Easter and the Restoration of All Things
About this time of year I entertain my doubts and pull them out and mull them over. As Charles Taylor said so eloquently, and I paraphrase, “In 1500 it was virtually impossible not to believe in God, while in 2000 it is virtually impossible to be believe in Him.” I bring out my doubts this time of year because Christianity is either true or it is not and the truthfulness of Christianity is bound up in the historical event we celebrate on Easter Sunday—the resurrection of Jesus.I ponder my doubts and wonder why I would believe something our age calls ridiculous. As scientific knowledge has drained the world of wonder, enchantment, and "thin places,” I want the story of the resurrection to be true, so I run back through all the rationality there is for believing that a dead man defeated death. I do this because, as Taylor says, our secular age does not make belief easy. And yet, as I ponder this question and rethink the rationality of the Christian Faith, it becomes clear again. It seems that if you really are interested in truth and explore the life of Israel, Jesus, and the church—something supernatural is the only explanation there is.Also, as we will ponder this Easter Sunday, the Resurrection means so much more than that Jesus just died to forgive you of your sins and get you to heaven—much more. In fact, as we see the full implications of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection and what Jesus is really up to—the impact is immediate—Jesus didn’t come to take you out of this fallen and broken world—he came to make you a participant in making “the sad things come untrue.”It is because of the wide ranging implications of the resurrection that Christianity will never be a safe religion—it will always be an adventure that moves out of comfort and into risky places. I think most of us have forgotten that. If we are like Jesus, we will always be moving out into places where it is not safe. I was reminded of this by Teri, my bride, the other morning. I had been an “ass” for lack of a better term. It had been a hard morning with Addison and my reactions were not like Jesus. Teri reminded me of the life you live when your leader forever bears the marks of the cross. It healed my heart a bit and has helped me this Lenten season and prepared me for Easter morning. I leave you with this Maundy Thursday prayer:
Who would have thought that you—God of gods and Lord of lords-would fasten on such small, innocuous agentswhom the word scornsto turn creation toward newness?As we are dazzled,give us the freedom to resituate our lives in modest,uncredentialed, vulnerable places.We ask for freedom and courage to move out from our nicelyarranged patterns of securityinto dangerous places of newness where we fear to go.Cross us by the cross, that we may be Easter marked. Amen
(Walter Brueggeman, Awed to heaven, Rooted to Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggeman)
James M. Holland