Easter Letter to UBC - April 12, 2015

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