since the Fall. What makes the difference is that Jesus DID NOT stay dead. He entered into death, took names and kicked butt. Death thought that Jesus had been stopped, that death had once again triumphed. By rising from the grave Christ took the teeth out of death. As the Apostle Paul writes, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Death cannot touch us now. Oh, we may experience physical death, but it has no power over us. Because Christ is risen, we also shall rise and never die. Paul also says, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” If death has been put to death, then its sting, sin has been put to death as well, as well as the law. That means we are free from death, free from sin, and free from the law.
Sometimes this journey following Jesus gets tough. There are obstacles all along the path, and sometimes things get so dark that we can’t even see the way ahead. At those times we can look back to the Resurrection and realize that because we can look back to that event, we can also look forward to the promise of our own resurrection and victory over death. The Resurrection gives us the strength to carry on.
The Resurrection also gives us the motivation to love others as we love ourselves. Because there has been a Resurrection, there will be a resurrection. Because their will be a resurrection, every person matters, and every thing we do matters. We don’t know what any one person will be resurrected to, so we are moved to treat everyone with dignity, love and compassion. The Resurrection also guarantees that all of us who follow Jesus will be with him for eternity. This moves us to see all who claim Christ as our brothers and sisters, and fellow members of Christ’s Body. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that enables us to love one another when we tend to act in an unloving manner.
The Resurrection is the opening move in the ongoing and final restoration of all of God’s creation. It is truly death working backwards. That moves us to see creation as something that is being restored, rather than as a goddess or a thing to simply be exploited. We are invited to participate in the restoration that is happening now while looking ahead to that which is to come.
The Resurrection changes everything. It was, and still is, a world altering event. So celebrate! Throw Easter parties. Some traditions celebrate Easter for more than just one day. That’s a great idea. Let those around see us go far beyond the chocolate bunnies, the new clothes, the ham dinners. Let them see how much we value what has happened, and let them wonder.