Practicing Resurrection
As people filed out of the service last Sunday, I heard a lot of comments about the drama of the last reading. One person summed it up when she said “I feel like I just listened to an opera…it was SO dramatic.” Yes, the story of Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion is very dramatic (that is why we call it The Passion). It is the story of pain, sacrifice and loss, writ large. But it is not told simply so that we might be moved to tears, but that we might feel the intensity of the pressure of the forces that impinge upon goodness. This is very important for two reasons that I will go through below.
Firstly, that kind of pressure is being impinged upon people all over the world, everyday. As Brian Zahn* said, “the fact that we call the slaughter of innocent people an atrocity and not just ‘well, that’s the way it goes’ is entirely related to the fact that Jesus hung on a cross in solidarity with all those who are unjustly brutalized and oppressed and murdered.” Jesus is the birth of compassion and love in the world in a new way; in a way that covers all people.
Secondly, the drama demonstrates that goodness survives the pressures of evil. What remains after the crucifixion is love—the love that embraces friend and enemy alike. Love meets the disciples in their shame and despair and says…”I am with you.” God’s love is far greater than we can imagine and it endures and outlasts anything we can throw at it. It spills out across borders, forgives wrongdoing, embraces families in trauma, reconciles broken relationships, and delivers long denied justice. God’s love remains even when we turn away from it—and it is there when we resolve to turn back toward it.
So, if love is real only when it is extended to all people and if love is strong enough to endure the pressures of evil, then (again from Brian Zahn) “the pressure is on us, as church people, to, in some feeble way, to live up to that.” Easter Sunday is coming. We will gather and shout “He is Risen!” But will we continue to practice the resurrection on Easter Monday? Will we become a community that challenges itself to love like Jesus? That is the question and the goal that we must continually keep at the center of all we do.
Blessings,
Pastor Jen
*Brian Zahn is a pastor, writer and theologian who can be found here.
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