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Everyone knows that death is a permanent condition. There is no recovery, no fix, and no retrofit. It is the end, the finale, the curtain call with no encore. And no one, not one person, gets out of life alive.
At least, that is the common wisdom. But we Christians don’t really give a cursed fig tree for “common wisdom.” We believe that there was a man, sent by God, who was in fact God himself in human form. This man, whose name was Jesus, once lived among us, died, and then lived again. And we mean died: truly, really, totally, completely dead. Not mostly dead. Dead dead. But when he came alive again he came really truly alive. Not like zombie alive or vampire alive, everybody knows is really more like “undead” than actually alive. No, we are talking so totally, completely, entirely alive that his new aliveness is infectious like a virus. Like a plague, only in reverse – instead of killing millions, it is a virus that bringing new life to millions. One day I heard about Jesus and his New Life, and something inside cracked wide open. Bright light and fresh air poured into my coffin-heart full of moldy bones and rags. We live in a world of death and all the rotten rotting rot that goes with it. In spite of that, and in spite of the deadness of my own heart, I found the resurrection of Christ brought a fresh aliveness to a life more real. Not easier, mind you. Not trouble free. But more real, more vivid, and more hope-filled. The Good News is that He can do that for you too. You don’t need to understand it. The call to trust His resurrection is not a test where you need the right answers. It’s not a game you need to win by working harder. And it’s not a transaction you need to pay for by earning more. It’s a gift. All you need to do is receive it. When you do, the new resurrection life in Jesus will be yours, too. I know. Crazy, right? Come on. Let’s get crazy. It’s resurrection. Pastor David Denis
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 Don't worry too much if Easter Sunday passed by you in a flash of pastels, visiting family, and chunks of chocolate. If, in the flurried middle of the holiday, you feel like you gave the actual resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ scant attention, you still have time.
Here's why. At UBC, we are learning to follow the traditional Christian Church Calendar. There's lots of reasons why this is a good practice, not least of which is because it helps us to think Christianly about time. We'll deal with that more in other blog posts, but for now, what you need to know is you still have time to focus on what it means for us to be Resurrection People! We are going to continue to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord for several more weeks. In fact, we'll be remembering, reliving, and gazing on our risen Lord all that way to June 8, when we celebrate Penetecost. If you are like me, sometimes it just takes more time for something to soak in. That's why holidays often don't seem like enough, and why seasons are so helpful. Internet Monk has a terrific and very thoughtful article on why it is good to treat Easter as a season. I highly recommend it. You might want to check it out. |
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