Implications for Easter

My favorite class in seminary was Dr. Willie Jennings’ seminar on Eschatology (the study of “the end”).  It was a discussion about death but also about New Life.  It was about Eternal Life now as well as after we pass on.  It was a time to delve into what the life that surpasses the division of this life and what is to come looks like.  Most centrally, it was a class about Resurrection.
    It was during that semester that the  raid was held on David Koresh and the Branch Davidian ranch in Waco, TX.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Koresh ) This sparked much interest since Koresh claimed to be the Messiah, so Dr. Jennings brought in the concept of Christ’s Messiahship and compared it to Koresh’s claims.
    The discussion took place over a couple of days, and in the midst of that sharing Dr. Jennings said something that I will never forget and made me pause.  To paraphrase, He said, “If Koresh came back to life and was Resurrected, I think I’d be one of the first one’s to follow him.  Of course, Koresh didn’t.”  But then he nailed it by saying, “This is the lynchpin of the Gospel, because if Jesus hadn’t been raised, we wouldn’t be here, and He’d have been relatively insignificant.”
    Maybe you’re thinking, “Well yeah...”  But at the time that phrase struck me.  If we were to pare it all down, Jesus was Messiah because of Easter, and we follow a Risen Lord.  Okay, so now I’M thinking, “Well, yeah...”  And yet, it’s so easy to forget this.  Or should I say, it’s easy for this Truth to be lost and not have an affect on how we live our lives.
  
    I was fascinated this week at the initial response to Osama bin Laden’s assassination being one of elation and celebration, but I was even more fascinated by how many folks, when it was asked whether such elation was really appropriate from the standpoint of a Christ follower, took a step back and realized how easily they’d gotten caught up in the moment.  Some might respond differently if they had it to do over again.
    Foundational to and vital for Christ’s Resurrection was the Truth of His teaching, witness, and example on earth.  He remained in a state of connection with God, and the Eternal Life that He revealed after His death was really a continuation of the Eternal Life He shared here.  That is, I do not believe that, just as He did in the stories of compassion in the Gospels, His response at bin Laden’s death would have been one of elation but rather sorrow that One of His children was gone, and that that child had been so lost and misguided.  I think an implication of Easter is to be more closely aligned with the One who came back.

    Next Sunday 13 of the youth at the Church will join the church.  Over the past 14 weeks this Confirmation Class has studied, learned, and grown.  They have asked questions of the leaders, mentors, themselves, and God, and as they have I’ve been blessed to see God working among and through them.
    The other night I did a final interview with each youth to see if they were ready to join and take the next step, and as we shared, every one of them said that they didn’t want Confirmation to end.  They felt that they were a part of something and were blessed by the fellowship and learning.  I encouraged them to find their place at Youth Group or Sunday School, but that what they were feelings was a blessing, for we all need those people and places to keep us moving forward in the faith.  I think an implication for Easter is that God is constantly seeking to move and grow us, and if we try to stop this, or stagnate the Spirit, then we begin to die on the vine.

    Over the past four months this congregation has experienced much grief.  We have lost four members, three of whom were foundational members, and congregants seem to have had numerous sicknesses, diagnoses, and difficult experiences, and what has happened along the way is that blow by blow the grief has moved beyond the families affected to the staff and congregation.  Leading up to Easter, there was a sense of heavy corporate grief that could be tangibly felt, and yet, throughout the process there were glimpses of hope.  A Word was spoken, a hug given, a birth came, or a sharing of faith that reminded again that God is indeed with us.  In the midst of the struggle and the pain, arose the One who took all the pain and is bringing forth wholeness.  I think a vital implication for Easter is that no matter where we are, who we are, or what happens to us, God has placed us together to experience hope and grace, especially in times when the one thing we need is Resurrection.

    There is an amazing and telling miracle story in the 11th chapter of John’s Gospel, where Jesus’ friend Lazarus gets sick and dies.  They bury him and four days later Jesus and the disciples arrive.  Lazarus’ sisters are a little peeved that Jesus didn’t come sooner, but Jesus performs a miracle and brings Lazarus back to life.  But before Jesus acts he says, “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me will life, even thought they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”  Jesus ends this phrase by saying, “Do you believe this?”
    Seems to me that this short story encapsulates well the implications for Easter, for it was through Christ’s example on earth that He revealed True Life, and when He showed up, the Life He witnessed was the life He had revealed.  He showed them what happens when we align ourselves with Him rather than follow our own path or respond without thinking.
    In the midst this whole situation Jesus was teaching the disciples, those who were grieving, and us, that there is always room for growth and trust, and that Jesus would never abandon or forsake His friends.  Like my confirmands, the blessing of the journey had drawn them all together in strong fellowship, and Jesus entered and blessed that fellowship to bring new life.  Just as He does in our fellowship with Him and one another.
    Probably most importantly, Jesus entered the collective grief of those standing outside the tomb.  He stepped into the grief, even to the point of weeping and grieving Himself.  But then He transformed that grief into Joy and brought wholeness.  
    And the question that was left with them and with us is, “Do we believe this?”

    The implications for Easter if we DO believe, it changes everything, and God makes a way.  The God who revealed New Life in Christ reveals the same New Life to us – in the aligning of ourselves with Him, in seeking to grow in our faith and share in fellowship, and in journeying together in communion with Him and one another.  And it’s all because of Easter.
 
Where is God inviting you to embrace Resurrection?