Category: Resurrection

Jesus: I’m Back! Did You Miss Me?

by Linda Russell, posted in Boldness in adversity, Consider trials pure joy!, Easter, Energized by hope, fear, Lent, Good Friday, Easter, the Pascal Mystery, Resurrection
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I think it’s fair to say that this Easter will be like no other, and I would like to think of that as a good thing – eventually – hopefully. For sure, we are bombarded daily with news that is frightening for us and the world around us. We struggle to see any good coming out of it. But, stay with me here.

I’m going to assume that this Easter’s preparations will likely be stripped of the non-essentials we always focused on in the past: new outfits, haircuts, hidden eggs. Although a review of proper behavioral expectations for the kids at church, “how to stay awake” for adults, and making up tiny sins suitable to hide the deeper embarrassing stuff for the annual confession may still be in order.

So, in light of where we’re at in this fearful and uncertain time, how about we take a new look with fresh eyes at the unfolding of Easter week? And remember, it was also a week that revealed humanity at its worst and its best. What might that mean for us today?

We begin with Palm Sunday. Those crowds were lovin’ on Jesus the Prophet on his way to becoming their anticipated King who would finally save them. Christ was celebrated as the One who would bring his people out of captivity. They were enthralled with him. The cheering was almost deafening, sorta like opening day at Busch Stadium. But, remember, these were his faithful followers, and it was all palms and rose petals.

Then it all went sideways as he went to Jerusalem to encounter a not-so-supportive crowd. What a different picture, huh? Here he’s among the political elite, the leaders of the temple, who know enough about him by now to fear and hate him.

So, the chief priests and elders meet to plot against him. They know they have to get him away from his faithful followers first. “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.” (Matthew 26: 3-5).

And how about those disciples who vowed never to leave him at the height of his ministry? We know James and John made it clear they wanted to have an honored place next to him when he came into his glory (Mark 10:35-37). Perhaps the rest thought they already had that favored position all sewn up. But then they all scattered and ran for cover when he was taken away to be crucified. “This is not what we signed up for!”

In very short order, He was convicted and dragged before an angry crowd who screamed for his crucifixion, and they probably didn’t even know why. How many do you suppose just got caught up in the moment and didn’t realize until afterward what they had participated in – the torture and murder of an innocent man they would later discover was PRETTY SPECIAL?

Then at the Cross on Good Friday, we watch horrified as Jesus suffers an unspeakable death, and his mother suffers in silence.

On Saturday, the waiting begins as we are called to silently contemplate what has happened. But, unlike the disciples, we already know that his glorious resurrection is coming. We used to believe that peace on earth would prevail. But now that truth seems to have been morphed by fear and the unknown.

So, will our waiting for Jesus’ return now be spent like all the rest these past few weeks trying to numb ourselves to what we imagine is coming instead? Where’s the peace in that?

We usually only have the capacity to think our hearts are at peace when everything is perfect: our relationships are perfect, our kids are perfect, and the mother-in-law moved away (oops, not nice). But even, or especially, in these times when fear will try to overwhelm you, don’t let that happen!

Take heart because the resurrection is only a day away. God is ready to prove to you that nothing and no one has the power to thwart his plans for us. He wants us to believe in the depth of our hearts that his love for us will never fail and that we are stronger, braver, and more resilient than we ever imagined! (Which will come in handy when your mother-in-law has to move back in with you).

As Alan Cohen tells us in his book, A Course in Miracles Made Easy, “No person, group, situation, or condition has the power to take away your happiness. NO ONE. NO THING. NEVER. The experience of joy is your God-given right. People can try to remove your happiness, but they cannot remove your peace unless you give them that power.”

Let’s not forget that the waiting on Saturday for the disciples was stressful, to say the least! They all sat with regret knowing they did the unthinkable by abandoning Jesus and running away. Did they wish they could have a do-over? I would think they must have.

I think I read somewhere that at that fish fry, Jesus reminded them of the Last Supper, “Hey guys remember the great time we had then?” – since they all seemed to have forgotten. “Remember how I washed your nasty feet?” Then he reiterated his call to them to love one another (John 13:34). “And just so we’re clear…that was not a suggestion.” I wonder if any of them choked on their food at that point.

Now, what about us? Here we are, kind of like the disciples, in the midst of what is surely one of the most uncertain times of our lives. And, funny thing, God is still here, still loving and merciful and compassionate. But where are we? Big question.

How many of us have been running from him all our lives? Oh sure, we have been going through the motions of being a “Christian,” mostly to impress others. But what have we done as Christ’s followers? How have we been Christ to others?

So, this Easter, maybe more than ever, we need to let the light of the Risen Christ shine in and through us for those who are lost and alone. That is God’s hope and greatest longing.“ “Look,” ”He says on Easter morning, “I never left you, and I never will. So, stop trying to hide from me. Let’s sit together and get to know each other. What else do you have to do?”

(anonymous)

I think that’s what God is trying to teach us so we can pass it on to others who have become frozen with fear. Just imagine what beauty, joy, and peace would be created in our lives and the lives of those around us!

THIS IS OUR TIME. THIS IS OUR CALL TO LOVE! AND WHO KNOWS BUT THAT WE WERE CREATED FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS (Esther 4:14).

AMEN AND HALLELUJAH!

THIS IS GONNA BE EPIC!!

HAVE A BLESSED AND JOYOUS EASTER, EVERYONE!

Comfortable Christianity is an Oxymoron

Featured by Linda Russell, posted in Easter, God in the ordinary, hungry for hope, Love your neighbor, Lukewarm Christian, Resurrection

(Originally posted April 2018)

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The tomb was empty.  He was gone.  Mary cried out in anguish, “What have they done with him?” The response was not comforting to her:

Some mysterious guy with no name: “He’s not here”.

Mary with no filters: “Wait…What?  That’s not how this is supposed to go!”

It wasn’t what the other disciples wanted to hear either.  So when she told them, they didn’t believe her. Why would they?  She was just a woman and probably hormonal at that! Anyway, they thought the script was already written.  It was a done deal, and they were now scrambling to adjust their lives accordingly.

As Christians, we should be able to relate to them, except for one HUGE difference.  We relive that scenario year after year.  We are supposed to know how the story plays out. There should be no surprises. But by the way we act many of us seem to have amnesia.

Bumping into Jesus

How often are we oblivious to Jesus while walking our own Emmaus trail?  Whining and complaining about how unfair life is, acting like we don’t even feel him breathing down our necks.

After the Resurrection, Jesus revealed himself in the most unlikely places: Behind locked doors, within those tough relationships, at a fish fry on the beach, in the faces of the broken and downtrodden.  He’s there.

In many ways, the poor and homeless among us feel they are also staring into an empty tomb.  “Wait, if you’re not dead – where were you, Jesus, when I lost my job and my home?  Where were you when my child died and my husband left because my pain was too much to bear?  Where are you now as I struggle to feed my family?”

Often, in working with the homeless, when the need seems almost overwhelming, I experience a God moment that reminds me heis, and always has been, in our midst, changing lives and bringing hope to the hopeless.

I will share one beautiful story with you.  Since last September, I have worked with a woman who, through no fault of her own, lost her job, then her home.  When I met her, she was living in her car and felt hopeless.  She would search for available jobs on her phone but had no place to take a shower and “look presentable” to go on an interview.  We were able to provide her with a motel room and food.  She soon got another job as an Assistant Manager of a shoe store, moved into an apartment, and now has the stability we strive for in this work.

But wait, there’s more!  Experiencing the blessings of God, she now gives back.  Last week, I witnessed that once-homeless woman give another homeless woman brand-new shoes and coats for her kids. Is that not the epitome of being Christ to others just as we are called to be?

Can we try this again?

So, here we are again in the midst of an Easter season meant to draw us into a deeper relationship with God and, in turn, with our brothers and sisters.  Not just the ones that are low-maintenance and easy to love.

It is a time we are called to prayer and sacrifice to help us remember and then act on (we always forget that part) God’s scandalous, extravagant, outrageous love by sharing it with others.

On Easter Sunday, we sing and celebrate our faith’s most important Feast Day.  “Alleluia!  The Lord is risen!  The Lord is risen indeed!  Alleluia!” What should that mean to us?  After the glorious Resurrection of our Lord – what then?  Yes, we get to eat chocolate again, but beyond that…

This is where our transformation should begin

Sister Joan Chittister tells us, “The real proof of the Resurrection lies not in the transformation of Jesus alone but in the transformation awaiting us who accept it.”

Transformation can be powerful if we are willing to seek God in new places outside the comfort of our assigned pew on Sunday.

Transformation happens when Jesus takes up residence within our often stubborn hearts and calls us to love and serve those he most loves: The outcast, the poor, and those the world rejects.

God is good ALL THE TIME!  And he’s hiding in plain sight.  Go see for yourself.