Next Chapter

My wife and I read differently. She reads book after book.  If uninterrupted she will read several chapters in one sitting. I on the other hand read books I have to read and I am counting the pages to the end of the current chapter I am on so I can be done for a time.  It’s a lot like life.  We can focus on the things we have to do and just get through or we can take the longer view and receive the blessings of God in this life where we can find them.

Our savior Jesus Christ is alive today! We have new life in Jesus Christ. We have eternal life in Jesus Christ. We come together on this holiest day of the year to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  This is sacred time, set apart, and dedicated to God.  We worship a living God while there is a lot going on in the world.  A lot has happened since April 8^th, the last time we gathered for Easter Sunday.

My life is certainly not the same. I’ve been through ups and downs.  I’ve had some losses and gains.  I’ve been in the wilderness.  I’ve had some trials…

How about you? Any of you have some trials in the past year?

Rest now.  You are in God’s house and God is with you through your trials. We turn the page and start a new chapter of our lives and God promises to be there with us through it all.

A lot has happened in the past year, who would have guessed that Ukraine and Russia would be on the brink? In the past year two bombs were set off near the finish line at the Boston marathon, the Roman Catholic Church named a new leader, Prince William and Kate had a baby boy, Hugo Chavez, Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela all passed away and Syria continues its civil war.  It’s a different world than it was a year ago.

And so we move on to the Next Chapter.

Jesus died on a cross on a Friday.  They took his body and put it in a tomb and there it sat through Saturday.

Sometimes in books when you finish a chapter there is a blank page before the next page begins.  That’s how I imagine the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.  Saturday was the blank page.  His followers thought that Friday was the final word. That it was the end of his story but Friday was just the end of a chapter.

Next Chapter!

 As Sunday was dawning Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. Their world had been shaken. Their beloved friend and teach was dead.  They were facing a new chapter of their lives that was filled with grief and loss. But when they approached the tomb there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord. Descending from heaven came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

It’s easy to just press on through a passage of scripture, especially this on because of the news that the angel brings. But this alone is something.  An earthquake is a big deal. People lose their lives in earthquakes; people lose their homes and businesses in earthquakes. Scripture says this was a great earthquake.  Lives were changed in this moment. New chapters of other people’s stories took shape because of this earthquake. But in this place, where the two Mary’s were, there was something even more extraordinary than an earth quake. An angel, a messenger of God was sitting on the stone that formerly covered the tomb of Jesus. His appearance was like lightening.

The guards were terrified and lost all their nerve.  They couldn’t do anything. Have you ever been there? In a situation that was so overwhelming that you just didn’t know what to do?

It’s those unscripted, unexpected parts of life where we often encounter God.  When our day to day life plods on and things go as we expect, more or less, it is easy to forget that God is right there with us.  But when we experience a disruption we open our eyes and look around.

The angel told them to not be afraid; “I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised as he said. Come; see the place where he lay.”

They came to visit a grave. What they witnessed was the greatest event in human history.

The angel told them to go and tell the others.  They went and suddenly Jesus was there.  They saw him.  They took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 

Next Chapter!

The tragedy of the crucifixion has been transformed into something beautiful. Our Lord suffered and died and that was terrible.  But what was previously thought to be a catastrophe is now part of a life-giving event.

I have a friend that refuses to wear a cross because he only sees the tragedy of death in it.  Jesus left his mortal body on the cross to go to the Father.  Jesus was one with the Father and we are to be one with Jesus.  The cross shows us God’s willingness to be with us in our suffering.  He is willing to take on flesh and bear the burden of this life.  God is willing to live in us to give us new life.

The cross and the empty tomb, then is about our going to God and God coming to us.  We are to live in Christ and let Christ live in us. We are to imitate Christ.  We are to participate in the suffering and the joys of the world while trusting and being guided by the Holy Spirit.

God’s spirit, God’s glory fills all the earth. Every person on this planet is a child of God that God is calling back to himself. Some do not hear the call. Some that hear the call do not heed the call. Those who heed the call are like seed sown by a farmer.  Some seed falls on the path, some on rocky ground, some among thorns and some on good earth.

We all come to this place at different places in our spiritual journey.  Perhaps some of you come like the two Mary’s did, expecting to learn about someone that was alive once but is now dead. 

The truth is that God came to live among us.  He took on a human body that was perishable.  He died when human powers rejected him and executed him.  His body was placed in a tomb.  What was placed in that tome was like a seed planted in good earth.  Jesus defeated death.  Jesus was resurrected and has a body that is imperishable. Jesus lives forever as our Lord and King.

Next Chapter!

We don’t know what the next year holds. But we know that God is interested and present.

“Jesus lived and died to liberate us from our sins, our doubts, our fears, and the addictions we use to medicate and numb ourselves form the pain of this world.  God raised Jesus to new life to show us that death doesn’t’ have the final word and to confirm the truth of all that Jesus had been teaching.  God raised Jesus to show us God’s victory over the world powers that be and to set us free from their power.” (from The Holy Kiss, An Insurrection of a Resurrection: a progressive Christian Easter Message. By Roger Wolsey. April 18, 2014)

So how is it with you today? Have you experienced the resurrected Christ? God is calling us to follow him. To meet him at the intersection of the cross where he has demonstrated his sacrificial love. God is calling us to take up our cross and come out of hiding and to accomplish the task that he has set for us.