1 Peter 1:3-5 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Step One – Read the passage slowly, attentively. Allow yourself to be taken in by the words – pay attention to any word or phrase that strikes you in the passage. (If you haven’t studied this passage, you may find this first reading will stir observation questions in you – such as who, what when, where, how).
Step Two – Read it again. Meditate and reflect on the passage. What is it in your life that needs to hear that word or phrase? Sit in silence for a time, attending to the thoughts, images and impressions that begin to come to you. Turn that into prayer.
Step Three – What is God saying to you? What do you begin to feel called to?
Step Four – How does God want you to live this passage out? What are you resolved to do?
Lectio Quote
[Regarding] divine hope: there is no gap, no space between the future and the present, because the kingdom of God is at hand and “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba! Father!’” (Gal 4:6). Our Christian hope is rooted in the possession of the substance to be revealed, not in the expectation of a substantial gift to come. If we “have been raised with Christ…seated at the right hand of God” (Col 3:1), we have all that we can ever hope for—even if we need immense patience to wait for its revelation. Ladislaw Orsy
“Let the exhilarating shock of the resurrection itself continue—the great reversal, the death of death, the shattered door, the harrowing of hell, the beautiful metamorphosis, the explosion of life! No metaphor measures up, no superlative suffices…. The spirit of… Eastertide is celebratory, joyful… one long feast!” (Bobby Gross)
Friends, we are several weeks into Eastertide and next week we celebrate the Ascension and then in ten days Pentecost, the fiftieth day of Easter! We are still right in the middle of the story of the Resurrection of Christ. I love these words of the author Bobby Gross – but I have to confess I’ve been much more taken up these days by the dust and ashes of Lent. By that I mean I am painfully aware in this life I live, of all that is in me that does not shout of the shattered door. My body aches, my sins are a plague… Yet in spite of this I love these words – I love the reality that whether we sense it or not – The Resurrection matters!
I’ve had this great desire for many years to comprehend the formative nature of Eastertide. As an evangelical my life has been shaped and transformed by the Cross. I have experienced over and over its transformative nature. There is a quote I’ve used before – “Heaven is not only Christ centered; it is Cross-centered” (C.J. Mahaney).
I admit however, that for so many years the place the Resurrection of Christ has in Christian formation has eluded me. The apostle Paul is beginning to change that for me, because for him there is no power in the Cross without the Resurrection. He has taken these events (and others -like baptism…) and made them essential parts of our formation in Christ. You can’t escape thoughts like these found in Ephesians:
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved– 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…
Ephesians 2:4-6
But if you could, what would you do about Colossians 3 or Romans 6 or 2 Corinthians 4 or Galatians 2! I have grown to love and respect Paul like I never have before. What would we do without him? What if he had never responded to the Risen Christ? (Acts 9)
If the Crucifixion is a sobering time for us, Easter then has become a place to know and experience great joy. J.R.R. Tolkien coined a wonderful word for this sudden eruption of joy – eucatastrophe!
Eucatastrophe – the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears…
J.R.R. Tolkien
“I coined the word ‘eucatastrophe’: the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears (which I argued it is the highest function of fairy-stories to produce). And I was there led to the view that it produces its peculiar effect because it is a sudden glimpse of Truth, your whole nature chained in material cause and effect, the chain of death, feels a sudden relief as if a major limb out of joint had suddenly snapped back. It perceives – if the story has literary ‘truth’ on the second plane (….) – that this is indeed how things really do work in the Great World for which our nature is made. And I concluded by saying that the Resurrection was the greatest ‘eucatastrophe’ possible in the greatest Fairy Story – and produces that essential emotion: Christian joy which produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one, reconciled, as selfishness and altruism are lost in Love.” (Tolkien)
… An event that catches in our throat, makes our hearts beat faster, makes the longing for home go deeper – this is the kind of joy Easter brings.
And yet… we know all too well, the already/not yet reality of our lives. We sin, we suffer, we grieve. We know loss, and temptation, and mistakes, and guilt. This continues long after Easter.
How do we then hold onto that joy? That profound grasp of eucatastrophe?
I think we do it in two ways – the first takes us back to our baptisms…
“The physical movement of baptism, down into the water and up again, becomes for Paul the shape of Christian living as our old life ‘in the flesh’ dies in the death of Jesus, and our new life ‘in the Spirit’ begins in the resurrection of Jesus”
Ian Paul
For Paul, and therefore for us, there is no separating of the Cross from the Resurrection – they are two sides of the same coin, two parts of the one experience. And because of what the Father has done in Christ – making him to be sin who knew no sin, for our sake, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2Co 5:21) we can live the full life we’ve been given in Christ! So the rhythm of baptism becomes the rhythm of our lives, of confession, of Communion… we confess and turn, we take our place in His death; we receive His forgiveness and grace, and we rise to take our place in His rising, in His resurrection!
And the second way we hold onto that joy is through the virtue of hope. The writer of Hebrews calls hope “a sure and steadfast anchor of our souls…” (Heb. 6:19). Hope is a resurrection virtue.
I wrote in an earlier post that holding onto biblical hope would help us to understand that the life we live, is a pilgrimage. “We may indeed never see in this life the fulfillment of our hopes or dreams. But living life as an “on the way” kind of people sets into our hearts a contentment and peace that our future rests in the hands of God. The Israelites’ journey through the wilderness reminds us of the peril of not trusting in God. Do you know that they wondered for 40 years over a span of only 240 miles?” (me from an earlier post)
I hold to this idea that while hope is indeed a pilgrimage virtue, the Resurrection changes everything! We can now see that hope’s anchor, hope’s place in us, means that the journey of our becoming now directs us to the resurrection to come!
1 Peter 1:3-5 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
I struggle now with a body that at times feels like my enemy. I struggle with finding answers to chronic ailments. I struggle now with “besetting” sins (I just might have to give up driving…). But every day, I can rise and pledge that through the power of the indwelling Spirit, I can walk through this day in the rhythm of baptism. And that makes each day a eucatastrophe! I can lift my eyes from my bed in the second (or more) days of a migraine – and hope. And that hope is not weak, insipid, or illusory. I am still very cranky over my ailments, but the hope I can rest on is the hope Peter speaks of in the passage above – “an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading…” But wow, do I need the power of Christ in me- the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).
I think what I’m trying to say is that our joy, our hope, our lives are not restricted to the broken, fallen world we live in. Paul says “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, “for… in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. (2Co 8:1-2 ESV)
I kinda want to have a eucatastrophe party! Let’s write a resurrection liturgy! I want to be like those two disciples who left Emmaus immediately after Jesus revealed himself to them – They ran back to Jerusalem! Can you imagine their talk on the way?? “did you…? Can you believe…? What does this mean…? I want to be a part of a people who don’t forget what we’ve been given in the resurrection of Christ and what we will receive in the “final resurrection to come.”
I wrote a poem – well maybe it’s a poem, I’m no expert. I found this random line from a website- “I meant to give thanks.” I don’t even remember the content I was looking for. But it lingered in my mind for several days and from it came this poem. I forget, too often, that our lives are filled with complexities and contradictions.
I meant to give thanks… For the day and for the night, For the joy and the longing, For the journey and for the end.
I meant to give thanks… For the dying and for the rising, For the dust and for the glory, For the scars and for the life.
I meant to give thanks… For the lament and for the hope, For the wood and for home, For the Prodigal, both Father and Son.
And so, on this day, in this evening prayer, I pause, and remember what I’ve forgotten, and give Him thanks. All my thanks I pledge to You, my God and my Lord.
Once again, friends, Let’s shout “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!”
The following passage is a great entry into the gospel and Acts. If you read Acts through you will find that “resurrection” is found 10 times, and “raised” also ten times. And every time the apostles are gathered and they preach – it is the resurrection that they proclaim as the good news! This passage is a great Lectio passage in that you can put yourself right there with them in the weeks and months following Pentecost. This passage comes after Peter and John were arrested and jailed. They came before the religious leaders the next day and were told to not preach Jesus to the people. Acts 4 and the rest of Acts tells the story of what happened when they refused to stop witnessing about Christ and the Resurrection! Imagine yourself there in the excitement and drama of those early days.
Acts 4:29-35 – 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. (NIV)
Step One – Read the passage slowly, attentively. Allow yourself to be taken in by the words – pay attention to any word or phrase that strikes you in the passage. (If you haven’t studied this passage, you may find this first reading will stir observation questions in you – such as who, what when, where, how). Pay particular attention to verse 33.
Step Two – Read it again. Meditate and reflect on the passage. What is it in your life that needs to hear that word or phrase? Sit in silence for a time, attending to the thoughts, images and impressions that begin to come to you. Turn that into prayer.
Step Three – What is God saying to you? What do you begin to feel called to?
Step Four – How does God want you to live this passage out? What are you resolved to do?
Lectio Quote
To preach Christianity meant (to the Apostles) primarily to preach the Resurrection. … The Resurrection is the central theme in every Christian sermon reported in the Acts. The Resurrection, and its consequences, were the ‘gospel’ or good news which the Christians brought. (Miracles, chapter 16)
You can go through the same steps that we use for Lectio Divina for Scripture, or simply take some time and read this quote slowly, and seek The Spirit’s help to discern how this passage might bring new understanding to preparing for His return.
Friends, this is something I wrote during Covid. We were about 2 months in, and I remember how hard it was to go about our normal lives. I didn’t really mind not going out, (staunch introvert here) but I was sad when we had to celebrate my daughter’s birthday, by handing over her favorite cake through the window at their house. I imagine many of us have profound memories of that time, possibly some good and some hard. What you’ll read is just how I wrote it in April 2020.
Sigh. Dear friends, I am longing for something different than this seemingly endless quarantine. Don’t get me wrong – I’m so grateful to those who work so hard for my protection. I am ashamed often that I do not even begin to understand the suffering others have experienced in this time in lost jobs, insecure futures, and even bread on the table.
But I miss the messy, tangible nature of our life together. I’m grateful that life can go on with Zoom meetings and parking lot church. I’m grateful for the technology we have to continue on in life. But l miss the everyday ordinariness of sports, of hugging my grandchildren; of teaching someone to tie their shoes (Nate’s finally got ahold of that one!) I miss matter.
If you are on social media these days, you are probably aware of how many people in quarantine have taken up bread baking. I wasn’t really aware of that when I thought – “hey, I have time, I’ll make bread.” But it took me several weeks to get flour and yeast (which is pretty much all you need). I haunted the King Arthur Flour website – I sent Nate to the grocery store with a mission- find flour! I did the same with my daughter – I even wrote emails. “Where’s the flour??” And when I finally had my flour and yeast, I took great satisfaction in baking and smelling and eating that bread!
I’m not surprised at the sudden interest in baking – in times like these I think we long for the smells and the tastes of something real and homey and meaningful and even liturgical! Since my grandson Asher has been going to the Montessori school just down the road from me, I have picked him up at least one day a week to spend the afternoon together. We have a ritual. We watch Lego building videos, eat lunch, play with trains, or Legos, or whatever strikes his fancy. Lately he has been telling me that I smell like Lego videos. At first, I’m like, huh?? And then it hits me. He has associated a meaningful experience that we’ve had together with something sensory – smell. I bet we all have done that.
I remember walking into my grandmother’s house and smelling her home’s absolutely most unique smell! Was it her perfume or the scent of her shampoo? Was it the smell of something frying? Was it the metallic smell of rain on her eating porch? Yes. All that and more. And the time I spent with her was very much like the time I’ve spent with Asher these last months. It always had its own liturgy. By that I mean there was ritual: daily walks, summer meals outside on the porch, watching her stories (Soap operas) and licking green stamps! There was ceremony (the setting of the table, the blessing of the meal) and meaningful tangible contact with food – cold tomatoes from the garden with a bit of mayo and salt and pepper; fresh cantaloupe, and fried chicken that marinated in buttermilk all day. There was milk of magnesia (ugh) and prayers at night; there were hours I spent reading – and just being with her – the safest adult in my life for most of my childhood.
We need the tastes of home – we need the smells of bread rising and baking, we need the smells of Lego videos (what that is I cannot begin to say). And Jesus understood this. He knew we didn’t need manifestations, or “appearances”. He did not despise matter – he blessed it – He blessed and broke and gave – in the Incarnation, in His death (a real body suffering and dying for us) and in His Resurrection.
Aren’t you glad that Scripture tells us about Resurrection meals? There are at least two accounts of meals taken with Jesus after the Resurrection. These stories are so important! I love them both. The one in Luke is about a meal at the end of a journey (Lk 24:13-35). The other is in John, chapter 21 and is about breakfast by the sea (a great name for a bed and breakfast/retreat center, eh?)
The passage in Luke is about a journey two men take. Cleopas, a disciple, and his friend (we are not told who he is) are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They are discouraged and confused, and they begin talking about recent events. Soon they are joined by a third man, unknown to them. He asks them what they are talking about, and they are astonished he hasn’t heard anything about Jesus. They open up to him, and then he begins to share the Scriptures with them and how these Scriptures had predicted all that they had experienced with the man, Jesus. They reach the end of their journey, and they entreat this stranger to stay and have supper with them.
He walked with them as an Old Testament scholar, and now at table He becomes their host. He blessed and broke and gave them not just their supper but a profound revelation of who He was and who He is. And in that blessing of the meal, the disciples recognized their Lord.
“Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road?”
Luke 23:32
These two actions were critical post Resurrection – He revealed himself as the Christ both in spirit (or in text) and in matter (body).
I am thankful for Resurrection meals. I miss the shared smells and taste and touches of Christian community. It has been a while since I’ve been eager for church potlucks. I don’t like lines, and I am frustrated when the food has been picked over, but I’ve concluded that Christ is revealed to us in a unique way when we share our bread. If any good comes from this quarantine (and of course there will be), I hope it is that we can look for Jesus in the material stuff of our lives. And yes, I am grateful, in fact, eternally grateful that Christ comes to us in the bread and in the cup. And right now, I would have to say that the best compliment I have received in a long time is that I smell like Lego videos.
*picture taken from one of my favorite children’s books, Father Fox’s Pennyrhymes.
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our sins, As we forgive those who have sinned against us. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
Abba, Father, who dwells in the highest places, even the heavens, Your name is so holy. I pray that Your kingdom would come in fullness – and that all my doubt would be cast off because of Your great love. I know that Your will is that all the world would come to know and believe in You. Today, Lord, I need the sweet nourishment that comes from Your holy presence. Even in my unbelief Lord, You are there, wooing me into Your goodness, and into the life You have given me through Your Son. Forgive me all my sins that have grown out of that unbelief – and give me grace, Lord, and power to forgive all my enemies. Keep from me the temptations of doubt, and deliver me from all that comes against You. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are due to You, all the days of my life, forever and forever. Amen.
“Reflecting on the week that has passed, Lord, show me where you were at work in my life. In what ways did I experience your goodness and when did I hear you speak.” * In what ways did I experience the power of your resurrection? In ways unique to my life, my relationships and/or my practices?
*These words are from an app I mentioned in a previous post, called lectio365. I can’t recommend it enough – especially as you prepare to end your day. The idea that follows, comes from the post I wrote earlier: “He is alive, but where is He?” As we try to ground our understanding of resurrection life, we need practical ways to see that, and I hope that these three areas help us to do that.
It’s a small example, but I spent time with one of my grandsons last week, and my goal was simply to get him talking. I didn’t care what he talked about, but I wanted him to get excited and to look at me when he talked. And he did! I felt that it was a resurrection moment because he knew I was present to him, and that was the way Jesus was with Thomas, or even the other disciples, especially Peter in John 21:13-17.
I think we have to be intentional about moments like these. I know we want to experience a life that mirrors Christ’s – and we do that as we learn to abide in Him; to rest in Him, and to practice His presence with us and in us. The intentionality comes when we decide to look for that – whether in our own bodies, our relationships or our practices of prayer, worship, study…
So whether we are asking God to reveal the ways we experienced his goodness or we are asking Him to show us our sin – it’s all a part of the resurrection life He has invited us into.
In this season then, let’s be intentional about both – which is all about living out our baptisms – we take our place in His death, and we take our place in His rising – through confession, through dying to the old man, to being present to those around us.
…we cannot talk about sin for very long without being drawn into doxology. Were it not for the mercy of God surrounding us, we would have no perspective from which to view sin, for we would be entirely subject to it. That is the reason for affirming that wherever sin is unmasked and confessed, God’s redemptive power is already present and acting. Fleming Rutledge
Begin by centering your heart in God’s presence… Give thanks to Him that you do not need to hide anything from him. Affirm that He is faithful and good, and his mercy and grace are “new every morning.” The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22-23).
Now let Him begin the process of searching your heart. Are there ways you have not honored Christ this week? Where were your thoughts and desires not centered in Him? How have you failed in obedience to Christ?
Then, simply confess in as specific a way you can the sins that trouble you. Don’t rush through this process. Simply rest in God’s presence as He does this.
Now choose to let this go and receive Christ’s forgiveness for you. Remember – “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)
Receive His assurance of pardon.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ .
Ephesians 1:7-9 (ESV)
And finally commit this confession to the Lord. As you rest in His forgiveness ask Him how to walk this out. Ask for the supernatural power of His Spirit to give you what you need to move forward. Thank Him that you “have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer [you] who live, but Christ lives in [you]” (Gal. 2:20).
Some of you may be aware of the African Anglican liturgy for confession of sin during Communion. It paints such an incredible picture and so I want to leave that with you as you close this time of confession.
AN AFRICAN BENEDICTION
All our problems, We send to the cross of Christ! All our difficulties, We send to the cross of Christ! All the devil’s works, We send to the cross of Christ! All our hopes, We set on the risen Christ!
When we are tempted and seek to know and love God, and like Moses long to see His glory, and out of that occupation of our minds have no further love for that previous temptation, we have experienced something of the reality of the very highest form of freedom from sin. It is one thing to love sin and to force ourselves to quit it; it is another thing to hate sin because love for God is so gripping that the sin no longer appeals. The latter is repentance; the former is reform. It is repentance that God requires. Repentance is “a change of mind.” To love and yet quit it is not the same as hating it and quitting it. Your supposed victory over a sin may be simple displacement. You may love one sin so much (such as your pride) that you will curtail another more embarrassing sin which you also love. This may look spiritual, but there is nothing of God in it. Natural men do it every day. Jim Ellif
This quote has been on my mind for several days now. I am drawn to this phrase – “it is one thing to hate sin because love for God is so gripping that the sin no longer appeals.” I have struggled with how hard it is sometimes to say no to “sin.” We live in a culture that glorifies willpower. I saw a video the other day of a 69 year old woman who had held a plank for 4 1/2 hours. (I’m not sure I even know what that is!!) This was a tribute to the incredible willpower and perseverance this woman had to reach a goal not many (if any) other 69-year-old women will ever attain. I think it’s an incredible feat and I’ll cheer her on.
The spiritual life, though, is not like that. I’m not saying it isn’t hard but Christian maturity cannot be reached through willpower. What the author of the quote above gets is that simply to hate a sin is not enough. There will always be another sin we love more – and at best, with this kind of mindset we displace one sin with another (and typically that sin will have a deeper grip on us).
Resurrection life is wholly unlike this. It is a growing in love and in worship for what Christ has done for us. Change, transformation, freedom comes from a life that abides in Christ. Read 1 John (soon!) – it won’t take you long – He uses some form of the verb abide more than 20 times in this short letter. In chapter 4:12 – abides (or resides as the NET Bible translates) “is a reference to the permanent relationship which God has with the believer. Here it refers specifically to God’s indwelling of the believer in the person of the Holy Spirit…” (NET notes on this verse). To fully live into the resurrection of Christ means just this: we abide with God, He indwells us, and it is a shared life we now have – and in that sense, deep calls to deep, as we seek to find that kind of love that is willing to cast off all that gets in the way of incarnational reality.
I think every Christian deep within, longs for this kind of love – a love for God that is so gripping that sin no longer appeals. Maybe, those sins or temptations you were able to keep at bay during Lent have now returned – like the first buffet line after a long restrictive diet. No shame there – just an invitation to turn your heart to Jesus – and ask Him, “what does it mean, Lord? To be so filled with love for you, that all other loves fade – even my love of sin?
My intention today was to write the confessional prayer for this week – And I will – but this thought has just gripped me – to love Christ more than sin… And if I don’t do that – that is probably the best confession I can make, to Him. We might be tempted to feel shame that we don’t love Christ more. But again, this is not at all the point! This is an invitation to come to the Father, come to Jesus, and let the Holy Spirit reveal Him to you.
This song came to my mind. It’s a really old hymn. There are so many versions out there. I love Shane and Shane and so I’ve put a link here to a YouTube video. Maybe just find a version on your favorite streaming service – just let these words grip you and take you to that intimate place with your God.
Lord Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine; For Thee, all the pleasures of sin I resign; My gracious redeemer, my Savior art Thou, If ever I loved Thee, Lord Jesus, ’tis now.
I love Thee, because Thou hast first loved me, And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree; I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow; If ever I loved Thee, Lord Jesus, ’tis now.
I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death, And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath; And say when the death-dew lies cold on my brow, If ever I loved Thee, Lord Jesus, ’tis now
In ages eternal of endless delight I’ll ever adore Thee in glory so bright’ I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow, If ever I loved Thee, Lord Jesus, ’tis now.
John 20:24-29 24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (ESV)
Step One – Read the passage slowly, attentively. Allow yourself to be taken in by the words – pay attention to any word or phrase that strikes you in the passage. (If you haven’t studied this passage, you may find this first reading will stir observation questions in you – such as who, what when, where, how).
Step Two – Read it again. Meditate and reflect on the passage. What is it in your life that needs to hear that word or phrase? Sit in silence for a time, attending to the thoughts, images and impressions that begin to come to you. Turn that into prayer.
Step Three – What is God saying to you? What do you begin to feel called to?
Step Four – How does God want you to live this passage out? What are you resolved to do?
Lectio Quote
‘[But] I often think about why Thomas did not believe his companions when they proclaimed to him, “We have seen the Lord.” Perhaps, we might easily say that such belief asks a great deal of someone, especially without his being present during Christ’s appearance. But perhaps… it was because the disciples were still huddling in the upper room, as John tells us, with the doors locked. Perhaps Thomas thought about what they proclaimed, looked around at the fear that kept the doors locked, and concluded simply, “I don’t believe you.”
After all, to believe in the risen Christ is to believe that God can take the brokenness, vulnerabilities, and losses of our lives and redeem them. It is to believe that all other standards of judgment, all other criteria of value, and all other measures of success must be rooted first in the faithfulness to the one who says, “Whatever you do for the least, you do for me.” It is, finally, to live in relentless and courageous love, in faith that love has conquered even death.’
Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz, puts it sharply when he observes*:
“’Christ is risen.” Whoever believes that Should not behave as we do.”
(I wrote this little devotion the spring of 2020 – at the beginning of Covid (the quarantine). My church did a few zoom church meetings and then we went to parking lot church, kinda like a spiritual drive-in-movie theater! We tuned into the songs and the preaching through a radio channel. It’s funny – I don’t remember how we took the offering! Even though we’re four years out from the quarantine, I still think there is much to say about Thomas and his need for a physical encounter with Jesus.)
I admit that I’ve always thought there was something wrong with Thomas (John 20:24ff). He seemed less mature than the other disciples and he somehow came to be known as “doubting Thomas.” Not a nickname you would want to have for the rest of time. He wasn’t there when Jesus first appeared to the disciples, and he flat out did not believe them. He was bold to say, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Think about that for a minute. Can you believe anyone would say that about the Crucified Christ? That is definitely more than just bold – it’s downright impudent!
But I’m coming to a different perspective on Thomas. And I would say the “quarantine” has been partly responsible for it. I know we have our zoom calls or meetings, and we even have parking lot church. But one thing we lack – is touch – real life contact. I’m content to stay home, order my groceries online (or send my home delivery husband). I’m ok with Zoom – but one thing I miss – is the sweet touch of a friend or sitting next to my grandchildren at the table. I’m unsettled by “social distancing”.
Can you imagine the longing in Thomas that was made the greater because he held in his memory the rough yet tender hands of Jesus? He sat by him at table, he walked beside him – bumping up against him. He felt the hands of Jesus, kneeling before him, washing his feet. Thomas remembered Jesus reaching out to hug him; He was with Jesus when the woman reached out and touched only the hem of Christ’s cloak and Jesus exclaimed over the fact that he had felt power go out from him. – Jesus must have felt that in his body. And in Luke’s account of Jesus appearing to the disciples post-Resurrection he says to them – “Touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:39)
Jesus didn’t have to appear to the disciples post Resurrection. He could have easily simply walked away from the tomb and gone to be with the Father. But I think one of the reasons he came and ate fish and bread with his friends is he knew that as bodies with souls we need the physicality of touch. Even though he gently rebuked Thomas for doubting he let Thomas touch his side and hands. In fact, he initiated the contact. No shame, no angry rebuke. He admonished him for the way he believed but from where I sit, it seems as if he knew that some people need that physicality, and others do not. And so, after 40 days with his dear friends, Christ ascended and now sits next to the Father with a body – forever incarnate, eternally honoring and blessing the place of the body in the world to come.
So as Christians with bodies – let us practice Resurrection by blessing others with a holy touch, an incarnate hug, a loving glance. When this quarantine is over – let’s greet each other with a holy kiss. We can do this not out of our own hunger, but by the fact that the Resurrection of Christ has forever hallowed the body. Let’s practice Resurrection by asking the Spirit to use our bodies to bless and love others.
This is a quote from an email I received a few days ago. The writer overheard this at a retreat near the end of Lent, and it stayed with her.* I would say it has stayed with me as well.
She writes about the disciples in John 21 – where, sometime after they had seen the resurrected Jesus, Simon Peter says, “I am going fishing.” And the others decide to join him. Such a simple story – “And they went out, and got in the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” (John 21:3) Jesus has appeared to them, but they weren’t called back into the kind of life they had had together before Christ was crucified. So, it seems like they have simply gone back to the life they had before.
I think we might all identify with this sentiment as we think about moving on from Easter “back into normal life.” There was a structure to Lent that does not seem obvious today; there was a movement, a journey that for many of us ended with Resurrection Sunday. But does it? Is that the best of what we are offered to do with our post-resurrection life? – to go back to what we know?
I’ve been reluctant to review the fasts I had kept (or mostly kept!) during Lent; only in that I am leery of saying – oh I was successful here, and not so successful there. At best I can say- oh this helped me in my journey, and this- not so much. There are ways I fasted that I want to hold on to. As a result of (mostly) staying the course during Lent, I feel freer to be more intentional about the choices I make now.
I’ve added a reflection moment to our weekly reviews and confessions – an encouragement to be more intentional about asking the Spirit where we experienced or saw the power of the resurrection in our day/week. But without anything to really hang our hats on in terms of practicality – simply asking the question doesn’t feel so helpful. It’s pretty vague. So, I’ve made a short list that might be helpful as a guide as we navigate our way into resurrection life.
We find resurrection power for
Personal holiness – using our bodies for Christian living.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Romans 6:5-12
Sin no longer has mastery over us – even though we still struggle at times. Paul gives us a way through those struggles in Romans 8:10-11 – “But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
The “secret” (if you want to call it that) is to call on the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. I wrote about this during Advent and used a quote from The Healing Presence for the Lectio quote for that week. Leanne Payne writes:
In Him we become fully human. In Him, we begin to do His works. This involves incarnation, a descent of the Spirit into our deepest beings and lives. In Him, the will, the intellect, imagination, feeling and sensory being are hallowed and enlivened. We begin to fully live, to participate in the eternal, the immutable, the indestructible.
Leanne Payne, The Healing Presence
Secondly, we find resurrection power –
for right relationships. We can love, serve, forgive, forbear those we are in relationship with. This means not only those whom we love, but also those whom we might see as our “enemies,” and all those in-between. At my church for a long time we had a phrase that would sometimes be used to describe people who were difficult to work with or to serve alongside with. We called them EGRs. Extra-Grace-Required people. (This is terrible I know… what a travesty as I look back on it). I’m sure there were people who considered me at times an EGR person – (I’m not just saying that… My impatience, my needs to control, my pride.. ugh).
We find such a good example of this in Stephen’s story in Acts 7. He is preaching a sermon and toward the end of it he accuses the religious leaders of betraying and murdering Christ. They come at him in great rage and the text reads: 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Act 7:55-56 ESV) He has seen the resurrected Christ. The crowd chased him out of town stoning him. But as he died, he lay there, crying out to God in a loud voice – “Lord do not hold this against them.”
Once again, the power to love, and forgive even our enemies can only come from the Spirit of God who indwells us. The apostle John says in 1 John 4:16 “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
And finally, then, there is resurrection power
to be the Church, the body of Christ in formation, discipleship, proclamation, and practices.
“Christian practices are not activities we do to make something spiritual happen in our lives. Nor are they duties we undertake to be obedient to God. Rather, they are patterns of communal action that create openings in our lives where the grace, mercy, and presence of God may be made known to us. They are places where the power of God is experienced. In the end, these are not ultimately our practices but forms of participation in the practice of God.” (Craig Dyystra)
In Baptism, and in the Lord’s Table – we come to take our place in Christ’s death – and then in glorious victory – we rise to take our place in Christ’s own rising. For we know there is real power in the sacraments. – Whatever tradition you come from – know and anticipate that Christ through the Holy Spirit will make your hearts alive in the knowledge of God in both baptism and communion. When we live from that place of resurrection power – that is from the place of knowing that Christ indwells us – we serve better than we know; we teach better than we know; we make coffee better than we know!
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places… (Eph 1:15-20 ESV)
Friends, I pray that as we consider these three ways to encounter resurrection power we might realize that we don’t have to “go back to what we know” – but to press on! To experience new life and maturity and good formation in Christ! May Paul’s prayer be ours:
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith–that you, being rooted and grounded in love…
