La Donna and the kids have gone off to Crumstown (yes, that really is the name of a town in Indiana) to see Grandpa and to give me space to prepare for worship on Easter Sunday. I’m grateful for the quiet time (though I’m beginning to wish they took the dogs too. Protecting the whole neighborhood is loud and frenetic work.) But I do miss them. Kinda funny how you don’t always notice who is there until they’re gone. Saturdays are days of preparation for me, and I’m not always the most social on this day. Still checking in with family does help round out the day. But now they are gone.
It is interesting to me how often we miss things that are right under our noses. The old "if it was a snake, it would have bit you" kind of thing. But I'm talking about more than just your glasses that you mislaid or your car keys that fell out of your pocket. I'm talk about life itself, right there within your grasp, but we keep missing it because we think it is somewhere else. We think you have to look harder, or it has to shine more brightly, or that it should knock our socks off every moment. And so we miss the opportunities, we miss the moments, we overlook the people who could give our life more meaning because we are looking the wrong way.
Or to tap into the title of this bible study, we're swimming with the wrong current. We get swept up into the stream that everyone else is following, thinking that it is going to bring us where we want to be. When in fact, to follow Christ is to swim against the tide, or at least cross current. It isn't that we need to turn our backs on everything this world has to offer, but we have to put those things into a different perspective. The American Dream, for example, has some dimensions to appreciate, but to chase it blindly is flow into attitudes and arenas we don't really want. So, we swim cross the current.
OK, I'm getting lost in the metaphor here. Let me try another tack (which is a nautical term meaning taking a course against the wind). This one comes from the Gospel for Easter Sunday. Let's read this wonderful story again:
Matthew 28:1-10 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.' This is my message for you." 8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
I love comparing the four stories of Easter morning that the Gospels give us. Each speaks of the discovery of the empty tomb and each speaks of the effect of this discovery on those who were there that morning. But then each of them adds some nuances that differ. Why are they different? Well, could be lots of reasons. Maybe the tellers of the story forgot some of the little details when they told the story to the writers. Or maybe the writers wanted to add in some stuff to make their point more clear, or to emphasize something or other. We don't always know why they wrote what they wrote, all we can do is try and figure out what it means.
There are some aspects of Matthew's story that are so amazing. Matthew was a Michael Bay kind of director, big explosions going off all around the action. He’s got earthquakes on Friday and now this Sunday morning shake. He’s got angels, well, an angel showing up. But not one of these nondescript, undercover angels. This one has a name tag, or a spandex suit and cape rippling in the breeze. This angel’s got strobe lights and blaring trumpets. No “is that an angel” questions from the on-lookers. He shows up, tosses away a multi-ton stone like it is a pebble he could skip across a pond and then strikes a pose on top of the rock, like he’s waiting for the reporter from Rolling Stone magazine to take his photo.
And in case you are still wondering if this is a dramatic entrance or what, Matthew has the guards - big, tough, soldier types - pass out from fear. Wow, you say, no scrimping on the special effects budget on this one! Matthew isn’t into subtlety. He doesn’t want you to miss anything.
And yet we do. They do. The women, who didn’t pass out like the big tough soldier guys did, get the message and run away with fear and great joy. I love that. Fear and great joy. That sounds human. That sounds about right for this incredible moment. Unsettling enough to be frightening. But wonderful enough to lead to hope.
Everyone seems to be missing something. And it is the shiny guy who points this out. You're in the wrong place, you've got the wrong attitude, you're swimming with the wrong current. The current they were in was the logical one, the human one. A man was crucified. A man was buried. Ergo, that man was dead. Makes perfect sense. Unless you factor in Easter. Why are you seeking the living among the dead? That was the question they asked the women who had come to the tomb. You are in the wrong place, you are making the wrong assumptions. He’s not here, he’s there. Where’s there? Home, where you live, right where you are, where you least expect him to be. You are missing what is right under your noses.
And what was under their noses was life itself. Full, abundant, empowered life. That is what Christ came to offer us. He didn't come to give us the training regime to get there, he didn't come to coerce us into becoming something better, he didn't come to drop some hints and then let us search through the clues to figure out just what we are supposed to do and to be. He came with a gift. And it is right there in front of us.
It is the gift of community. It is the gift of serving and caring. It is the gift of living in gratitude. It is the gift of hope. It is the gift of grace. We make things so hard. We want wide screen, can't miss it, knock your socks off kind of experiences to convince us that we finally have found something of significance. When what should knock our socks off is that there is some one who loves is even when we are unlovable. And that we can know of this love through a community that lives love first in everything that we do. Can't get any more powerful than that.
Maybe this is what Jesus meant when he complained about those who were always seeking signs. Show me something spectacular, Lord and then I'll believe. Come on down from that cross and then I'll believe. He is asking us to live differently, to swim cross current. To open our eyes and see what there is to see. When the smile of a loved one, when the music of the choir on Easter morning, when the smell of a flower, when the grace of a work of art, when an arm around your shoulders, when a lump in the throat, when a tear of joy traces down your cheek - when these and the thousand more signs of life are right in front of you every moment of every day become all that you need to know that He Is Risen, indeed, then we’ll know what he so desperately wants us to know.
When we move cross current, we taste life differently. We experience joy differently when we live cross current.
It is interesting to me how often we miss things that are right under our noses. The old "if it was a snake, it would have bit you" kind of thing. But I'm talking about more than just your glasses that you mislaid or your car keys that fell out of your pocket. I'm talk about life itself, right there within your grasp, but we keep missing it because we think it is somewhere else. We think you have to look harder, or it has to shine more brightly, or that it should knock our socks off every moment. And so we miss the opportunities, we miss the moments, we overlook the people who could give our life more meaning because we are looking the wrong way.
Or to tap into the title of this bible study, we're swimming with the wrong current. We get swept up into the stream that everyone else is following, thinking that it is going to bring us where we want to be. When in fact, to follow Christ is to swim against the tide, or at least cross current. It isn't that we need to turn our backs on everything this world has to offer, but we have to put those things into a different perspective. The American Dream, for example, has some dimensions to appreciate, but to chase it blindly is flow into attitudes and arenas we don't really want. So, we swim cross the current.
OK, I'm getting lost in the metaphor here. Let me try another tack (which is a nautical term meaning taking a course against the wind). This one comes from the Gospel for Easter Sunday. Let's read this wonderful story again:
Matthew 28:1-10 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.' This is my message for you." 8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
I love comparing the four stories of Easter morning that the Gospels give us. Each speaks of the discovery of the empty tomb and each speaks of the effect of this discovery on those who were there that morning. But then each of them adds some nuances that differ. Why are they different? Well, could be lots of reasons. Maybe the tellers of the story forgot some of the little details when they told the story to the writers. Or maybe the writers wanted to add in some stuff to make their point more clear, or to emphasize something or other. We don't always know why they wrote what they wrote, all we can do is try and figure out what it means.
There are some aspects of Matthew's story that are so amazing. Matthew was a Michael Bay kind of director, big explosions going off all around the action. He’s got earthquakes on Friday and now this Sunday morning shake. He’s got angels, well, an angel showing up. But not one of these nondescript, undercover angels. This one has a name tag, or a spandex suit and cape rippling in the breeze. This angel’s got strobe lights and blaring trumpets. No “is that an angel” questions from the on-lookers. He shows up, tosses away a multi-ton stone like it is a pebble he could skip across a pond and then strikes a pose on top of the rock, like he’s waiting for the reporter from Rolling Stone magazine to take his photo.
And in case you are still wondering if this is a dramatic entrance or what, Matthew has the guards - big, tough, soldier types - pass out from fear. Wow, you say, no scrimping on the special effects budget on this one! Matthew isn’t into subtlety. He doesn’t want you to miss anything.
And yet we do. They do. The women, who didn’t pass out like the big tough soldier guys did, get the message and run away with fear and great joy. I love that. Fear and great joy. That sounds human. That sounds about right for this incredible moment. Unsettling enough to be frightening. But wonderful enough to lead to hope.
Everyone seems to be missing something. And it is the shiny guy who points this out. You're in the wrong place, you've got the wrong attitude, you're swimming with the wrong current. The current they were in was the logical one, the human one. A man was crucified. A man was buried. Ergo, that man was dead. Makes perfect sense. Unless you factor in Easter. Why are you seeking the living among the dead? That was the question they asked the women who had come to the tomb. You are in the wrong place, you are making the wrong assumptions. He’s not here, he’s there. Where’s there? Home, where you live, right where you are, where you least expect him to be. You are missing what is right under your noses.
And what was under their noses was life itself. Full, abundant, empowered life. That is what Christ came to offer us. He didn't come to give us the training regime to get there, he didn't come to coerce us into becoming something better, he didn't come to drop some hints and then let us search through the clues to figure out just what we are supposed to do and to be. He came with a gift. And it is right there in front of us.
It is the gift of community. It is the gift of serving and caring. It is the gift of living in gratitude. It is the gift of hope. It is the gift of grace. We make things so hard. We want wide screen, can't miss it, knock your socks off kind of experiences to convince us that we finally have found something of significance. When what should knock our socks off is that there is some one who loves is even when we are unlovable. And that we can know of this love through a community that lives love first in everything that we do. Can't get any more powerful than that.
Maybe this is what Jesus meant when he complained about those who were always seeking signs. Show me something spectacular, Lord and then I'll believe. Come on down from that cross and then I'll believe. He is asking us to live differently, to swim cross current. To open our eyes and see what there is to see. When the smile of a loved one, when the music of the choir on Easter morning, when the smell of a flower, when the grace of a work of art, when an arm around your shoulders, when a lump in the throat, when a tear of joy traces down your cheek - when these and the thousand more signs of life are right in front of you every moment of every day become all that you need to know that He Is Risen, indeed, then we’ll know what he so desperately wants us to know.
When we move cross current, we taste life differently. We experience joy differently when we live cross current.
So, dive in. The water's fine. Happy Easter
Shalom,
Derek
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