1Now I should remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 2through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.
3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
I Corinthians 15: 1-5
What effect does the resurrection of Jesus have for me/we/us today?
Obviously, it was kind of a huge deal back in about 27AD that Jesus’ tomb stood empty on the first Easter morning.
And obviously it’s a big deal that we’re looking forward to the return of Christ at some unknown date in the future when all those asleep in the Lord will awake and experience the fullness of Christ’s resurrection.
But what difference…what effect…does the resurrection of Jesus have for us now?
This is an incredibly important question because the resurrection is one of the most central aspects of Christianity. In essence…without the resurrection Christianity wouldn’t really be Christianity; at least not as we’ve ever known it.
So, it’s important for us to consider what the effect of the resurrection is for us here and now.
1. Hope=Knowledge
The resurrection is the foundation of our hope in God’s saving and rescuing love. God reached out and touched the world in our Christ and his death and resurrection are the source of our very life. But the hope we speak of here is not a toe in the sand, nervous youngster trying to ask someone on a date type hope. It is a firm and certain knowledge of what God has done, is doing, and will do. It’s like watching the movie “Titanic” and knowing that the boat is going to sink (sorry if I ruined the plot for anyone). The late theologian Shirley Guthrie said it this way: “Christians remember their future.” Seeing and knowing and having faith in God’s power to raise Christ from his grave gives us the knowledge we need to live our lives and exist in a world that is still bent on death and destruction. We’ve seen God overcome death before and we know God will do it again.
2. It’s on us
I’m not saying that our faith or lack thereof will stop God’s ability to bring forth resurrection. Instead, what I mean by “it’s on us” is that the effect resurrection has on our lives of faith can and will depend on our response to it. If we live as though resurrection is not real and that abundant life did not come through Christ and is not being offered to all people by God’s grace and not our merit, then we’re going to make it as if resurrection doesn’t even matter in the first place. What I mean by all that is this: If we keep living and acting like death has power and final victory, then we’re going to perpetuate a self-fulfilling prophesy. If we keep thinking that it’s ok to watch our children get mowed down in schools, shopping malls, college campuses, and in our streets, well then resurrection has no power in our lives. If continue to believe that peace can only be achieved at the end of a gun barrel or the tip of a missile, well then resurrection has no power in our lives. If we continue to believe that some people are better and others are lesser because of our definitions of who’s in and who’s out of God’s Kin-dom, well then resurrection has no power in our lives. If we keep believing that our governments and politicians and principalities are going to be our saviors and finally make all the problems go away, well then resurrection has no power in our lives. If we continue to abhor human life, all human life in whatever form it appears in our midst, and if we continue to detest and dehumanize people and reject the image of God in those who are different from us in their religion, sexuality, gender identity/expression, race, or gender, well then resurrection has no power in our lives.
If we live as though death is the larger power which can manage the affairs of the cosmos; if we reject that God’s love was so large as to allow God’s self to die in order that we would be redeemed and renewed; if we can’t believe that “those people” are loved by God too…well…then resurrection has no power in our lives.
3. Everyday resurrection
While it is certainly true that Christ was raised some centuries ago and it is certainly true that Christ will return and raise us all, I fear that if we only see resurrection as happening at bookends, we’ll miss the real impact it has every day.
Resurrection happens when someone, once “dead,” comes to live again. Just like the story in Luke’s Gospel of the man and his two sons, we too are son and daughters of God who were dead but are alive again. That young boy cut himself off from his family to strike out and go his own way. When it didn’t work, his father welcomed him back without question and without fail. For intents and purposes, that boy was socially dead. But his father grabbed hold of him and gave him life again.
We see this happen every single day. Just walk into a drug treatment facility or an AA meeting. You will see rooms filled with those previously dead who are resurrected again.
We see this happen when someone, who is so struck down by the circumstances of their lives, is able to be pulled out of their grave of grief, despair, or isolation. When the community of faith has so surrounded them with love, prayer, and strength that they can live again.
4. Big eyes
To be able to see and engage with resurrection right here and now, our eyes have to get bigger. We have to let go of the picky stuff that has little (if anything) to do with the establishment of God’s reign. When our lives become consumed with complaints, arguments, fights, and bellyaching, we’re losing sight of what’s really important. If we allow ourselves to be consumed with little details and fail to see the grand blessings we receive each day, then we’re going to miss the effect of the power of life and open graves. Think of it this way: The resurrection has happened, the graves are open, and the dead have risen to celebrate…but we’re too consumed with the color of the flowers in the graveyard to see that all this is taking place.
We can celebrate what we have, work to restore and renew what we know, or we can complain about what doesn’t exist. If we pick the last option, resurrection isn’t real to us and life does not exist in our bodies or our communities. By focusing only on what was instead of what is and what shall be, we rob ourselves of meeting the risen Jesus in our midst now. Let go of the past…let it stay in history…and embrace God’s present and future as it breaks in all around us.
These are by no means an exhaustive list of the effects of resurrection in our present life. These are meant to help shape our seeing and reflecting so that we can find resurrection all around us, join it, and allow its power to transform our lives now.
May you all have a blessed season of Easter.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!