A Whole Life Ahead (Easter Column)

Behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel; and as they (the women) were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen.” Luke 24:4,5 RSV (Ancient text added)

          Clearly, it’s the last thing they expected.
          They had watched Him die, these women from Galilee, saw Joseph lay the body in his own tomb, making careful note of where it was.         
         Reeling from grief and shock, (think 9/11 here) they must have spent that sad Sabbath in tears, wondering, “But why? But how? But we thought…? But where is God?” as they feared the next strike, the tread of soldiers’ sandals on the stairs, the pounding on the door.
          Their situation was beyond awful. Marked by dress and accent and occupation, they were strangers in a city in uproar. Should they run…and call attention to themselves? Should they hide…with Judas still out there? He’d betrayed Jesus, after all; the rest of them were easy.     
          But there was work to be done—sad, ugly work. And like women everywhere, they got to it: gritted their teeth, picked up their spices and oils, and crept out to the tombs. Early, so they wouldn’t be seen.
          Whereupon they were greeted by the most wonderful news the world has ever heard: “He lives; He is risen!”
          Imagine.
          A precious picture book of mine, entitled “He Was One of Us,” pictures Mary Magdalene running from the tomb, her face alight, yellow flame circling her body.
          The poem accompanying it reads, “She’s afire with joy! Flames burst out of her/She starts living at last.”
          That’s how it must have been.
          Though their hard-nosed, practical brothers from Galilee didn’t believe the women at first, thinking it “an idle tale” (vs. 11) they soon became so convinced that they went out and “turned the world upside down.” (Acts 17:6)
          Something happened: something unexpected, amazing, wonderful, life-altering.
          The Resurrection.
          And that’s what we celebrate today: not bunnies and bonnets and eggs and chocolate, fun as all of that is. We celebrate something far more profound and important, something the disciples didn’t even understand on that first miraculous Sunday. We celebrate the incredible promise Jesus made the night before He died:
          “…because I live, you will live also.” (John 14:19)  Let those words soak in slowly.         
          The One Who conquered death offers life eternal to all who believe. Easter was not just then and there, but here and now.
          Christ is risen! Like Mary Magdalene, we can live…at last!

FATHER GOD: It’s Easter! Let us party like we have a whole future ahead of us. Because we do! Amen.

First published in Bozeman Daily Chronicle, April 16, 2017.

         

         

         

What Now?

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18,19 NIV

           It’s Wednesday morning after Easter and I’m not on deadline. After 32 years of Wednesday mornings, that feels more weird than I can tell you.

          I knew this would happen…eventually. A weekly Christian column in a secular newspaper was too endangered a species to last forever.  Sooner or later, it would be done.

          The rules have changed. Now I’m to write only once a month.

          The ground has shifted under my feet. It feels like God is doing a new thing, but I don’t quite perceive it. Not yet. I’m in transition. Like all folks in this odd place, I wonder:

          What now?
          I’m sure the disciples wondered the same thing in this time after Easter.         
         Though Jesus had tried to warn them, they weren’t prepared for that awe-full week in Jerusalem. If they thought about it ahead of time, they probably imagined Jesus would finally declare Himself as the Messiah they’d waited for, the one who would free Israel from the hated Romans. They would stand with Him then and fight--perhaps even to die. But arrest, trial, crucifixion?
          No! Not that.
          Yet it happened. All their expectations crushed, Jesus’ followers fled Gethsemane like scared rabbits, hiding wherever they could, fearing they were next on the execution list. Peter denied he even knew Jesus. And I’ll bet he wasn’t the only one.
          Then came Sunday, the first breath of hope. Mary claimed to have seen Him; the other women, Peter and John met angels who told them unbelievable news: Jesus had, indeed, risen from the grave.
          The news was almost too good to be true. They were still hiding behind locked doors when Jesus appeared to them all. (See John 20:19)
          There was great joy, but no instruction. As they came together still reeling from the events with its roller coaster of emotions--terror, grief, anger, joy--I’m sure they asked:
          What now?
          The gospels tell different stories about what happened next. Likely, when it was safe, they blended in with the crowds leaving the city and staggered back to Galilee. Some of them probably tried to resume their former lives. Peter and his colleagues even went fishing. (See John 21.)
          It didn’t work. The ground had shifted. God had another plan. He was doing a new thing.
          But they weren’t able to perceive it. Not yet.
          They were only told they would be witnesses. (See Luke 24:48.) How this was to happen, they didn’t know. God would make a way through the uncertainty around them, step by step.
          As He will for me. For I’ve been called as His witness, too. He will reveal how I’m to go on, step by step.
          What I must do now is relax…and trust Him.