Questioning Easter

"² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in, they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ They didn’t know what to make of this."  Luke 24:2-3

 We celebrated Easter with singing and shouting about our risen Lord, but like the women and the early disciples we struggle with what to make of new life on an ordinary day. We sing hope, yet look live in fear.  The disciples saw the empty tomb and were amazed, but didn't believe until later.  We celebrate promise and live limits.  What I'm getting at is that certainty is the opposite of faith.  We celebrate a gift, a path, a direction, a love, an experience.  We celebrate a mystery that is barely expressed in any one account, or accounted for in any one expression. We celebrate a faith that includes both doubt and confidence.

Don't despair.  Do what those first followers did, ask fierce questions:  Who took Jesus?  How can I believe unless you show me?  How could we possibly feed this crowd?  Put those question alongside the celebrations, the stories, the testimonies, and the truths, then take a step.  Take a step in any direction, but take a step.  That's a step of faith.  Yes it is, because it's mixed with all that other stuff, God stuff, life stuff, YOU stuff!

OK, I may not have the whole thing down in a perfect formula.  There's probably a flaw in my argument somewhere, there usually is.  But I'm taking a step into a conversation with you.  I'm leaning into my experience of new life this Easter, of Jesus, of Love and tip-toeing forward.

How about you?  Yep, I sang "Christ is risen..." and I shouted "He is risen indeed!"  I also did all of that with questions, hurts, hopes, opportunities, struggles and so much more swirling in my life.   It's usually a bit of a jumble.

Yet, it's my jumble, my story and because of Easter (at least as a key in a bigger story/truth/promise) my hope.  So, I'm singing, hunting eggs, chowing down with family, and telling my story.  Not because I've got it all together, but because something bigger's got me.  The words I have for that are Jesus, Love, God, and Easter. My experience of God is a Love that won't let me go, a dependable Love.

Now, I'd love to hear your celebrations and laments.  I want to hear your story, struggle, hope, and the words you have for them.  You see, Easter means to me, that there's room for all us to look at the situation and not know what to make of it right now.  Let's have a meal and talk it over.  I'm confident there's more possibility to be found. 

That's why I celebrate Easter.  Why I say "Christ is risen."  And why I'm still wrapping my mind, heart and life around all that means.  Happy Easter.  Christ is Risen Indeed!

   

10,000 Joys in the Love of Jesus Christ, Pastor Dave

Finding Peace

     A full three weeks of squeezing in required and important things between valuable and scheduled things has left me tired.  Peace sounds both good and near impossible on days like this.
     Snatching an email Upper Room I clicked on the bible link about Jesus' follower Thomas, who had his doubts. (John 20:24-29)  I saw myself.  Thomas was busy and "not with the others." He struggled to believe, wanting evidence, help, clarity.  I identified.
    A whole week, 8 days, a new creation, later Jesus provides for Thomas' need and says "Peace."  Jesus didn't say "do you understand", but "Peace."
    In that exchange I found peace too.  Grace to meet my need and a gift, a deep re-filling breath, an assurance... "peace."  That's a real gift in my morning. Thanks be to God.

Where do you find peace?

Doubts & Delights

Whether it's the dictionary or the web I get side-tracked by interesting things on my way to the goal. That's how I ended up on a Buddhist's site, an atheist's site and overhearing a few other blogged conversations.

Doubts and defensiveness caught my attention, as I read, and those same emotions sparked my own reflection. First the doubts and defensiveness of authors explaining either the errors or evils of Christianity drew my eye. (I am a Christian, but not of the TV, intolerant, sort.) Second, and more significant it was the thoughts that began to churn up in me.

I'm reminded again that doubts come with the territory of believing. Mostly, because I don't have all the answers, or the perfect explanations, nor am I even interested in that most of the time. I follow Jesus because it's the absolute best path I know.

I'm not here to undo your path. I'm here to be honest about mine. I think it has a lot to offer. I know that if you scrutinize my mistakes or the mistakes of others who have walked as followers of the Way, that any skilled rhetorician, philosopher, or mean-spirited critic can find fault. But, I'm not looking for fault (I hope I'm not). I am looking for light, hope, love...a powerful way to live.

So on with the doubts and the foibles and the conversations. Doubts sharpen understanding. Foibles sharpen graciousness. Conversations done well deepen trusting relationships.

Join me. What conversation would you like to have with someone who's willing to listen, devoid of all the answers, and interested in what you think?

Easter is Messy!

A friend died this week. He was a genuine man with a servant's heart and a playful spirit. His faith and spirit together truly made him a gift. His loss leaves a hole. His departure got me to thinking...Easter is messy.

How inconvenient to have him die! No one asked me if I was ready, or if the calendar would permit, or...well no one asked me. Yet, there it is. Life...and death happen. People die and so do things like dreams, expectations, ideas, friendships, hopes, projects, pets, and more. It stinks when they go. It hurts. It tweaks the world like looking through a soda bottle, nothing looks right.

Then Easter comes--God gently and purposefully shows up. New life, hope in the midst of loss, fresh starts, and all those things that I believe and hold close. What I think is that in the mess and the hurt and the loss and the stinky stuff, God is able to do important work. I miss noticing lots of it God does, but once in a while I see something. That's a gift.

Easter is messy. I'm glad. If it were too neat and tidy, too clean and clear, too removed from the muddle of life, then I'm not sure I'd really know about the gift. Or maybe without the mess, I simply wouldn't accept the gift.

I can't say for sure, but I'm glad for the gift in the mess. I'm glad for some God stuff that acknowledges my stuff. I'm just plain glad...not because my friend is gone, or that anything else is gone, for that matter, but that God is audacious enough to get into my mess and set up shop right at ground zero.

So for now, I'll grieve and celebrate; I'll receive the richness of knowing my friend and wonder how to fill the hole; I'll experience death and life together and know that in the mix there is good and God.

May the blessings and the mess of Easter come alive for you, bringing hope, life and indeed joy.

10,000 Joys in Jesus
Dave