Jesus is alive.
What a wondrous thing! It means hope for all of us!
Death could not hold Jesus and can no longer hold us! Wow!
So, why do we seek a LIVING LORD among the DEAD THINGS?
The celebrations are important, to be sure. We remember that Jesus is no longer dead but alive by celebrating the resurrection. If Jesus is alive to us today, why would we treat this as mere history, as something to be remembered as past event? Why treat our churches as museums for the things of the past, for the preservation of a memory? Why only commemorate Jesus on certain days, holidays and feasts? And why talk about Jesus in the past tense? If Jesus is alive and we believe that, we will include Jesus, address Jesus and actively live to follow Jesus still today.
Is the Living Lord alive to us today? Why do we seek the LIVING LORD among DEAD ATTITUDES?
Jesus taught, commanded and modeled Agape Love as a way of life for His followers. This active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger or enemy and especially the most vulnerable demands that we shed our attitudes of believing in the unworthiness of others, prejudice toward some others, beliefs around personal entitlement, acts of hubris and not humility and greed, lust for power and desire for status for ourselves at the expense of others. These things are to be dead to us as followers of Jesus, because they lead to division, destruction and death and not NEW LIFE. If Jesus is living Lord to us, we must live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us as we have that in the Gospel witnesses.
Is the Living Lord alive to us today? Why do we seek the LIVING LORD within a DEAD FAITH?
Why is the empty tomb so important as "proof?" Are we people of proof or people of faith? Why spend so much time trying to prove to others that Jesus and the things of Jesus were real, rather than talk about how real Jesus is to us here and now? Relics, archeological artifacts and witness accounts of sightings perhaps prop up dying faith for some, at least for a while. The real legacy of Jesus is what Jesus taught as a better way in which to BE the children of God. It means living what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us as the faithful way to walk as God's children, here and now. Proof of resurrection, a singular focus on personal salvation and personal power and glory are NOT at the heart of what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled as faithful living. Gaining financially and having all one's troubles supernaturally disappear are NOT things Jesus promised for those who would follow Him, the Jesus who said His followers would "deny themselves, take up their Cross and follow Him." They are things of a weak, if at all alive faith. Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe in Jesus' Way of being children of God in the world? Jesus declared, "If a person loves me, he/she will keep MY words...," and "If you love me, you will keep MY commandments." Are you living in Jesus Way of being in the world around you, in THIS PART of God's Kingdom, or are you merely claiming Jesus while living Empire's way of being in the world? Jesus also declared, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I tell you?" A faith that is not ACTIVE in COMMITMENT to GOD and NEIGHBOR, but is centered only on worship, praise, tithes, prayer and waiting on supernatural intervention is NOT faith in JESUS the Fulfiller of Law and Prophets, Redeemer and Savior. Jesus IS the Way, the Truth and the Life. What does Jesus teach us? What does Jesus command us to do? What does Jesus model for us as faithful lives to God?
Jesus is alive to me. Jesus' Good News is alive and is transformative when lived in the world.
I will strive to live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for me as His follower and God's child. It is a better way. It is the ONLY way. I will walk in Jesus' Way.
Pastor Jamie
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