How can we live in light of the Resurrection?
"But we are here today, on Sunday, the resurrection day, to celebrate and proclaim to the world the fact that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. We live by this truth and we shall die by this truth. We comfort each other by this truth and we are stirred to love and devotion and service by this truth. Let us therefore settle it in our minds and hearts that we will allow the truth of the resurrection to propel us to be true revolutionaries. Not the cheap and easy kind of revolutionary, those who want to use violence to overthrow the present order and simply turn it upside down and replace it with one of their own. No, we’ve had plenty of those and it doesn’t work. No, we are like Jesus and, in his love and power to be double revolutionaries, celebrating his victory over death and sin, and finding through prayer and politics and Bible study and campaigning and love and fellowship and celebration and truth — finding the way to bring that victory to birth, both in the dark corners of our own private and personal lives and in the dark corners of God’s suffering world.
May God give you grace and joy in his service and in believing and living the gospel of the resurrection and to his name be the praise and the glory. Amen."
--Bishop N.T. Wright, from a sermon given at The Falls ChurchMy question today is a simple one:
While we stand in the shadow of the cross, how can we live in light of the resurrection?
Maybe some of us haven't, as Bishop Wright has said, "settled it in our minds and hearts that we will allow the truth of the resurrection to propel us to be true revolutionaries." What is holding you back? This weekend we were able to celebrate the resurrection in our local communities. What might it mean for us to proclaim the resurrection of the Lord through our work? Is that even possible?
He is risen!
posted by The Dude at 1:04 AM
2 Comments:
As a clarification question: How is this topic question different from "How do we live as Christians?" since the resurrection is what is Christianity? I'm not trying to be picky. Maybe I just need further explanation before I give my opinion.
Maybe it's not different, but how many of us live eschatologically? how many of us live the future reality of the kingdom of God consummated on earth as a present reality? That is what the resurrection is to me.
In my experience with Christians, most tend to think of the resurrection as an afterthought...a nice thing that happened to Jesus...not as God vindicating Jesus and viewing it as the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God into the present reality...which was a very unexpected event for most Jewish Christians, not least Paul.
The earliest Christ followers celebreated the resurrection every Sunday...not just on Easter. Now we go to church and...what? How might that change things for us.
So, to answer your question, i think you're right. It is not different than "how do we live as Christians?", but a more nuanced way of how we understand ourselves as Christians.
Thanks for the clarifying question.
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