The Story Continues...

The excitement is all over. The ears have been eaten off the bunny. The jellybeans are all gone. Dinner has been cooked, the dishes are done, the eggs hidden and found (at least most of them!), and now its back to the reality of the workweek.

Did you stop for a minute? Did you think about the joy that is yours because of Easter?

A professor of mine asked the question, “What would be different if Jesus had not risen from the dead?” The answer is that nothing would be different. We would still be lost in sin. We would still be trying to work our way into God’s favor. We would still be trying to figure out what exactly God wants from us, and how on earth we could ever do what he wants. We would still be striving vainly. And we would still be condemned.

The real question is, “What is different because Jesus rose from the dead?” And the answer there is, “EVERYTHING!” Because Jesus rose from the dead, I am not a slave to sin. Because Jesus rose from the dead, I have hope, and the assurance that he has secured my salvation. I have a relationship with a real, living person. I can know God, and know exactly what he wants from me. He wants everything, and through his power I can give it to him.

Praise be to the God and

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

In his great mercy he has given us new birth

into a living hope

through the resurrection of

Jesus Christ from the dead. I Peter 1:3

Because Jesus rose from the dead, we have a living hope, not a dead dread of what’s to come. Because Jesus rose from the dead, I am saved. I am.

But what does my life reflect? Do I live like the tomb is empty, or do I live as if its still Saturday, and Jesus and all my dreams are dead?

After the resurrection, there is a new excitement among the disciples. Jesus appears to them, eats with them, lets them stick their fingers into his hands and side, walks with them, cooks them breakfast. There is a new intimacy as a result of the resurrection that lasts even after he is gone from their sight. The Holy Spirit comes, and they are FILLED with him. Peter can’t keep it in; he goes out into the middle of the 5,000 plus people and proclaims Jesus risen from the dead.

My life doesn’t always reflect this excitement. Sometimes I am grumpy. Sometimes I seem to dread the day ahead. Instead of seeing my life filled with possibility, instead of living in expectation of what God can do next, I keep my head down and just sludge through the day.

How different would my life be if I lived into the reality of the resurrection? How attractive to others would it be if I lived the joy that only comes from my risen Savior? Peter couldn’t not share. I am so content to live as if my faith were a private thing. While Jesus would have died just for me, he died for everyone. Why aren’t I sharing that more freely?

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John 3:16-17

Go! Live in joy and hope! Always be prepared to share the hope that lives in you, because of the certainty of the resurrection. Let the way you live reflect your newness of life!

In Remembrance

Did you get your free pancakes on Tuesday? Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, is celebrated throughout the world, and is the last hurrah before Lent. In some places it is marked with great debauchery, bright garish colors, the collecting of beaded necklaces, parades and the crowning of a king.

I grew up on the West Coast, and Mardi Gras was a southern tradition. Even when Seattle began celebrating Fat Tuesday, it was more a way to increase revenue and tourism than a religious celebration. Mardi Gras marks the onset of Lent. Here again, I am a protestant, and Lent isn’t something I have much experience with.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, and is a time of sacrifice and preparation for the celebration of  Holy Week. Traditionally it lasts for forty days, representing the time Jesus spent in the desert, fasting and ending with his temptation by Satan. This marked the beginning of his ministry. People celebrating Lent typically give up a vice, something like coffee or chocolate or meat. Often it is just a tradition. When done right it is a solemn time, a time of repentance from sin in preparation of the celebration of the sacrifice Jesus made for humanity. It ends with Maundy Thursday, remembering the last supper Jesus celebrated with his disciples in the upper room before his arrest, Good Friday, the death of Jesus on the cross, and Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, and the defeat of death.

Keeping Lent isn’t commanded in the Bible. It’s a celebration that the church instituted to remember. I have never celebrated Lent, but I love the idea of preparing and remembering. Jesus tells us to celebrate communion in remembrance of Him. Often times we go through the motions of church, enjoying fellowship with each other and singing choruses together, but rarely remembering why we gather, and at what cost. We go from Palm Sunday to Easter, barely acknowledging Good Friday.

This cup is the new covenant in my blood,

which is poured out for you. Luke 22:20

Jesus told his disciples to go to a certain field where there would be a donkey and her foal. They were to tell the owner than their master had need of it. He rode it into Jerusalem, a king who came in peace. The people called for his coronation, laying their coats on the road before him and waving palm branches. A short time later, these same people called for his death. Jesus had an intimate and meaning filled dinner in the upper room with his disciples. He sent Judas off to do what he would, and took the rest of the disciples to the garden to pray. Well, he prayed; they slept. Judas sold Jesus, and betrayed him to the soldiers with the kiss of a friend. I wonder what hurt more, the lack of support from the sleeping disciples or the kiss of betrayal?

Jesus is arrested, he is shuttled between rulers for trials, and he is stripped and flogged and humiliated before the people. He is made to carry his own cross until his strength is completely gone and he can carry it no farther. He is hung on that cross, and abandoned by both is friends and his Father. He, who knew no sin, carried the shame and guilt and filth of us all. He who created life experienced the most horrible death. For me.

This is my body given for you;

Do this in remembrance of me. Luke 22:19

This is the point of Lent. Lent helps us remember fully so we can celebrate fully. We dip our toe into the pain that Jesus suffered so that we can be immersed in the joy of Easter. Jesus suffered and died, and then he conquered death by rising.

Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! I Cor. 15:55-56

We sometimes feel like we live in a permanent Good Friday. We live the same day of despair and pain and death over and over and over again. Today may be Friday, but Sunday is coming! Because of what Jesus suffered, we know we are conquerors. Because of the life and death and life of Jesus, this day, this life is not all there is. Easter lies just ahead!

Whether you celebrate Lent or not, take time to remember. Take time experience the pain that Jesus suffered in our place so that you can enter fully into the joy that is our reality.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this; love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends… John 15:11-14