My preaching today (8.30 am and 10 am; a visitor took the 12) had two themes about resurrection.
First, that one of the melancholy effects of growing older is diminishment by bereavement. Family members and dear friends slip beyond that curtain we call death. Who we are has depended greatly on them; we are the poorer for their passing and life may go on, be happy even, but it will never be the same. The resurrection of Christ offers life for all who are in him by faith and baptism. So we can hope joyfully in a reunion, a world in which as before many people’s faces turn towards us in love, and all of us reflect the love shining on us from the Risen Savior.
Second there is the life instinct – we speak jokingly about ‘losing the will to live’ which is a strange phrase: we can hardly make this an act of will. But we all know how the struggles, setbacks and disappointments of life can wear us down. To be in Christ is to have the life of the Risen One already in us, to have his encouragement, his grace, his love to lift us and carry us on. Knowing this sets us free even further, to live as generously as we can.
Boo-hoo. Is there nobody out there who wants to add a theological reflection? I am feeling kinda lonely in here. Or are y’all too preoccupied with plotting about Anglican polity, and other gospel stuff?
For me, I found myself focused very much on Garissa and the 147 lost lives, as well as their families. I was praying that Easter hope, both for their loved ones and for their ultimate reunion with Christ, to be a real consolation in the horror.
Also, for their own hope that in the church triumphant they will once more be joined with those they have now lost here (with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven…)
Terry Tee, very nice touch for you to throw in that “y’all.” It speaks to Southerners in the US.
I am reminded, as I was in India and in Egypt, that there are Christians who are living in New Testament times, surrounded by a hostile culture and living in the certainty of the Resurrection and their new freedom from sin. They have no time for the effete Western nonsense about how this is all only “symbolic.” We are not (yet) here suffering death for our faith, but they may. I used to pray that I would have the courage to follow their examples if called upon. Would we face a grisly death, as did those Egyptian martyrs, crying out the name of the Lord Jesus as the sword reached our throats?
I have been thinking over Easter about turning the other cheek and something I heard a while back; that the phrase was not about passive acceptance of further injury by turning the other cheek, but about deciding that in relation to the injuring party we would say: I will not allow your abuse of me to turn me away from you.
God it seems, does this all the time to us. If God would go so far as to accept all that we did to Him in Jesus, and still respond with love not turning his face from us, how far is there that he will not go to seek and find us? Is there any limit for a God who would make all the running to restore us to Himself, including dying a most horrible death on the Cross, and is there any limit to the extent of that love and protection he will show to us? He will not be the first to turn his back but instead enfold us in His protective wings. I have seen that many times this year including to the diocese of South Carolina.
That is what I have been thinking about this Easter, and been greatly encouraged by it, notwithstanding all the challenges of being a Christian whether in Garissa, or even in our own churches and preoccupations ‘with plotting about Anglican polity’. The church is God’s and we are His people who he will not turn away from as he urges us to seek His face. What could be better?
A bit late to comment… I didn’t really have much in mind to add until today. Like Kendall, Katherine & Pageantmaster, I too have been thinking alot about the killings in Kenya & Libya and our Lord’s ultimate victory over death and evil, even if it appears to triumph in this world.
Also, I’ve been wrestling with the question of how to truly keep an Easter focus throughout Eastertide. The Easter season almost seems a let down after the intense, focused spiritual disciplines of Lent. I really want and need to find some kind of Easter disciplines to keep the joy of the resurrection and the knowledge of the Lord’s power fresh in my heart each day.
I’m hoping to post Easter-themed prayers, Scriptures or music throughout each of the days of Eastertide at Lent & Beyond, but my track record of that in past years is abysmal. I REALLY feel the need of this this year…
By the way… I’m working on a compilation of Eastertide resources for Lent & Beyond which I’ll post tomorrow (Wed). If anyone here has ideas / links / books / good resources, please leave a comment at L&B.
PageantMaster they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Suffice to say that next time that difficult text comes up in the lectionary (turning the other cheek) I shall be drawing on your words.
I am humbled, Fr Tee. If I can find the reflection I referred to I will forward it. It made an impression on me on a passage I had never really understood which then made sense.
Even on a religious blog like this one I am inclined to forget that God is in charge and it is good to be reminded, and that gives a different perspective, on almost everything.
My preaching today (8.30 am and 10 am; a visitor took the 12) had two themes about resurrection.
First, that one of the melancholy effects of growing older is diminishment by bereavement. Family members and dear friends slip beyond that curtain we call death. Who we are has depended greatly on them; we are the poorer for their passing and life may go on, be happy even, but it will never be the same. The resurrection of Christ offers life for all who are in him by faith and baptism. So we can hope joyfully in a reunion, a world in which as before many people’s faces turn towards us in love, and all of us reflect the love shining on us from the Risen Savior.
Second there is the life instinct – we speak jokingly about ‘losing the will to live’ which is a strange phrase: we can hardly make this an act of will. But we all know how the struggles, setbacks and disappointments of life can wear us down. To be in Christ is to have the life of the Risen One already in us, to have his encouragement, his grace, his love to lift us and carry us on. Knowing this sets us free even further, to live as generously as we can.
Boo-hoo. Is there nobody out there who wants to add a theological reflection? I am feeling kinda lonely in here. Or are y’all too preoccupied with plotting about Anglican polity, and other gospel stuff?
For me, I found myself focused very much on Garissa and the 147 lost lives, as well as their families. I was praying that Easter hope, both for their loved ones and for their ultimate reunion with Christ, to be a real consolation in the horror.
Also, for their own hope that in the church triumphant they will once more be joined with those they have now lost here (with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven…)
Terry Tee, very nice touch for you to throw in that “y’all.” It speaks to Southerners in the US.
I am reminded, as I was in India and in Egypt, that there are Christians who are living in New Testament times, surrounded by a hostile culture and living in the certainty of the Resurrection and their new freedom from sin. They have no time for the effete Western nonsense about how this is all only “symbolic.” We are not (yet) here suffering death for our faith, but they may. I used to pray that I would have the courage to follow their examples if called upon. Would we face a grisly death, as did those Egyptian martyrs, crying out the name of the Lord Jesus as the sword reached our throats?
OK, Fr Tee, I will bite too.
I have been thinking over Easter about turning the other cheek and something I heard a while back; that the phrase was not about passive acceptance of further injury by turning the other cheek, but about deciding that in relation to the injuring party we would say: I will not allow your abuse of me to turn me away from you.
God it seems, does this all the time to us. If God would go so far as to accept all that we did to Him in Jesus, and still respond with love not turning his face from us, how far is there that he will not go to seek and find us? Is there any limit for a God who would make all the running to restore us to Himself, including dying a most horrible death on the Cross, and is there any limit to the extent of that love and protection he will show to us? He will not be the first to turn his back but instead enfold us in His protective wings. I have seen that many times this year including to the diocese of South Carolina.
That is what I have been thinking about this Easter, and been greatly encouraged by it, notwithstanding all the challenges of being a Christian whether in Garissa, or even in our own churches and preoccupations ‘with plotting about Anglican polity’. The church is God’s and we are His people who he will not turn away from as he urges us to seek His face. What could be better?
A bit late to comment… I didn’t really have much in mind to add until today. Like Kendall, Katherine & Pageantmaster, I too have been thinking alot about the killings in Kenya & Libya and our Lord’s ultimate victory over death and evil, even if it appears to triumph in this world.
Also, I’ve been wrestling with the question of how to truly keep an Easter focus throughout Eastertide. The Easter season almost seems a let down after the intense, focused spiritual disciplines of Lent. I really want and need to find some kind of Easter disciplines to keep the joy of the resurrection and the knowledge of the Lord’s power fresh in my heart each day.
I’m hoping to post Easter-themed prayers, Scriptures or music throughout each of the days of Eastertide at Lent & Beyond, but my track record of that in past years is abysmal. I REALLY feel the need of this this year…
By the way… I’m working on a compilation of Eastertide resources for Lent & Beyond which I’ll post tomorrow (Wed). If anyone here has ideas / links / books / good resources, please leave a comment at L&B.
https://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/working-on-a-compilation-of-eastertide-resouces-will-post-tomorrow/
PageantMaster they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Suffice to say that next time that difficult text comes up in the lectionary (turning the other cheek) I shall be drawing on your words.
I am humbled, Fr Tee. If I can find the reflection I referred to I will forward it. It made an impression on me on a passage I had never really understood which then made sense.
Even on a religious blog like this one I am inclined to forget that God is in charge and it is good to be reminded, and that gives a different perspective, on almost everything.