Resurrection day plus one… now what?

Yesterday we celebrated Easter, the day set aside to recognize the resurrection of Jesus. But now what?

Late yesterday afternoon Susan and I hid eighty-some eggs around the outside of our house. Then we watched our kids – the four still at home – hunt for them.

One of the things that I found fascinating is that when they saw an egg they would often hurry to get it and rush right past another egg without noticing it.

I think we do that same thing with the resurrection.

We hurry to celebrate the reality that Jesus’ victory over death brings us hope for life beyond the grave. But in the rush we miss the reality that it also brings us hope for life before the grave.

Several decades ago the catch phrase for evangelism was: “If you die tonight do you know if you’d go to heaven or hell?”

I believe this was asked with good intentions but I also believe it warped the message of the Gospel.

The disciples journeyed with Jesus and learned to trust Him with every aspect of how to do life differently here and now, which eventually led to trusting Him with death.

We jump with people to trusting Jesus with death and then try to back them up to trust Him with how to do life here and now; which tends to be a hard sell.

Making the resurrection all about securing new life for us beyond the grave is sort of like having doctors and hospitals only to help secure our safe passage into death.

Doctors and hospitals exist to help improve, maintain or restore a certain quality of life. And Jesus’ resurrection secures for us the opportunity to do life here and now in a completely different way.

In what is refered to as the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, Jesus taught what it looks like to bring God’s kingdom influence to the world by living the resurrection life here and now. Here are just a few things He taught.

• Don’t wear your righteousness only on the outside, like the Pharisees, but live with a changed heart as you embrace righteousness from the core of your being.
• Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
• Forgive others just as God has forgiven us.
• Don’t worry about tomorrow or what you don’t have but seek first the kingdom of God.

Does this describe how we’re doing life?

To celebrate the resurrection on Sunday with our voices but then deny the resurrection every other day of the week with our actions makes a mockery of God.

Will we proclaim Jesus’ resurrection by how we live today?

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© Richard Alvey and iLife Journey, 2012. All rights reserved.