Life After Resurrection

It was only a couple of weeks ago that we were celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus with lilies and songs. This past Sunday we had two Memorial services for long-time members of the congregation. That seems like such a contrast. How do you celebrate resurrection and grieve the death of loved ones all in the same week?

At first glance, they seem like opposite poles: death and life, sorrow and resurrection. And yet, they are also inextricably linked. Without death there is no need for resurrection.

We have all experienced death; we all know what it is to grieve. But how do we live day-to-day in light of the resurrection of Jesus? How do we get his life infused into our daily experience?

Several years ago, Presbyterian pastor and author, Eugene Peterson wrote a book that encourages believers to do that very thing. He recognized that we, as human beings, encounter death and discouragement on a daily basis. From our limited perspective, life seems to be a collection of random events.

And yet, as Christians, we profess faith in a God who brings order out of the chaos, not only in creation, but each and every day. We believe God has a plan and that we are somehow a part of that plan. But, that’s awfully hard to do. Peterson says that to live in the power of the resurrection is a difficult thing to do, but it is well worth the effort.

He calls this unique perspective on life “practicing resurrection,” which is an odd phrase. What does he mean by it? He says, “The practice of resurrection is an intentional, deliberate decision to believe and participate in resurrection life, life out of death, life that trumps death, life that is the last word, Jesus life” (p. 12).

You can appreciate how difficult life lived that way could be. It requires a change of focus, a change of direction, and even a whole new way of thinking. We can’t keep doing things the way we have done them before and expect different results. Remember that cliché definition of insanity? We have to think about life and about God in a new way.

Most of the Western world has embraced an Aristotelian view of God as an abstract concept or idea. But this has not won us very many converts. Peterson quips, “We’ve been at this for two thousand years now, and people are not clamoring to join us” (p. 14). He goes on, “With God depersonalized and then repackaged as a principle or formula, people could shop at their convenience for whatever sounded or looked as if it would make their lives more interesting and satisfying on their own terms. Marketing research quickly developed to show us just what people wanted in terms of God and religion. As soon as we knew what it was, we gave it to them” (p. 23).

This marketing approach to evangelism not only doesn’t work, as is evidenced by the last 50 years or so of decreasing church attendance and membership, it is actually the polar opposite of how faith and discipleship are supposed to work. Remember what Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit,” John 15:16.

That’s how faith in God works. It’s not so much about analyzing an idea as it is about developing a relationship. Peterson says, “God reveals himself in personal relationship and only in personal relationship. God is not a phenomenon to be considered. God is not a force to be used. God is not a proposition to be argued. There is nothing in or of God that is impersonal, nothing abstract, nothing imposed. And God treats us with an equivalent personal dignity. He isn’t out to impress us. He’s here to eat bread with us and receive us into his love just as we are, just where we are.”

In order to practice resurrection, in order to grow in our faith, Peterson encourages us to be “healthy in God, robust in love” (p. 29). Let’s go and do just that.

Forward in Faith

Hasn’t it been a busy week?! But the good kind of busy. Holy week, from Palm Sunday to Easter, is one of the busiest times in the life of a church. There are extra worship services, visitors, programs, and people to manage. A pastor friend of mine on facebook posted a picture of himself taking a well-earned, but too-short nap!

There is also this strange phenomenon after a busy season, especially one with spiritual emphasis, where we feel a bit of a let-down once it is over, we feel a bit deflated. Do you feel like that?

It makes me wonder if the disciples of Jesus felt anything like that in those weeks following the resurrection. Talk about your emotional roller coaster! They went from Palm Sunday when the crowds were hailing Jesus as the possible Messiah, to the serious talk around the Passover table, to a surprise arrest and hurry-up trial, and a gruesome execution that must have flung his friends and family into the depths of despair. A few days later, rumors started flying that Jesus was alive. Could it really be? Then came the unbelievable moment when Jesus himself appeared among them, and they knew it was true. Wow! How do you recover from a week like that?

Just a short reflection on the experience of the disciples makes me wonder how that same thing works out in the lives of each one of us. Where do we go from here? How do we go forward after a week like that? For that matter, what does it mean to go forward? What is it we are supposed to be doing in the Christian life?

I had a very interesting conversation this week with someone who was struggling with growing in their faith. She wanted to know which church, which pastor, or which book would help her grow. I took the viewpoint that each of us is responsible, at some level, for our own spiritual growth.

If we expected our doctor to be responsible for our physical health, we would most likely be disappointed. Our doctor can make suggestions, prescribe medication, but it is up to us to follow through. We are the ones who have to eat right. We are the ones who have to exercise and lose weight. We are the ones who have to take the proper medication at the proper time. I hear all the time that we have to take control of our own health care.

I think it’s also true, at least to a certain extent, that we have to take responsibility for our own spiritual health. A pastor or Sunday School teacher can point us to good books, helpful Scripture passages, and insights on prayer, but it is up to us to actually do the things we are encouraged to do. It’s a little blunt, but I sometimes refer to this as “Nike spirituality” based on their advertising campaign, “Just do it.” Sometimes in our spiritual lives, we need to “Just do it.”

At the same time, I am reminded of the passage in 1 Corinthians where Paul talks about his own experience with encouraging the Corinthian Christians in their faith. He tells them that even though he planted the seed of faith, and another pastor, named Apollos, watered that seed, it was God who caused the growth.

We can put ourselves in a position to grow. We can learn, we can pray, we can share, but it is ultimately God who brings the growth. God is always responsible for the miracle.

In the Easter story, Jesus didn’t raise himself from the dead, the Bible consistently says that God raised him from the dead. So when we need raising, or when we need encouragement, we need to look to God, who is “the author and perfecter of our faith.”