Resurrection Sunday - April 8, 2012
John 20:1 - 9
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Churches across the world will be flooded with worshipers today. The masses will seek out a place of worship to experience pomp and rarified ritual. The flood will be partly habit, the voice within many persons that says, "You have to be present in a church on Easter."
Some of it, I suspect, is more than habit. It is the inner longing within each of us for life, for celebration, for happiness. We get enough of death and sadness every day. We want there to be something more, some deeper meaning to the common events and the tragic happenings of our days. We don't need to be deeply religious people to be drawn to celebrate the resurrection. There is a part of each person that really wants resurrection to be true, not only for Jesus, but for us.
I sit in early morning darkness as I write this . . . I think about the acclamations I'll be prompted to offer in a few hours as I worship with my community . . . it will be fairly easy for me to offer those acclamations among those I know and care for, among those who are my worshiping companions week to week.
Much more difficult, for me anyway, will be the invitation to live into the resurrection. I'll take care of the easy part in a few hours, then return home. But the invitation to live into the resurrection will remain. I want the resurrection to be true through me!
What does it mean to live into the resurrection? Probably, it means different things for each of us. So my own "living into the resurrection" will be different from yours. But I know this: There is plenty that is lifeless in the world. And living into resurrection means that I bring life into that which is lifeless in the world . . . people who feel lifeless . . . institutions that are lifeless . . . relationships that are lifeless.
I'm sensing an invitation today to embody life . . . as an expression of resurrection in the world. And I don't mean for this to be merely theoretical. I'm asking God to show me in a practical way what it means for me to live into the resurrection.
He is alive! Embody life!
For today . . . to what concrete action is God inviting you today as an expression of living into the resurrection? Ask God to show you just one thing that will be your gift and task for the days to come, your unique way of embodying resurrection.
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Churches across the world will be flooded with worshipers today. The masses will seek out a place of worship to experience pomp and rarified ritual. The flood will be partly habit, the voice within many persons that says, "You have to be present in a church on Easter."
Some of it, I suspect, is more than habit. It is the inner longing within each of us for life, for celebration, for happiness. We get enough of death and sadness every day. We want there to be something more, some deeper meaning to the common events and the tragic happenings of our days. We don't need to be deeply religious people to be drawn to celebrate the resurrection. There is a part of each person that really wants resurrection to be true, not only for Jesus, but for us.
I sit in early morning darkness as I write this . . . I think about the acclamations I'll be prompted to offer in a few hours as I worship with my community . . . it will be fairly easy for me to offer those acclamations among those I know and care for, among those who are my worshiping companions week to week.
Much more difficult, for me anyway, will be the invitation to live into the resurrection. I'll take care of the easy part in a few hours, then return home. But the invitation to live into the resurrection will remain. I want the resurrection to be true through me!
What does it mean to live into the resurrection? Probably, it means different things for each of us. So my own "living into the resurrection" will be different from yours. But I know this: There is plenty that is lifeless in the world. And living into resurrection means that I bring life into that which is lifeless in the world . . . people who feel lifeless . . . institutions that are lifeless . . . relationships that are lifeless.
I'm sensing an invitation today to embody life . . . as an expression of resurrection in the world. And I don't mean for this to be merely theoretical. I'm asking God to show me in a practical way what it means for me to live into the resurrection.
He is alive! Embody life!
For today . . . to what concrete action is God inviting you today as an expression of living into the resurrection? Ask God to show you just one thing that will be your gift and task for the days to come, your unique way of embodying resurrection.
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