Risen? Alive?

We celebrate the Resurrection today. 
For some, it is a sign of God's Power over death and sin.  I love that.
For some, it is proof that God exists and/or Jesus is God.  OK.
For some, it has become the commemoration of a past event.  It is a memorial.  It is history. Aye, there's the rub.

Debates have been engaged on the subject of whether or not the resurrection of Jesus took place.  People give that huge time and energy, speculation and fervor.
Some of the same folk who feel the need to prove the actual resurrection or cajole and/or brow beat or even bully people into belief, if not silence relegate what Jesus is witnessed as teaching to the realm of dead literature of the past.

Jesus' emphasis was on HIS WORD... the Gospel... the Good News... what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for how we live in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.  It is a living word for those who live it, and a dead word for those who don't.

"Why do you seek the living among the dead?"

I believe it to be not too harsh to say that if we consider Jesus' teachings, commands and examples of Agape Love and Grace to be irrelevant to our lives today - we crucify Jesus and leave Him in the tomb. 

We embrace Jesus as Savior.  We Worship, Praise the Tithe, some of us as a response in thankfulness to our Redeemer, Savior and Lord, some of us in hopes of earning our salvation with it, some of us in hopes of reaping tangible benefits now. 

I believe that that example of Agape Love and Grace on the Cross is the most powerful and compelling spiritual act in history.  It touches me like no other.  That God is willing to identify with the life of the scandalized, marginalized, downtrodden, occupied and oppressed and then DIE FOR US is an astounding witness of a God worthy to be called Lord of my life.

Not everyone wants Jesus as Lord of their lives.  Not everyone wants to submit to the Law of Agape Love that Jesus gave in fulfillment of the Law and Prophets.  Not everyone wants to walk away from the empire values of greed, lust for power and desire for status, along with the ruthlessness and even hatred of others that feed them, which are the normative values in this culture, in order to embrace the Kingdom Values of generosity, shared power in humility and self-denial even to self-sacrifice for stranger, enemy and the most vulnerable that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us, as we have witness in the Gospels.  Yet, we all call Jesus Lord.

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord', and do not do what I tell you?"

I believe it to be true that we cannot accept Jesus as Savior and reject Jesus as Lord of our lives.  I believe that we are commanded to follow Jesus - what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in how to live in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.  If Jesus is alive to us, then we must believe that Jesus' imperatives and examples are alive in how we need to live with one another and thus with God.

Is Jesus alive to you?  Is Jesus Living Lord?
Is His Good News the guiding principle in how you follow Jesus in your life?
Do you know what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us, as we have witness in the Gospels?

Is it hard to know what Jesus really taught, commanded and modeled, because of what you have heard pastors, bishops and others say is faithfulness to God?
You are not alone.
I struggled with that, even years into my ministry until I looked at the Gospels differently.

"For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible even the elect."

I recommend that you find out for yourself.
With all the false teachings that have arisen as a part of American Civil Religion, especially expressed in "exceptionalism" and "prosperity theology", an emphasis on "personal salvation" and "church growth", etc., it is important for you to understand what Jesus' living Good News teaches us on how to follow Him.

In the absence of a RED LETTER version of the Gospels, I recommend ...

The NRSV - a faithful translation of the original texts.
Start in Mark, then Matthew, John and finally Luke.
Highlight the words of Jesus, as the Gospel writers have given witness to them.
    IMPERATIVES - Commands - "Do... don't..." in one color
    TEACHING STATEMENTS - Pearls of Wisdom - Kingdom Value statements in another
    PARABLES - stories around a teaching - in a third
    ACTIONS - what Jesus did, not just miracles, in encounters with others... in a fourth

If you read the Gospels in this way, it will change your perspective and your life.
Consider how to apply what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled to your life, here and now with others in the world around you.  THAT is following Jesus.
For examples of those who lived what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled, look at ACTS...

Follow the Living Lord of your Life by learning His Living Word - only living for you if YOU live it.

Otherwise, church is a museum.  We leave Jesus in the tomb and only memorialized Jesus.
Otherwise, we are striving to serve two masters (selectively use the Word in a twisted way to justify that) and crucify the Lord again to serve ourselves.

Time to resurrect your understanding of the Good News of Jesus in Agape Love and Grace, and thereby render the Lord ALIVE to you, in your life.

Pastor Jamie